Team Marin - Fluted down tube - now with pics

I've just been given an old bike which I think is a Team Marin, early 90's. A friend who knows I like old bikes saw it down his local tip and asked if he could have it.

It has a chrome/nickel finish with a fluted down tube. Without pics, any ideas on whether this could be genuine and what year it could be?

UPDATE


The pics make it look better than it is but I'm still chuffed to bits with it. I'm certain it's a Team Marin.

Ive got too much on my plate to do anything with it for while so I'm going to renovate it after the summer and spend the time planning to do it right, so I'll be posting plenty of questions about the best way forward.

Definitely steel, possibly nickel plated ??

marin

team issue bikes started to look shiney in 1993- although naturally rather than chromed.
if no pics available ask for the groupset spec, rims etc..

and, we will be right on the case sir!

It's been highly modified, but eclectic mix of kit includes XTR F & R mechs, gripshift, Cook Bros racing cranks with Hope rings, Hope hubs with ceramic Mavic rims, crappy steel seat post stuck in seat tube. Front suspension is Rock Shox titanium, with arch missing and the frame has been adapted & fitted with early Hope disk brakes. In other words not sure what is original!

Didn't have magnet to see if tubes are titanium, but they look more like chrome as there's a bit of rust around the bottom bracket.

the ribbed downtube is tange ultimate super-whatsits tubing. so run through the catalogues in the archive and find out which. i cant at the moment on the DSi.
serial number tends to give a lot of the game away on these, also the gear cable stops will be on the headtube, aiming down the downtube.
it is steel

gerryattrick":1g0xtemz said:

Didn't have magnet to see if tubes are titanium, but they look more like chrome as there's a bit of rust around the bottom bracket.

Click to expand...

rust was an issue on those marin team issues that had been nickle plated. a good friend of mine had 2 under warranty.

Update bump

A challenge but nice

That will clean up real nice that will :shock:

what a find

If you ever want to pass on it, that's my sort of mishmash 'real' retro build I would have ended up with.

Obvioulsy been to the welders for disc enhancment as well. Quite nice and interesting as it's something I've never looked at.

EDIT I should say, call it Team Issue as it's the same frame as Team Marin
Also my 'guesstimate' is 1992 then the Team Issue is the only one of the two in that finish.

I'm guesstimating 1992, but would need the Marin Team experts to tell you or your serial code maybe, why 1992, well the first year they used 'Ultimate' tubing and the next years they used Ultralight tubing, which although an Ultimate tubing (Tange Ultimate Ultralight), it wasn't 'ribbed' (being their actual technical term, not fluted ). But Ultimate in 1992 could be Ultimate Ultrastrong.

FluffyChicken":3653bjz7 said:

If you ever want to pass on it, that's my sort of mishmash 'real' retro build I would have ended up with.

Obvioulsy been to the welders for disc enhancment as well. Quite nice and interesting as it's something I've never looked at.

EDIT I should say, call it Team Issue as it's the same frame as Team Marin
Also my 'guesstimate' is 1992 then the Team Issue is the only one of the two in that finish. But I've never seen anything about ribbed/ fluted tubes on Marins

I'm guesstimating 1992, but would need the Marin Team experts to tell you or your serial code maybe, why 1992, well the first year they used 'Ultimate' tubing and the next years they used Ultralight tubing, which although an Ultimate tubing (Tange Ultimate Ultralight), it wasn't 'ribbed' (being their actual technical term, not fluted ). But Ultimate in 1992 could be Ultimate Ultrastrong.

Click to expand...

I was wondering about Team Issue as that looks more like the frame in the 92 brochure.

The Frame number is difficult to read with a bit of rust around it but I think it reads CF540 then E or 1, which doesn't match with what I've seen on another thread.

I'm not sure about the disc brake weld on the back, it looks a bit ugly, but I don't know whether it's possible for an engineer to get it off without frame damage - but that's a decision for the future. Also not sure if more modern disc brakes will work with that weld-on - how standard are the specs?

Some of the problems I've come across so far are:

1. A bit of rust, not too bad and mostly around the bottom bracket. Is it possible/expensive to get frames re-nickel coated?

2. The seatpost is a steel cheapie, with a shim (not alloy). It looks as if it doesn't go in too far but I know it's going to be a b**t**d to remove. Again no hurry as I don't want to do any damage.

3. Never had Cook Bros Racing cranks before and I'm having a slight problem getting them off. Got the fixing nut loose with no problem but then there's resistance. There's some kind of washer in there with two holes that look as if they are to loosen it. Don't want to force anything as these cranks are too good to damage. Any suggestions please?

4. Fork completely dead - the right side drop-out has sheared off, the bridge is missing, and no oil at all - other than that in good condition . May look for a similar fork or parts to rebuild this one.

It only cost a few beers as a thank-you for my friend so I don't mind spending a fair bit on it to get it right.