My 1990 Bear Valley

My dad bought this for me for my 15th birthday , rode it solidly for two years , then passed my driving test and it was consigned to the garage , still dirty

In the last couple of years , my interest in old skool bikes has resurfaced and I've started putting a little collection together of the bikes I lusted after as a kid. Don't get a chance to ride them much , but the fact that I know they are there in the garage is enough for me.

Today I pulled the old Marin out of the garage , and gave her a quick clean up. Gears seem ok , need a bit of work. Deore LX brakes still have the original LX pads

Wish I'd kept the old Marin roller stem , but back in the day everyone was swapping stems so now it's got a Profile one on it.

735 XT front and rear mechs ( but 400gs cranks lol :facepalm: ) Dia compe PC700 levers , Deore thumbies. Wolber AT 15 rim front and AT 18 rear ( which , weirdly enough I have no memory of putting on there , pretty sure it had Araya rims originally ) 730 XT pedals too !

Anyway , she needs a bit of tarting up , new decals and ill raid the parts bin for some nice bits but she rides lovely as is !

She's a lovely old bus,

Looking good, I'd keep her as is but change the crank.

Good old days

WD

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The more I look at modern bikes , the more I love the old ones.

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Cheered it up a bit today.

New grips , some old skool Onza bar ends painted and re-decalled , Charge Spoon saddle , Mt Christophe clips and straps and blue quick releases.

Going to pop some XT 734 brakes on it in the week , and some Charge amber wall Splashbacks. Will order some new decals too. To think that I peeled the 'bear valley' stickers off back in the day because I was ashamed of how low down the range it was ! :facepalm:

Zolatone is pretty much perfect though !

I'm in love again.