1988 Marin Pine ... Forest?

A while back I picked up an '88 Pine Mountain; it was one I nearly bought back in the day and still had a hankering for.

These were high up in the Marin hierarchy back then - made of lugged heat treated tange prestige. The one I got was sound but not good paintwise, so the plan was to turn it into a stealthy, practical woods bike for kicking around and camping.



So it's been coated green and some leafy patterns stencilled on; the rest of the build is black/silver themed with a nod to the old Ritchey Commandos. Wheels I built myself from some Mavic M6/7 CDs and good ol' M730 hubs.

I've got two set ups: one is Bullmoose with big levers and phat high density grips stylee.



This is great fun for knocking around with the kids on local trails, but not really comfy enough for longer rides with camping gear.



So to remedy this, and to replace an old 'Dale I stupidly sold, I've also put together a Dirt Drop front end. This uses flared Specialized BB1s, and non aero 105 levers; shifting is taken care of with Suntour XC thumbies. I prefer these to barend shifters as the cable runs are neater. Bar wrap is Neubaums and twine, a la Rivendell.





So far its proved comfy and smooth and no too hefty. Looking forward to taking it on an overnighter when time and weather allows. I'm digging the old school blackburn rack: this will allow a tent toll and a big Carradice saddle bag.

Looking good How do you find the shifters mounted like that, functionally? I'm undecided between Barcons, Suntour Butterfly, or maybe something like you've done there

I'm finding the shifters work very well. I previously had them on (under) the flat section of the bar, but that was a compromise. This way you can wrangle things from the drops or hoods.

I quite like butterflys, but they take up quite a bit of room; there might be some wishbone shifters that could be made to fit the wider diameter bars too.