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

[shaun]

Welcorme to my latest project, a 1993 MARIN Eldridge Grade 17.5 inch frame. I normally restore retro Konas these days, but as a Marin Pine Mountain was my first serious mountain bike way back in 1993 I have had the urge to add one to my collection. It cost me around £800 back in the day and I remember it being a great bike to ride. It was used everyday to commute to work, train on in the evenings and then race on at weekends. It was well loved and used until one night on the way home from work, I was hit in the side by an old lady in a Skoda and ended up in hospital with a head, neck and leg injuy. The Pine Mountain was duly a write off. In those days, nobody wore a helmet luckily as I raced, I had to have one and thus wore it all the time. Luckily that day, according to the doctors, my smashed Specialized Sub Six Pro saved me from a very serious head injury. After I recovered, I bought another Marin to replace it, but after 4 different high end models, I gave up and bought a titanium Litespeed as the later Marins just didnt have that magic ride that the 1993 model had. So recently I have searched for a 93 Pine, but setled for a model lower, the Eldridge. The frames were identical, the main difference was the group set being DX, compared to XT on the Pine.

 

[shaun]

The first task is to clean and degrease the frame. I want to keep the frame as original as possible, so the only option is to retouch any marks and chips on the 20 year old paint. I have used aluminium paint on the silver areas, Matt battle ship grey model enamel paint on the dark grey and red pearl nail varnish on the Marin red bits.

 

[shaun]

As a Graphic Designer, I produced new graphics were needed, but only replacing what was needed to keep the frame as original as possible.

 

[shaun]

Recent purchases have been NOS in the box X-Lite ski bar ends, a mint and rare Marin lite 1993 bottle cage, 1993 Marin lite straight bars, 1993 XT front mech, Ritchey WCS foam grips, period XT bottom braket, XT index shifters, XT brake levers complete with the rubber jackets in mint condition and 1993 XT canti brakes. Luckily the frame came with the Marin lite quill stem, forks and original red seat post clamp. Getting there slowly....can't wait to ride it!

 

[shaun]

Wheels have been sent for building. They are mint Mavic 217 SUP and will be built with period XT hubs and DT stainless double butted spokes. Tyres will be a nearly NOS set of Marin Lite kevlar bead that I had in 1993 as a spare set for the Pine. I know that the wheels should be 238's but I can't find a mint set and love old 217's.

 

[gerryattrick]

I had a 93 EG in original condition and loved it. It was a bit too big for me so it had to go. One touch I really liked was the red anodized spoke nipples to match the stem and seat post clamp.

 

[Wold Ranger]

Marins

I always liked the machined drop outs on these, look really trick, they used to be (with the emphasis on used to be!) really great riding bikes, unlike the garbage they produce today.

 

[shaun]

.....you are right 'gerryattrick', my 93 Pine used to have purple nips to match the rest of the coloured bits. My 217s for this build though will just have DT brass nips for durability and so that I can also use these wheels on another bike as well where the red nips would not look right. 'Worldranger', I agree that the Ritchey machined dropouts are one of my favorite details on these frames. Is the reason this frame rode so well because Ritchey had a hand in the design? Not sure, but all I can remember is that all the later Marins I owned didn't come close to the 93's.

 

[PopsTrippin]

1993 was my fave year for Marins too and fortunate to have a couple in the cave. Yours looks nice already and looking forward to seeing the finished project.

Although all mine have the T6 bars instead of the ones yours have, I think the Thermo ones came out later in the year and featured on the '94 Marins as well.

Rich

 

[shaun]

The retro XT canti brake levers. They look virtually unused, but the rubber sleeve needs some silicone dressing. The quality and action feels really good.