After seeing one of my old frames beginning a new life on here I thought I'd pop up a few I've rebuilt over the last 12 months -I bought my first, a 95 Marin Bear Valley SE, about this time last year, since then I've had a great time rebuilding the frames/rides I've picked up. Today I also accepted, in the shape of a 94 Team Marin, I may have a small addiction issue to deal with...
The first picture has the 2 bikes I ride the most. The one on the left is a 94 Marin Team Issue; I actually got the frame and fork from someone who came to buy my 93 Marin Pine Mountain -which I could not get on with for some reason. The frame was in excellent condition, the decals are incomplete but I can live with that for now. I just need a XTR wheelset for it and a set of M900 canti's (always listed in the wanted section). I'm a sucker for amber-walls and run Classic Dart and Smoke on all my bikes from the 90's -they're super cheap from Germany. The seat-post is actually from a Nakamura Comp Lite which I picked up, that’s an interesting bike in itself.
On the right is the first 95 Marin Bear Valley SE I bought. I still have the second one so I decided to just build this out with age appropriate kit and just have a bit of fun with it. I had it stripped and powdercoated in 'steel'. The decals are a 92 BVSE set (as I recall) because, frankly, Marin took a wrong turn with their branding after 93. The kit is all XT other than the wheelset which are (I think) recent, de-badged, CrossMax from my 96 Indian Fire Trail. Some of the decals didn’t make it past the first weekend away, where it was ridden pretty hard, for now they’re just hanging on. I really like this frame and the added weight makes the front end much less jittery than the Issue which I think really needs a suspension fork.
At the bottom are a few of the builds I’ve had to move on, mainly for size reasons, there's a 93 Nail Trail -did not like at all, a 89/90 Bolinas Ridge -it really was still that bright and the 93 Pine Mountain that I couldn't get on with. I really wanted to keep the Cindercone, it’s definitely a bike I’ll try to get again, but it was just a little too small.
All of my Zolatones are in pieces, the 90 Team Marin is first on the list for a rebuild. I'm also toying whether to have one of the Pines resprayed in the European/US alternative colours since the Zolatone is in a bad way. Decisions, decisions.
I'd also like to say thanks to all of the RetroBikers on here that have helped out over the last 11, nearly 12, months.
The first picture has the 2 bikes I ride the most. The one on the left is a 94 Marin Team Issue; I actually got the frame and fork from someone who came to buy my 93 Marin Pine Mountain -which I could not get on with for some reason. The frame was in excellent condition, the decals are incomplete but I can live with that for now. I just need a XTR wheelset for it and a set of M900 canti's (always listed in the wanted section). I'm a sucker for amber-walls and run Classic Dart and Smoke on all my bikes from the 90's -they're super cheap from Germany. The seat-post is actually from a Nakamura Comp Lite which I picked up, that’s an interesting bike in itself.
On the right is the first 95 Marin Bear Valley SE I bought. I still have the second one so I decided to just build this out with age appropriate kit and just have a bit of fun with it. I had it stripped and powdercoated in 'steel'. The decals are a 92 BVSE set (as I recall) because, frankly, Marin took a wrong turn with their branding after 93. The kit is all XT other than the wheelset which are (I think) recent, de-badged, CrossMax from my 96 Indian Fire Trail. Some of the decals didn’t make it past the first weekend away, where it was ridden pretty hard, for now they’re just hanging on. I really like this frame and the added weight makes the front end much less jittery than the Issue which I think really needs a suspension fork.
At the bottom are a few of the builds I’ve had to move on, mainly for size reasons, there's a 93 Nail Trail -did not like at all, a 89/90 Bolinas Ridge -it really was still that bright and the 93 Pine Mountain that I couldn't get on with. I really wanted to keep the Cindercone, it’s definitely a bike I’ll try to get again, but it was just a little too small.
All of my Zolatones are in pieces, the 90 Team Marin is first on the list for a rebuild. I'm also toying whether to have one of the Pines resprayed in the European/US alternative colours since the Zolatone is in a bad way. Decisions, decisions.
I'd also like to say thanks to all of the RetroBikers on here that have helped out over the last 11, nearly 12, months.
