1994 MARIN Bull Frog Trail build / rebuild save thread

[fguki]

Hi guys!

The last years I spent building vintage road bikes and several KLEIN Quantum Pros. Now its time to go back to the MTB 90s. I have always been a huge MARIN guy as well as KLEIN (of course). Had various Marins during the 90s and now found a 1994 Bull Frog Trail way south of Germany in pretty good condition!

At the moment, it has a full SHIMANO LX group set and got some minor changes from the previous owner in the past. It also still has the original Marin lite tires and handlebar. As you might know from various other sources or discussions, the Bull Frog Trail was the top Aluminium Model one step over the Indian Fire Trail with full SHIMANO XT group (I wonder why mine has a LX though? ) Only 800 of them have exclusively been made for the german / european market.

Plans & ideas in my head so far are: Putting several things back to catalogue specs but give it a full SHIMANO XTR M900 group set and Syncros stem + seat post. We will see! The bike will arrive next weekend.

In 1994, here in my area the Marin Rocky Ridge was 3.550 DM, the Indian Fire Trail was 3.800 DM and the Bull Frog Trail was almost 4.000 DM (1.596 Pounds then)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Specs list (up to latest post):

1.) Frame: 1994 MARIN "Bull Frog Trail"

2.) Forks: Marin Rockstar (original)

3.) Wheels: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 hubs + ARAYA RM-395 Team XC rims

4.) Tyres: 26" Panaracer Smoke

5.) Seatpost: Marin lite / Kalloy (original)

6.) Saddle: MARIN lite Team Titanium

7.) Stem: Answer A-Tac + Noodle

8.) Handlebar: MARIN lite T6 flatbar

9.) Grips: Ritchey

10.) Crankset: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 / FC-M900

11.) Bottom bracket: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 / BB-UN90

12.) Shifters: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 / ST-M900

13.) Front mech: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 / RD-M900 (DIY skewerless version)

14.) Rear mech: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 / RD-M900 (DIY skewerless version)

15.) Brakes: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900

16.) Brake Pads: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 cartridge version

17.) Pedals: SHIMANO Deore XT PD-M735

18.) Headset: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 / HS-M900

19.) Cables: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900

20.) Cassette: SHIMANO Deore XTR M900 / CS-M900

21.) Chain: SHIMANO Deore XTR / Dura-Ace HG

22.) Everything else: Ringle H2O bottle cages (2x), Ringle MoJo cantilever hanger, torquoise chainring screws, torquoise pulley wheels

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


(BIKE SOLD!!!) Latest picture and current status of the build (read more below and on the other pages):

 

[fguki]

Sneak peek! ...to be continued!

 

[fguki]

Surprisingly, this came with a 95% full SHIMANO LX group set. Maybe a special order of the 1st owner back in the day. This will be completely re-built with a full SHIMANO XTR M-900.

 

[malt]

Seeing as you’re going to change to XTR, would you be interested in selling the LX chainset?

 

[fearfactoryüberalles]

Very nice and it's gonna be a top end build! Oh, If you ever plan to sell the original parts, I'm after a pair of SLR LX STI Rapidfires, many thanks!

 

[fguki]

Thanks guys. To be honest, the full LX group (well, almost full) has been sold within 24 hours after putting up the ad. I will regret it when I stumble over another 1992 / 1993 Rocky Ridge build ;-) I already know it ;-) I also included a hub and the cassette for the buyer. He payed a good price to me though.

 

[fguki]

Fear Factory...great user name by the way! Im a huge fan too! ;-)

 

[fguki]

Stripped ...guess Ill have to start somewhere. Still unsure about the Syncros stem. I guess I will use the original blue. Not so spectacular. But I prefer a lot of things to be original and be very reserved with tuning-parts. Only have some in mind.

 

[fguki]

First parts have arrived: Cleaned the XTR levers and put a Ringle H2O on. Another one is on its way ...

 

[Mikeymo007]

Re:

That's a beautiful frame! Looking forward to seeing the progress.