Marin Eldridge 1991. FINISHED and field tested.

JUST when i least need more bikes, filth and grease, this pops up for the the price of decals i need for the 'other' bike. What can you do? A real heartbreaker!

Marin Eldridge 1991 dark zolatone.


I thought whilst looking through a pile of rough, scrappy bicycles, I had hit a pine mountain as the fork and bars are really orange and not the blood orange i remember the eldridge as being so. "Ah well" eldridge is not to be overlooked as the spec isn't far off the pine mountain, maybe by hubs, cranks and not much else...

Anyway, a quick appraisal of the bike proved as 'a tad rough' and 'needs attention' I can dig that .I just wanted to fall onto this before the stinson as this one has what i was looking for. i.e. semi-slick, full tyre guards and a big ol' frame!

It is already and, will again be a bike for tarmac, dry trails and bridalways. Tradition says i would need tyres, tubes, blocks, chain, cassette and a full rebuild as a minimum but, things have gone my way as it's just chain (poss cassette) and blocks for safety if nowt else.

The work started today with the sun on my back, in the garden! I chose to tackle the spannering in sections rather than a full strip down, only to have a box full of bits etc....first up was stem and general steering matters. stem was stubborn but, light corrosion really and can out easily enough. Headset was cleaned and re-greased. front cantis were remove cleaned and bosses lubes up. I have not removed bars as i want to keep original foam grips, the rarely survive removal!!.

All bolts have been checked for seize and integrity, clean bill of health.








I forgot to do a full frontal shot, bare with me as those pics are fone calibre, crap fone calibre

Headset locknut was swapped out for less rusty example.



A quick scrape over sorts the corrosion.



As far as neon goes, not too faded!!! pic makes it a lot worse than eye capture.




The front wheel axle was just nasty, a full break out and clean was in order, no money spent here just a clean scrub and re-grease then, back in it all went, a million times smoother, not buttery but, sufficient.




Bottom bracket was stubborn but no match for what i had in store for it....

OUT!!

once i blew away the chilli powder, the bb is a un51, very smooth and zero radial or axial play, back in for you busta'.



I will update progress day by day as i'm 'mid-bike' in the task upon me.

cheers for now.

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

We, the people need a full frontal and drive side shots.

That said mate it looks pretty tidy from what i can see.

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

Sounds like a lovely afternoon well spent, hope you cracked a can of something fizzy

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

Sounds like a lovely afternoon well spent, hope you cracked a can of something fizzy and cold

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

Lovely project you have there

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

jaypee":2s8vugai said:

hope you cracked a can of something fizzy and cold

Click to expand...

Never thought of that. Got one of those big bud bottles in fridge too, hopefully tomorrow.

Rear hub may be more of a challenge, as i rotate axle it feels like sand and broken bottles are in there :shock:

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

That'll keep you busy marc.

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

Again, back in the garden and as promised...some progress!

The target was mid-bike matters, a new term i've just invented. The idea was to inspect and treat anything in this given area. seatpost is a weird size (29.5...) and just needed a rub over with grease and de-grit the seat tube with a rag on a stick and handy, tinned light lube.

The cranks seemed well baked on yesterday but then i realised the penny washer still in there after crank bolt removal ignore (or learn from) that.

Today's casualty was the middle ring. At 36 tooth, not rare but nothing i needed to replace right now, got other cranks begging the same equipment. BUT, i found similar ring in black, lightly used and of good quality, on she pops!

The rear wheel also received a clean and hub strip down as i ran out off jobs elsewhere. The cones are grumbly and freehub has some considerable play. I'm confident enough to run it, however i will be on the lookout for a replacement. ideally a nos exage or like for like LX550 would be good. All in good time for that though.


The zolatone ugly spot is the top tube. There was a seat mounted on, with foot pegs on down tube, you know the ones . there must have been paint rub galore from 'harveys' size two clarks hardware have been, also the damage has been touched up with a (black) spray can. Here i find myself unusually calm and have decided to seal the area and fit a top tube pad, everyone wins.



Nothing wrong with stronglight.



Rear hub service, kinda boring cleaning and lubing...



FREEHUB. where possible, it's good to re-lube these.

pick the rear seal out.....



Lube the bearings, doesn't have to be much.



Some areas of paint have weathered better than others...










chainring setup looks odd, but works...




I stepped back a bit for this pic





That's it for today. Next up is to go round the general cabling and inspect the shifters. The rear mech is cleaned up ready to go back on. Pretty much cracked it's back, i just want to go round it and swap out rusty bolts etc.

back soon.

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

You are so unbelieveable fast with restoring. You are the Flash. My own build will take a few more years i guess. The seatpost size is correct by the way. Mine has the same diameter. How did you take apart that freehub and the hub axles?. Never done this before.

Re: Marin Eldridge 1991.

juice":1edo23cv said:

You are so unbelieveable fast with restoring. You are the Flash. My own build will take a few more years i guess. The seatpost size is correct by the way. Mine has the same diameter. How did you take apart that freehub and the hub axles?. Never done this before.

Click to expand...

Hi juice. yes, it is amazing what progress you can make with the sun on your back and all the tools you need within reach.

The freehub body remains intact, the only part i removed was the rear seal, all the bearings and other bits are from main hub bearing assembly. It all went back okay, but the whole hub setup is a pinch too rough for me, so i'm looking for a rear hub to rob out! Exage or LX would be fine. As i do this transplant, i will do step-by-step photos in case anybody fancies getting filthy old grease under their fingernails.

FREEHUB bodies...In general, when dealing with shimano for example, once gone and dodgy feeling i throw out and replace them. It is possible to access the internals and service them, however they are hard working ratchets and aren't worth the effort.

thanks.

take it easy.