1990 marin bear valley

Love these.....I was lucky to pick one up in similar original condition a few months back. I've got a few differences to yours - my cranks are black (400lx) and the brakes that I've taken off looked different to yours too. Might be worth a comparison of serial numbers to see whether they're of a similar age.....?

My wheels are definitely non-original though so future upgrade is to swap them out. Def. agree that black rims work really well.

you could be right it being a 1990. i had a 1990 palisades, but this looks darker than what i remember, so thats why i listed it as a 1990.
it definatly had white decals though.

after rechecking it has got exage 400 through out.

it also has the 'race bred' on the rear stays.

the serial number is M9140403

lovely!......steve, im glad im not the only one to attempt purchases from random unsuspecting commuters!....

very nice bike!

dkdaz":14eyhaey said:

you could be right it being a 1990. i had a 1990 palisades, but this looks darker than what i remember, so thats why i listed it as a 1990.
it definatly had white decals though.

after rechecking it has got exage 400 through out.

it also has the 'race bred' on the rear stays.

the serial number is M9140403

Click to expand...

I seem to remember the 90 BV having darker zolatone to the rest of the range. Also, as I mentioned 90's had thinner seat stays with race bred on them, the 91 was thicker with Afterburner on them.

it must be a 1990 then. will have to edit the original post then!!

thanks

I'm so glad the frame is a 17.5", as otherwise my wife would kill for that bike.

She has NEVER forgiven me for persuading her to sell hers, years ago. It was so worn out, everything needed replacing, and it would have cost three times more than the bike was worth.

Nice find, I shall have to start visiting cash converters.

I had one of these as my first bike way back in 1991- lovely although i do remember the shifters self detonating on the third ride!
Mine was a Bear Valley SE- cant remember what was different to a standard one.
In my gallery i have some pics of when i upgraded it and eventually resprayed it.
Great bike, i used to go everywhere on it- great memories

To think that mine once looked like this. Mine's a 1990, recently pressed back into service after lying in the shed for best part of a decade, and hadn't seen regular use since mid-90s.

Is now a rust-bucket commuter but I've warmed to its beat-up look. Seeing pics of well-preserved ones has encouraged me to spruce it up a bit.

Currently has some cheap chain ring set of which only the middle one can be accessed, so limited to about five gears (I have a short commute).

Has those Scott full wrap-around lo-pro handlebars, with no tape left on them. We thought they were cool back then but you never see them now.

Front wheel so buckled that braking is hazardous. All rims worn to concave.

Might fix the front derailleur, get a new front wheel. New pedals (cheap ones) currently in the post.

Never saw myself saying this when I dug it out of the shed a year ago but I might put it back on the trails yet.

--

That's in great nick btw. I'm envious. You seem to be implying that the 1990 didn't have black rims? Pretty certain mine did. I got a set of Ground Control 1.95s fitted by the dealer (it's all coming back now). Those handlebar grips don't look like mine and also pretty sure mine are originals, and just to be really annoying, yours seems to be missing 'Marin' in white letters descending each of the forks.

It does look like a 1990 though. Instant-recognition moment. That's the bike that was the envy of my school biking community in the spring of that year. The next best thing were a couple of 89-Rockhoppers.

Wondering what would be a current near-equivalent wheel to the original Arayas because I need a new one?

Also, what's the current rough equivalent of Shimano Exage 400 LX; I need a new front mech

Anyone know? Thanks.

Yes, it's a 1990 and exactly as mine was when I bought it - from memory, including the black rims

WD