1993 MARIN Eldridge Grade - FINAL BUILD & FIRST RIDE PICS P3

[shaun]

Thanks for the encouraging comments Rich. I actually bought a T6 bar, but then the Thermo came up and just had to buy it for this project. Noticed that you have an actual 93 Pine that I was looking for, but had to settle for the Eldridge as I gave up looking for an original 93 Pine - look after yours as its a fantastic rare bike. Any chance you could post a picture of it on here?

 

[PopsTrippin]

Happy to oblige

Rich

 

[shaun]

Wow, that sure is a beautiful looking 93 Pine and brings back memories of mine. I loved the purple bits against the grey. Is it in original condition or have you restored it? Notice that you have the actual saddle and Marin Lite 120tpi kevlar bead tyres from the year - stunning! I remember having to change the Marin Lite saddle (with purple rails) for a more comfy ti railed WTB sst which I still have.

 

[PopsTrippin]

I rebuilt it to original condition after sourcing all the parts (Big thanks to CaptainCosmic). Luckily most parts were in good condition, just needing a polish or a touch up with the magic nail varnish. I've just got to get the purple nipples for the wheels and then it's done.

Rich

 

[shaun]

I still have the seat post and ti railed WTB saddle from my old Pine, so I have dug it out to use on this project. The leather on the saddle had holes in it through wear and use, so I bought a quality piece of offcut leather from a car upholsters for £1 and after peeling the old one off, carefully glued and shaped on my new cover. Not an easy job, but quite satisfying when done, especially when a new one now costs arount £70! The frame came with the original red Marin Lite (Ringle look-a-like) seat post clamp, which was a nice surprise and bonus. It had a few chips, but I've touched then in now.

 

[shaun]

Tonights job was to polish up the rear 1993 XT canti brakes and replace the old worn pads with some new red Kool Stop pads. I remember these being fantastic with Mavics back then and found this old pair right at the bottom of my parts bin. Can't believe how well these 20 year old cantis polish up with a fair bit of elbow grease and Autosol - they look almost new. Makes you wonder why Shimano paint bits grey or black now, suppose its because when the paint is scuffed and chipped you are supposed to replace and not just polish! The bonus with these cantis is that they came with the original dome shaped rare chromed bolts which match the shape of the canti perfectly - NICE!

 

[shaun]

Just arrived today, new old stock 11-28 XT cassette - should do the job at the back end!

 

[benbonty]

Tonights job was to polish up the rear 1993 XT canti brakes

I don't wish to be annoying and I doubt you care, but those are DX cantilevers. The label is raised on the XT version, and the pad mounting hardware is different.

 

[shaun]

I don't wish to be annoying and I doubt you care, but those are DX cantilevers. The label is raised on the XT version, and the pad mounting hardware is different.

Thanks for the comment and interest benbonty. I love that fact that there is always something new to learn about retro bikes. When I bought my Pine 20 years ago, I beleived it to be XT equiped and thus have thought this type of canti brake to be an XT. So I've just dug out my original 1993 Marin brochure that I've had for 20 years and the spec is listed as XT brake levers with no mention of the canti brakes, a fact that I hadnt noticed before. But even though they are DX, I still think they look great!

 

[PopsTrippin]

M734 and M650 do look very similar though and only somebody in the know would know the difference. Paint the mounting hardware black and you'll get away with it.

Keep up the good work