1991 Marin Bear Valley.....'90's Bear Valleys are like buses

marin

well my brother is open to offers on his if anyone is interested, frame size is 17.5" i think? He's owned it since new. It needs a new chain/cassette and probably a new BB, as the original items are quite worn, but otherwise it's ready to roll.

cheers

Greig.

@Shaun - is that definitely a 93 Bear Valley? It looks looks like a different colour scheme to the one I had as a teenager....

@GMC - if that bike was a 20" frame I'd buy it off your bro' in a shot.....it's the SE version of the one I had as a teenager - I rode miles on that bike and it never let me down, loved it to bits!

Had these decals laser-cut by a friend this morning....I laid out the artworks for my Pine Mountain ages ago so all that was needed was to create an artwork for the Bear Valley text....I emailed him last night with the updated file and he dropped these round this afternoon.

Not sure how well these will stick - they're laser cut from exterior grade vinyl so should do the job *fingers crossed* As they were done as a favour they certainly cant be sniffed at!

Bit of progress on the BV.....swapped onto slicks for the road, fitted a new seat & marin bottle cage and fitted my m734 XT brakes (to replace the crap std cantis). Ridden it to work for a week and it feels a lot better to ride now.

Taking me a while to get used to "push-push" gears - might be on the look out for some "push - pull" sti's after payday, ideally some M095's (got these on the Pine Mountain and love 'em....)

When I get a free day I'm gonna strip the bike down and give everything a good clean, prior to fitting the new decals - it's in such good condition overall that I think that will probably be enough to getting it looking top notch again.....

Got the camera & light painting kit out a couple of nights ago, thought a moody low-key shot would suit the dark grey/black frame a treat........


bear valley by sherlylock, on Flickr

Had a free afternoon a few weekends ago so in the spring sunshine I took to the garden with my bike toolbox and the Bear Valley and completely stripped it down to give it a good cleaning.

Was pleasantly surprised with the state of the frame and the Zolatone paint. There is no chain suck damage, no damage to the chainstays from chain impact, minor rusting where the Zolatone has chipped. The only area of damage (which I was fully aware of when I bought it) is a dent/paint removal on one of the seat stays.

The only thing letting it down was the damage to the decals so I decided to strip the old Marin and Bear Valley decals off and replace with my new laser-cut versions. I've currently only done the worst side (hence the non-drive side photo). Since the photos were taken I've resprayed the handlebars gloss black and tarted up the shifters as they were quite faded. I'm keen to keep some degree of originality to the bike as it's in such good nick.......just an upgrade to the crappy brakes (not sure whether 400lx brakes are much cop but these were rubbish) and some slicks for the time being.

Replacement decals......

very nice. liking the new decals. could probaly do with some for mine

Slight update....finished off replacing the decals and have fitted some Marin Rockstar amberwalls (cheers Ringo!) - sidewalls are starting to perish but I reckon they'll be absolutely fine for light use.....now just waiting for a 500GS rear mech to turn up to replace the knackered one, need some foam grips and I need a pivot bush machining up for one of the brake levers.

Looks very nice indeed, I really need to crack on with my eldridge.

Any chance of a pc copy of those decals for future use?

That's very very nice, lovely condition.
Mine still looks like this http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... highlight= & the Rockstars are still holding up after 20 years :shock: Gonna put a Thudbuster seat-post on it I think, I hate getting older....................