1991 Marin Team Marin

For my next project I've bought a 1991 Team Marin from eBay. Bizarrely it was advertised as a "Vintage Specialized" because "that was the make of pedals and saddle" :facepalm:

This is what they looked like when they were new.



And this is what it looked like when I bought it.



I've spent a few hours taking it to bits and there's been very few horrors. The seat post wasn't even stuck! Removing the bottom bracket was the most painful but I got there in the end.

More pictures and updates to follow.

Looking at the cable routing and fork colour it looks like the Pine Mountain, or maybe a faded Eldridge Grade. What cranks are on it?

Re:

If you mean the headtube stops...

Team was like that for that year. The serial will be M1 and the fork legs look right for a team model.

Have a look Jim.

Was referring to the top routed rear mech cable.

Curious, i know catalogues are sometimes wrong, wondering why the catalogue pic has top tube routed rear mech while other models have the chainstay routed rear :?

Re: Re:

marc two tone":2ntt5op8 said:

If you mean the headtube stops...

Team was like that for that year. The serial will be M1 and the fork legs look right for a team model.

Have a look Jim.

Click to expand...

Hi, yeah the serial is M11BE0047, and it's all Deore XT, except the rear mech which is a newer Deore LX model (obviously replaced at some point).

Cheers,

Jim

Here are some more pictures.

I wonder what happened to all the decals, the only one intact was one US flag by seat post and I've since peeled it off. I like the detailing around the mech hanger. My Pine Mountain didn't have anything like that.



The forks are a mess. Faded and scratched.



There's a small dent in the chainstay which was hidden under the sharkfin. I don't think it's anything to worry about though.



The bars have been cut down to 500mm which is too short :x. They'll need to be replaced.



Nice XT Hubs which are surprisingly smooth.



The rims must have been replaced at some point, they're now Mavic 517s and are in great condition. In fact the wheels may be worth more than I paid for the bike



The mechs have cleaned up quite well, they were filthy but I think I'll replace the LX with a period correct XT.



That's all for now.

Re:

Good one.

Nice pick up

Re:

That's conclusive then. Nice one!

Decals loss could be down to owt. Age or owner preference.

It's a dark art to understand why marin have all manner of variations to models, way they are constructed, inconsistent stuff right through at least a decade.

Wookiee...had the same bike, same question Marks, but serial number sorts it.