1990 Marin Pine Mountain. *Update 27/7/16*.

Picked this little beauty up after a ebay watch tip-off. Took a gamble whilst under the influence and am very glad I did.

I've been after a 1990 Marin ever since I found RB as I always wondered if I made the right choice bitd when I got a 1989 Tufftrax and my mate got a 1990 Palisades on the same day.

Having cast an eye over various Eldridge, Bear Valleys and Palisades in 1990 and 91 flavours I realised that only a PM or Team would do. My friend has a Mint 91 PM so I really wanted a 90.

I've picked up a few over the years but they've always been a little too far gone. As I've often stated I'm only really interested in original paint work in good condition these days and Zolatone has a habit of looking tired quickly and is especially hard to recreate effectively.

To be honest I expected this one to be another below the required standard but was very happily surprised when my friend dropped it off. Turns out the pictures did not do it justice and bar a couple of badly replaced parts it's about as good as you could expect a 25 year old used bike to be. Most of the decals are still intact, the Zolatone is in good shape, even on the top tube which is usually the first place to wear, the orange is bright + deep and all the original parts are in very good condition.

Plan is simply to strip it right down, give it a deep clean and then replace any non stock parts with what should be there. Think I'm going to enjoy this one.

Re:

Nice. Orange doesn't look faded at all

Glad it's given you some retro mojo too

Re: 1990 Marin Pine Mountain.

Oooooooo......nice!

Re: 1990 Marin Pine Mountain.

Very nice! That was a bargain wasn't it

Re: 1990 Marin Pine Mountain.

Very nice. Bit gutted i never saw this first. Late to the party as always. My Pine is out there somewhere

Re:

Thanks all. It's a strange one this as most of the bike seems hardly used but at some point it's been ridden enough to require a new front shifter, front wheel and saddle (Although the replacement looks period correct so probably changed bitd). The original DX headset and bottom bracket are both nice and smooth, the seat post moves freely and shows very little wear. The rear hub and front mech are non standard but period correct LX and my mate Beavis, who has the 91 PM, thinks the Zolatone is darker then his old Palisades so we wonder if it's a bit of a end of season parts bin bike? Who knows.

I think the rest of the parts can probably be put down to someone deciding to get the old bike at the back of the garage up and running again. Parts that have been damaged during years of being moved from one side of the garage to the other replaced on the cheap and perished tyres replaced. That's my best guess anyway.

Here's a few more pictures I forgot to put up last night.

Re: 1990 Marin Pine Mountain.

haggis":lvavx8iv said:

Very nice. Bit gutted i never saw this first. Late to the party as always. My Pine is out there somewhere

Click to expand...

Don't worry mate, I change my mind on what retro to keep more then I change my pants so if I ever move it on you can have first dibs.

Re: 1990 Marin Pine Mountain.

brocklanders023":3ed4ia8y said:

haggis":3ed4ia8y said:

Very nice. Bit gutted i never saw this first. Late to the party as always. My Pine is out there somewhere

Click to expand...

Don't worry mate, I change my mind on what retro to keep more then I change my pants so if I ever move it on you can have first dibs.

Click to expand...

I like the sound of that. I'm pretty sure you and i have been chasing one of these for the same length of time.

Re:

Quick update for this. I scored a bike locally with decent tyres so now they live on the Marin. Not a lot else has changed except removing the reflectors, replacing the saddle with a temporary modern thing and re positioning the bars. Once I get the correct front wheel and replacement shifter I hope to find time to give it a strip down and rebuild.

Re:

Here it is with it's mate, Beavis' 1991 Pine Mountain.

It is now sporting a matching pair of RM20/DX wheels and a pair of tidy Marin Pro Combo's so only needs a Marin saddle and front DX shifter/lever to be complete. When I have all the parts I'll give it a deep clean.