2000 Marin Mount Vision Build
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Ok so not having a build thread, I'm hijacking this one with some more hot Marin FS action!
THREE lockdown rebuilds later, a donor bike and some hilariously cheap ebay disc brakes gives me a very useful bicycle.
The different geometry of the DH over the Mt. Vision gives two totally different rides. The shorter swing arm of the Mt. V feels better at climbing whereas the sofa like DH is, er, good for going, ahem, 'down hill'
Sadly the Mt. Vision shock is pooped and is not going to be replaced or serviced anytime soon, so its back into the shed it goes for the time being.
Heres 3 builds and essentially 3 different bicycles
*and you can see where I tidied the garden too!
THREE lockdown rebuilds later, a donor bike and some hilariously cheap ebay disc brakes gives me a very useful bicycle.
The different geometry of the DH over the Mt. Vision gives two totally different rides. The shorter swing arm of the Mt. V feels better at climbing whereas the sofa like DH is, er, good for going, ahem, 'down hill'
Sadly the Mt. Vision shock is pooped and is not going to be replaced or serviced anytime soon, so its back into the shed it goes for the time being.
Heres 3 builds and essentially 3 different bicycles
*and you can see where I tidied the garden too!
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hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Very nice - love the orange swing arm on the B17
Took mine out for a quick spin yesterday on the Mendips and still pretty besotted with it.
After a fair bit of tweaking and tinkering I'm finally very happy with the suspension front and rear. I started off a bit too firm on the grounds that no-one likes climbing on a wallowy bike. Slackening things off and adding a bit more rebound damping has made it feel less skittish on the down hills (so would fitting a short stem and wider bars, but this is a retrobike dammit!).
Still climbs really well though, not sure if it's my imagination but seems you can feel the rear end stiffen up under power in the granny ring up front, which I like, and I can routinely clear several technical sections I rarely manage on a hardtail.
You still have to watch line choice pretty carefully on downhills and the low bar height means you have to be pretty active shifting your weight right back or hopping small drops and holes - if the front wheel smooshes into one of these with your weight forward on the bars it's not much fun! I've pushed it right to the limit of my capabilities a couple of times now and while the bike's rescued me it's definitely not forgiving of inattention or small mistakes. As long as you keep that in the back of your mind before hooning it down a trail that's OK with me though, it makes for a very engaging ride and is great fun.
Something about the bike makes you really want to give it some beans on the flats and climbs (probably the low bars and bar ends - almost feels like riding a road bike on the trails). Obviously a bike's only as fast as the rider sat on it, but I've managed some pretty good Strava placements on these sort of sections. On the DH bits I'm still decidedly middle of the pack, but that's definitely more to do with the rider than the bike!
I gave it a good fettle the other weekend and mechanically it feels like a brand new bike - braking & shifting are spot on, and it all runs tight and quiet. Although it was built as a chuck-in-the-back-of-the-car bike to use after work, it's turned out rather special.
The only compromise remaining is seat height. I've currently got it a bit lower (bit less than 1") than full pedal efficiency height, or proper downhills become terrifying. When I'm climbing I wish i was that smidge higher. When I'm descending I wish the saddle was a bit further back on the rails, but 1) I feel nice and centred on the bike the rest of the time as it is 2) moving the saddle back will make the already perceptible front wheel lift more of a handful on the climbs 3) on really steep brown-trousers sections it would make it harder to get right off the back of the bike so the saddle's in my stomach. So I think it's staying where it is.
Keep telling myself I'm not buying a dropper post for this bike, it was supposed to be a budget build... probably helps that you don't see many 30mm ones around!
Took mine out for a quick spin yesterday on the Mendips and still pretty besotted with it.
After a fair bit of tweaking and tinkering I'm finally very happy with the suspension front and rear. I started off a bit too firm on the grounds that no-one likes climbing on a wallowy bike. Slackening things off and adding a bit more rebound damping has made it feel less skittish on the down hills (so would fitting a short stem and wider bars, but this is a retrobike dammit!).
Still climbs really well though, not sure if it's my imagination but seems you can feel the rear end stiffen up under power in the granny ring up front, which I like, and I can routinely clear several technical sections I rarely manage on a hardtail.
You still have to watch line choice pretty carefully on downhills and the low bar height means you have to be pretty active shifting your weight right back or hopping small drops and holes - if the front wheel smooshes into one of these with your weight forward on the bars it's not much fun! I've pushed it right to the limit of my capabilities a couple of times now and while the bike's rescued me it's definitely not forgiving of inattention or small mistakes. As long as you keep that in the back of your mind before hooning it down a trail that's OK with me though, it makes for a very engaging ride and is great fun.
Something about the bike makes you really want to give it some beans on the flats and climbs (probably the low bars and bar ends - almost feels like riding a road bike on the trails
). Obviously a bike's only as fast as the rider sat on it, but I've managed some pretty good Strava placements on these sort of sections. On the DH bits I'm still decidedly middle of the pack, but that's definitely more to do with the rider than the bike! I gave it a good fettle the other weekend and mechanically it feels like a brand new bike - braking & shifting are spot on, and it all runs tight and quiet. Although it was built as a chuck-in-the-back-of-the-car bike to use after work, it's turned out rather special.
The only compromise remaining is seat height. I've currently got it a bit lower (bit less than 1") than full pedal efficiency height, or proper downhills become terrifying. When I'm climbing I wish i was that smidge higher. When I'm descending I wish the saddle was a bit further back on the rails, but 1) I feel nice and centred on the bike the rest of the time as it is 2) moving the saddle back will make the already perceptible front wheel lift more of a handful on the climbs 3) on really steep brown-trousers sections it would make it harder to get right off the back of the bike so the saddle's in my stomach. So I think it's staying where it is.
Keep telling myself I'm not buying a dropper post for this bike, it was supposed to be a budget build... probably helps that you don't see many 30mm ones around!
Attachments
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Only remaining question is, should I flip that stem for even more arse up head down goodness...
That has come out really nice, I have just picked up a 1998 Mt Vision in pretty good original condition. Yellow torque tube (updated) and orange Manitou SX-Rs.
Was going to keep it original but looking at yours I may do it black and chrome. Swap the forks our for some black ones, spray the torque tube black (it's a bit tatty anyway) and go with chrome rims and black tyres. mmmmm
another lockdown project.
Was going to keep it original but looking at yours I may do it black and chrome. Swap the forks our for some black ones, spray the torque tube black (it's a bit tatty anyway) and go with chrome rims and black tyres. mmmmm
another lockdown project.
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Re:
You can't really go wrong with black / silver, it always looks pretty good.
I actually really like the orange swing arm, fork & stem OEM combo too, but it does kind of date the bike! Almost went with a fire engine red swing arm, forks & stem on this build, but in the end think I made the right choice with the black.
You can't really go wrong with black / silver, it always looks pretty good.
I actually really like the orange swing arm, fork & stem OEM combo too, but it does kind of date the bike! Almost went with a fire engine red swing arm, forks & stem on this build, but in the end think I made the right choice with the black.
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Re:
Jim, let's see some piccies of yours! Are you going to do a build thread?
Jim, let's see some piccies of yours! Are you going to do a build thread?
