Marin Bolinas Ridge - The budget build

I picked this up this afternoon - a Retrobike Karma special

Its a Marin Bolinas Ridge, not exactly sure what year it is 1995/1996 ?. I certainly didn't plan on another bike to build but felt the old girl could do with a little bit of love. As the advert said its no Garage Queen, it is though original apart from the bars and grips. Perfect for when its not roadbike weather and still cool enough to be seen riding

Here is how she was when she made it home



Started to strip it down this afternoon, what I call the 3 terminal/pain in the ass parts were checked first.

Seatpost greased and moves up and down

Stem greased and also moves up and down

All going too well so far :shock:

Stripped, the chain, front and rear derailleur, removed bottom bracket, it tried its best to hold on but soon gave in, threads on frame all good.

So I gave a huge sign of relief and had a cuppa to celebrate

Gave it a once over, a little wear here and there but nothing a little tlc wont mend, I will probably get away with replacing only a few parts such and the saddle, cables, front mech and the rear wheel has a few rusty spokes and a little rumble from the cassette but have one in the parts bin that I can use.

The trouble is the temptation with me is always to splatter the bike with the best bits I have, but this one is a budget build

And this is how I left the old girl for the night

Nothing wrong with that mate!

If wheels are original, look close at the hubs, maybe 'rockstar' hubs. The spokes on these lower end '95 bikes always rusted as they were galvanised or coated in something or another. Clean up with a scourer though.

This was also close to the cut-off point where you could buy a budget marin and it still looked like a marin, just budget groupo. enjoy.

marc two tone":24ivkzmn said:

Nothing wrong with that mate!

If wheels are original, look close at the hubs, maybe 'rockstar' hubs. The spokes on these lower end '95 bikes always rusted as they were galvanised or coated in something or another. Clean up with a scourer though.

This was also close to the cut-off point where you could buy a budget marin and it still looked like a marin, just budget groupo. enjoy.

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The wheels are original as far as I can tell, and they do indeed have 'rockstar' on the hubs.

Are they worth saving to keep it period or would some Araya VP20's be a better bet ?

I would stick with them for now, run them out. They are reliable from my experience with them. The rockstar hubs are similar to alivio in quality but not marked as such, if this is your winter beater, keep them on.

Quite upgradable too, these bikes. Swapping rear mech and chainset gets you a bike punching at bear valley weight and quality for less dollar paid out.

Nice, can I have it back???

Negawsklov":1s3siv87 said:

Nice, can I have it back???

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I like the old girl, for some reason I am really motivated by this build

Perhaps it just about fits you so it's a happy bicycle

I recently picked up a Bobcat from the same era (96), same frame bar "Afterburner" rear triangle whatever that means? I'm converting to a singlespeed hack for the Winter commute. Unfortunately mine had been left outside for the past 12 months, luckily I did the same 3 tests as you and all came off with a bit of persuasion!

I couldn't salvage wheels as the freehub had gone and I couldn't source a replacement, The brake levers were gone and brake pads were non existent so are being changed for Vees.

Picture of the frame here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=272591

It's the first time I've properly stripped and restored a bike and I'm really enjoying it although I've spent much more than I had intended

Pdid":2dv1wilo said:

I recently picked up a Bobcat from the same era (96), same frame bar "Afterburner" rear triangle whatever that means? I'm converting to a singlespeed hack for the Winter commute. Unfortunately mine had been left outside for the past 12 months, luckily I did the same 3 tests as you and all came off with a bit of persuasion!

I couldn't salvage wheels as the freehub had gone and I couldn't source a replacement, The brake levers were gone and brake pads were non existent so are being changed for Vees.

Picture of the frame here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=272591

It's the first time I've properly stripped and restored a bike and I'm really enjoying it although I've spent much more than I had intended

Click to expand...

Looks pretty much the same as mine

I have enjoyed this build so far, probably because it was a complete bike unlike my others which started as frames and I hit a lot of compatibility issues.

widowmaker":3341di5t said:

Looks pretty much the same as mine

I have enjoyed this build so far, probably because it was a complete bike unlike my others which started as frames and I hit a lot of compatibility issues.

Click to expand...

Yeah mine hasn't gone back together yet so i may have a few of those to look forward to!