1991 Marin Bear Valley(no Zolatone!!)Update SEPT. 29th.....

I picked up this bike a few weeks ago from Craig aka chiswickcollectables. I'm sure you're all familiar with it as it also once belonged to Stumpjumper1990.

Pics from sale thread:










I discussed shortly my plans for the bike with Craig and he was excited to hear it, in fact sent me a PM the other day asking when I was going to start work on it. So I figured what the hell since I got some goodies in the mail this week.

Originally spec'd with Exgae400 components, these are a welcomed site:



XT m735 front mech
XT m735 rear mech, short cage(more on that later...)
XT m730 Crankset
XT m735 Thumbies, excellent shape too
XT m735 flat pedals(love these things)

I plan to use the SS-5 levers I had on the Klein. The Marin came with NOS 987's so I thought these would be a nice compliment.

It also came to my attention that this particular model is a Porker. Weighing in at 28.9lbs, I was shocked and appalled . So, I began with what I had to trim the fat.

I threw on the TUNE titanium skewers(AC9 & AC16/17), that I had on the Klein. Their combined weight is 72g. The original had a combined wt of 290g!! Savings of 218g or 0.48lbs!!!

Next I threw on a nice VELO seat I had, shaving a further 110g. The original seat weighed 426g, the Velo 316g. By no means a light seat but it is lightER. Anyone have a Flite Titanium in decent shape???

So to date I have removed 328g, and still have way more to go.

The orig. Rockstar tires weigh 700g each. Swapping tires alone I can easily save another 500g, or 1.1lbs. I hear that the Exage400 crankset weighs more than a battleship's anchor, whereas the XT set weighs 526g(w/o rings). Once i'm ready to swap everything, I will be weighing what comes off and what goes on.

As for the rear mech, this is my mountain-only bike so I will be running a 2x7 setup. A 24 or 26/36 in the front and the 12-28 in the rear keeps me in the 28t range off the XT short cage I picked up.

I promise next update to have pics, PB is being a little 'see you next Tuesday', if ya know what I mean.

Not sure where you heard that because the 400LX chainset is all alloy arms and rings. From Shimano's own brochures:

FC-M400 = 763g
FC-M730 = 730g

Still it would look a little odd next to all the XT and looks a bit naff in all black, like 100/200GS.

Must follow!!

Zoiks! That's a period perfect paint scheme!!
I expect to see a matching pair of "rad shorts" and ray-bans featured at some point

Well, I unexpectedly had some time today to do some work, and managed to get quite a bit done.

I installed the Thumbies & brake levers, Mechanism's & cranks. Also shortened the chain, installed new shift cables as they were afterwards a hair short for the thumbies. The grips are temporary, expecting a set of Ritchey's in the mail anyday now.

In the process I saved quite a bit of weight....onto the pics first:
























And onto the surprising weight savings from today's activities:

EX400 Shifters/brake levers - 290g & 294g= 584g
XT m735 Thumbies 189g(set) + SS5 levers 177g(set)= 366g
Savings of 218g!!!

EX400 rear mech - 320g
XT m735 Short cage - 254g
Savings of 65g

EX400 crankset w/ rings, 28/38/48 BioPace-1003g
Driveside-756g
Non-drive-247g
XT m730 w/o rings-526g PLUS the Middleburn 56g= 582g
Savings of 421g!!!

That 421g plus the other 21g of chain I removed makes for exactly 1lb lost just in the driveline.

(The 5g difference between the front XT & EX400 mech's is negligible.)

So today, it was a total of 730g or 1.607lbs!!! And to date, 1058g or 2.33lbs...Not bad for an afternoon's work And I still have the tires to swap out, which are the last of the easy and cheap weight mods.

While I had the factory Marin bar naked, I threw it on the scale to see that it weighs 300g, rather hefty. My '170g' Ritchey Forcelite weighs 180g, saving an additional 120g, or over 1/4 pound. BUT I love the colored bar & stem so until I find a paintmatch for the orange, and a light quill stem(as the original is probably similarly heavy), I will be leaving the factory parts on.

I am turly impressed with the positive shifting and feel from the thumbshifters, as well the SS5 levers seem to have brought the brakes to life.

The XT m735 short cage rear mech is silent and provides/adds to the solid and smooth shifting feel. A little more tweaking and it'll be perfect.

Til next time.....

Still looking for a decent Flite Titanium.....[/i]

WOW Mike I knew you had a few mods planned but....

I'm so glad it made it to Germany safely (this Marin has toured most of Europe). The upgrades work well and the weight saving will help ride-ability. I knew it was a heavy lump but now its down to a respectable weight. What tyres are you putting on? Really looking forward to further updates and ride review

Ps... is this the saddle you're looking for

^Yup, that's the one

Just a quick update as yesterday I received my Mavic 121 Cermaic/XT 730-732 wheelset. The are almost NOS, hahahaa, in excellent condition. I have already had the old Smart Sam's on there a few weeks as I am tapped out and have no loot for proper rubber.

I have also added a Middleburn 26t granny ring with self-made 5mm spacers, and swapped out the 36T Middleburn for a 38t Pace. I was running out of gear too quickly with the last setup.

Oh yeah, and ODI grips...

Pics:

Wow Mike you've really gone to town on that one.... the BV looks amazing

Thanks...I got it dirty yesterday but immediately cleaned it

I plan to get it even dirtier in the coming week or two, i'll take some pics then.