'94 Marin Palisades.......re-igniting the passion

sherlylock · Sep 6, 2011

Hi all,

Just joined this great forum after lurking for a few weeks - I've just had my passion for retro bikes re-ignited, especially '90's Marins, after signing up to ride the London to Southend event in July.

I took part on a "bitsa" that I had built up, loosely based on a '95 Rayleigh M-Trax frame which a mate had donated, but I enjoyed it so much I bid on and won a '94 Marin Palisades Trail that evening on eBay.

My late teenage years were spent riding a '93 Marin Bear Valley which I loved to bits and we used to spend many saturdays drooling over the more expensive models that the lbs had in stock........

sherlylock · Sep 6, 2011

.....which are obviously a little cheaper to buy these days.

I spent a while looking out for a Bear Valley but without much luck I settled on a Palisades Trail which I won for £33!

sherlylock · Sep 6, 2011

It was a bit of a punt but it turned out to be a good one. I picked it up mid-week and rode it into work the next day. Turns out that, after a little adjustment everything works perfectly well.......

sherlylock · Sep 6, 2011

......which has meant I could spend a little bit on a few minor mods to get it how I want it.

Long term plan is to strip it down over the winter and give it a full respray resto - as it's quite tatty close up. I think it's been stood outside for quite a bit of it's life as the paint is really faded and all the stone chips/fixings are rusty - but for the time being I'm just riding it and enjoying being back in the saddle.

I bought a set of slicks for it (Specialized Fatboys) as this is gonna be for road use but I ended up with a slash in the rear tyre on the way to work a few days back hence the mismatched tyres.......replacement slick is on its way!

palisades trail by sherlylock, on Flickr

eviltroy · Sep 7, 2011

Nice! My first "proper" mtb was one of those.. I rode the guts out of it, I still have the frame hanging in the shed. I built up a 95 pine mountain as a rigid single speed and is the most fun I have had for years... love those mid 90's marins

sherlylock · Sep 7, 2011

eviltroy":2nggz6dd said:
Nice! My first "proper" mtb was one of those.. I rode the guts out of it, I still have the frame hanging in the shed. I built up a 95 pine mountain as a rigid single speed and is the most fun I have had for years... love those mid 90's marins

I've got a soft spot for the mid-90's Marins too, probably for the same reason as you - many miles ridden on my Bear Valley as a teenager.

Here's the bike as bought (image taken from the ebay advert)

sherlylock · Oct 18, 2011

Been commuting for a few months now, gradually sorting out any niggles.....I've changed the stem for an ahead stem/riser (+ quill converter) to raise the handlebars. I'm a lanky bugger and I'm now realising the frame may be a bit on the small size......although it's a 19".

Also bought some lights for the dark commute home now that the nights are drawing in. Went for 2x Cateye TL-LD610 for the rear (with the clear lens) and a 1W led front light from Tesco (booo!) and I'm really pleased with them - makes me feel a little more confident about being seen on the road.

Tyres also swapped over for a set of Schwalbe Kojaks.

light_painted_marin by sherlylock, on Flickr

We_are_Stevo · Oct 18, 2011

I like 1.9" Schwalbe City Jets, very similar to my old Tioga City Slickers BITD...

sherlylock · Oct 26, 2011

We_are_Stevo":158qmn0n said:
I like 1.9" Schwalbe City Jets, very similar to my old Tioga City Slickers BITD...

I bought a set of amberwall city jets when I first bought the bike (can be seen on the rear wheel in the first pic in this thread).....good tyres! I've got them on my Rockhopper at the mo......

'94 Marin Palisades.......re-igniting the passion

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