'93 Marin Bear Valley SE.......the nostalgia trip

So......I placed a Wanted ad after seeing a few (too small for me) Bear Valleys crop up for sale, not thinking that I'd get any offers.

I rode a Bear Valley between 94-99 and it was the first real mountain bike that I owned. Not sure how I managed to afford it on paper-round wages but in '94 I bought a second-hand BV from Madgetts cycles in Diss for around £300-ish IIRC.

Anyways....since joining the forum I've been on the hunt for a BV frame that is large enough for me now as a nostalgia trip/mid life crisis rebuild project.

Here's the frame that cropped up (cheers Jules!) - it's actually an SE version which is lighter, and would've been higher spec'd than the std Bear Valley. I'm cool with that - it still looks right and it's a lighter frame to boot!

It's seen some action, has some dents, has some rust and generally needs some TLC.

Not sure on the direction of this build yet either, whether to just sort out the dints and the worst of the rust, replace the decals, build it up and ride it or whether to go for a full resto. I've started collecting a few NOS bits..with a few bits dibbed for after payday, so component wise it'll be original spec in excellent condition.

The frame has been painted with a gloss coating of some sort in places so has sort of lost the recognisable colour break that Marins have around the tube joins (in the BV case the difference is between the matt tubes/gloss joins).

So......another project that I don't need but absolutely love! (and one which I'm sure will help to drain the coffers.........)

First of the new bits - Ritchey Logic headset and LX rear dérailleur, both NOS.

Postie turned up with a lovely parcel this morning. Some nice fresh LX/Exage bits for the BV - thanks Jim!

Just in time for the long weekend too - my plan is to build the bike up with the frame "as is" ready for my stag do in Wales at the end of next week.

Then I'll look into getting the frame stripped and re-finished to suit the nearly new bits that have arrived!

Araya wheels/exage hubs - not original to the BVSE but close (I think probably standard on the BV?) - either way - it gets me on the trails......

Indulgent bike building type weekend for me - spent most of Saturday building up the BVSE with the parts that arrived in the post. I "borrowed" the saddle off one of the other bikes and "engineered" a solution to the lack of canti roller on my stem using a jubilee clip and a v-brake noodle. I will be changing this in due course - even though it works really well......

Some pics....(the orange chainstay protector is temporary too until a stealthy black/white one turns up).

You want one of these...

...the LX kit is nice too, have some for my new Wot; I'd forgotten just how nice it was

Good suggestion that! I bought one and it turned up this morning - will have a bash at fitting it later. LX kit is lovely - especially in NOS condition, seems a shame to start using it really.......

As with my other Marins I drew up some artworks earlier in the week and got my mate to lasercut a couple of sets (for no charge bless 'im). The loose plan is to put one set on for the time being and then eventually as funds allow, I'll start tackling the rust spots and dents on the frame, probably on a tube-by-tube basis - I really don't want to strip the whole frame and lose the harder-to-replicate marin and tange decals on the downtube.

One of the memories I have of owning my BV back in '94 was trying to make replacement decals out of trim tape using a stanley knife. Artwork package and laser cutting was sooo much easier....!

Took the bikes to Wales for my stag weekend a couple of weeks ago - put some knobblies on it and we went for a ride around North Wales on the Sunday. Mostly road/tracks and ended up at disused Quarry at Talysarn......what a cool place, old derelict buildings and flooded pits......gotta go back and ride around that area a bit more. Still a few nigglies to sort but the bike behaved itself for it's first outing and nothing fell off.......

Few more bits sorted on the BVSE in an attempt to get most of it back to original spec. Original plated stem turned up (cheers Jules) along with a spare set of bars/bottle cage/bar ends.

I also sourced another set of bars from the same year (cheers Haw_Maw) - but a slightly different design to the originals though - these are sort of a champagne colour (faded now though) rather than polished ally and have "2014 Alloy Thermo Mechanical treatment" printed on them rather than "T6 Aluminium" Presumably these are a different material/lighter bars? Anyone know the differences?

Stem is a little grotty - rust has come through the plating in places so I've rubbed it all back as best I can a re-lacquered for the time being. Will look into getting it re-plated in the near future.