2000 Marin B-17

Update:
So, after two short months of matchy-matchy bikes, the boy has now retired the black apollo to grandmas house duties, choosing instead a donated polished aluminium Dawes Blowfish to have at home. On the plus side, good lad for chosing teh 'better' bike for regular use, but now i have to ride my old polished Trek 6000 whenm Im out with teh boy, so we match.

Oh well, guess I can get this one into work spec now!

im struggling with the white cable tie... totally ruins the project for me

The black cable ties were added very soon after. Unfortunately all the ones I had available at the time were white.

I have learned my lesson, now i hold a stock

I was just playing

How does it ride ? New colour scheme hides it age well !

By retiring the Mount Vision and merging the parts I now have a much stricter black theme going on. The Jr Ts have gone to the gods of ebay so its now sporting some Tora (black) which are actually surprisingly good, just need to tweak the settings a bit and probably overdue a service. The older mini brakes (silver) have made way for some mini monos (black) and upgraded the wheels with the hope xc/mavic317 (black) from the MV too. The plus side of combining the two builds into one is a less compromised build, it rides well and everything works as it should. Now I'm wondering whether to lose the orange-ness since it doesn't need to match the boys bike I could switch to black cables and get some more subtle frame decals. Don't think I can be bothered to be honest but maybe in the winter. For now though, summer (such as it is) is getting some fat tyre marks across its face.

When I decided to build a new bike back in the winter my first thought was to get a classic Marin bouncer, and it has not disappointed so far. I'm still getting used to a bouncy frame and I still like my hardtails but this is great for my local trails.

Anyway, 'final-final' spec list:
2000 Marin B17 frame, black powdercoat, Fox Vanilla shock
Rock Shox Tora 302
FSA Pig Headset, Race Face Diabolous stem, Outland bars
Deore shifters, XT front mech, LX rear.
Shimano Octalink BB, XT Cranks and rings, XT cassette, DMR V12 pedals.
Hope Mono brakes, Avid discs
Hope XC hubs, Mavic 317 rims, Schwalbe Albert tyres.

So this is how things look now:




Little jobs to sort:
+20mm brake adapter on the rear is silver, it needs to be black
Headset spacers need tidying
Black pedals?

Excellent bike and fascinating build thread. Satin black is a fabulous subtle colour, gloss black always looks too thick on a bike frame
I've got a similar bike 1999 Mount Vision. May I use your experience and ask how you separate the swingarm from the frame. Is it a done by using a drift to drive out a shaft from the middle of the swing arm bearings or is there an easier less violent method?

I used violence. It wasn't too difficult but I was obviously wary about damaging it so took my time. It was more of a struggle to get the bearings out than removing the pivot pin thing if that helps.

Thanks, violence it is! Black cranks and pedals would be my choice. Whatever, it's a lovely bike looks very modern (if that's a complement on this site.)

Really nice work Rick. I like the idea of more subtle decals: are you thinking dark grey or similar?