I start by saying that I ride my bike mostly for travel, I like to keep some vintage bikes (expecialy road)to decorate my house or for a possible future revaluation.
I bought this Alpinestars MTB, full xtr 900 , and think marzocchi xc forks , I wanted to understand what model it was, looking at your site I understand that it could be a D735.
I am not clear on whether it is worth restoring the frame by polishing it and looking for its stickers, or whether to mount everything on a frame that is perhaps more valuable.
Please see pictures! The Nickel plating on the frame is so nice. I checked the rear drop outs and derailleur hanger with alignment tools; all is good. No dents, no rust, no flaking of plating of any kind. Serial numbers are clear and visible. Very slight oxidation inside the seat tube but a scouring pad and a drill will clean it up in a few strokes. The seat post (not original to the frame) pulled out with zero issues. Head tube is clean, bb threads and housing are good.
Ritchey Drop outs
BB housing: 68 mm
Head tube: 95 mm
1-1/8" head tube
Seat tube: 480 mm center bb housing to top of...
It's a nice frame, CroMo with True temper tubing for main frame and Tange for the rear.
Something which is pretty popular here in our retrobike bubble, also best days of Alpinestars bikes had been almost over already in 1994.
You may have found already the catalogs in the forum or Archive.
This is from the 1993 brochure
This is from a buyers guide showin the 1994 model (price is German DM, 3000DM is 1500€ but was quite expensive back in time).
The 94 model had a bit of a more matte finish, therefore and also on basis of the remaining decals on yours, it looks to me rather like a 1993 model.
Not sure why yours is with an XTR, because by default this bike came with XT, and this was the high-end CroMo bike, so nothing better available.
It's nickel plated, sometimes also called titanized, if you like something like a chrome-finish.
That's also a bit the issue with yours, this nickel plated finish, is different than a paint or lacquer, less resistant.
Especially the bikes not well looked after tend to corrode, like yours in the area above the bottom bracket.
If the nickel plating is already impacted by corrosion, it's often not possible any longer to clean.
Simple polishing with sand paper will kill the remaining plating, than you do not have any protection at all any longer.
It can not be restored, or only at very high costs, as nickel plating is nowadays not common any longer, as there are a lot of environmental permits.
I would give it a try with a vinegar-based cleaner, and decide than if the result is fine for you.
Maybe use than some kind of wax or oil to protect further corrosion.
Is the Marzocchi still working fine?
It's also a bit of efforts and costs to service the old fork. But especially for old Marzocchi forks there are still a few enthusiasts and most replacement parts are still available.
You could also consider to replace this with a rigid fork. To me this frame doesn't have a suspension corrected geometry, so you could use any other, ideally nickel plated, other rigid fork with typical crown to axis height of 395mm.
Yes, full xtr 900... the cassette too ! whells hubs xtr 900 rim araya rm 400 pro .
Let's say I bought it more for the parts than for the frame.
Marzocchi have need maintence , air parts i think is ok , but hydraulic no.
yes , problems this bike is corrosion ,Unfortunately you
confirm that it is nickel plated, yes it is not worth restoring it, I will clean the rust then I will see what to do with it , maibe drop bar for bike to work.
service the Marzocchi fork, which seems to be a well known XC600 oil/air suspension fork from 1994, is no problem at all.
Marzocchi's are rock solid forks and I'm proud to tell you that this is the only brand on this world having full seal & documentation support from 1989 - 2018.
