Marin Pine Mountain Browning

[al]

From memory they're also USA built? Boy"O"Boy's thread has lots of info.

This the one from Harrogate?

Yes

al.

 

[al]

al.

 

[brocklanders023]

Yes

al.

Nice! From memory the suspension adjusters actually work a bit, which is rare?

 

[vtwinvince]

I wouldn't have kicked that out of my garage either. Very cool.

 

[Bearvalley90]

That is an awesome bike; always loved the look of it with the browning fork in the catalogue all those years ago

 

[boy"O"boy]

From memory they're also USA built? Boy"O"Boy's thread has lots of info.

This the one from Harrogate?

Thanks Ed.
Yes. I believe they were USA built but there's some mention in my own Marin Pine Mountain Browning thread that prototypes like the one Paul Hinton is riding in the January 1991 MBUK are UK built. I've messaged Marin directly to see if they know more, but no response. I did think the Frame numbers may give some sort of clue to the factory of Manufacture (i.e Marvel) but they seem to be more related to a small batch code.

My own one is M 91 06 0050

The Browning forks were a one year only option on the Pine and Team. The Pine also being built from Prestige tubing rather than the usual Tange butted tubes for this bike.
I'll get a few close up shots.

al.

@al Looking good Al.

For a Prestige tubed bike, these aren't the lightest and feel slightly front end heavy - probably due to the fork.
Definitely one of the rarest Marins out there and the only one to feature a 1 1/4" headtube. The extra effort that Marin invested to design the frame specifically for the Browning Suspension fork has to be applauded. Even it did pursue a dead -end in suspension design, Marin was one of the only mainstream manufacturers to launch a product using this design. Muddy fox and GT made a few prototypes, but only Marin and Fusion actually sold bikes that featured the Browning Fork.
Ultimately, the design was doomed as you had to manufacture frames with specific geometry to use this fork, and designs from Rock Shox or Manitou could be added to normal frames without too much alteration. Without investment and take up from the Major players, the inventor who had links to the design of the Concord front landing gear took his own life after investing everything.

There's been a couple of other examples show up as far afield as Australia, so this could have been marketed Globally rather than UK centric....although there does seem to be more examples in the UK. There's not even a full picture of it in the 1992 Catalogue - just a small pic that say's it's an option on the Pine Mountain and Team, but I wouldn't class this set-up as an option over the standard models. There is a lot of effort involved to produce a frame with completely different geometry as opposed to just adding a fork. Interesting that all known examples are all the same frame size too. 19" - definitely point towards small batch production rather than catering for all sizes.

Those looking for more info, my thread is here -

Thread 'boy"O"boy's 1992 Marin Pine Mountain / Browning suspension'

Feb 6, 2018

Hi All.

Thought I'd start a thread on this one. 2nd project of 2018 out of my plan of 4!

Bought back in February last year, Initially it was intended to be a parts donor for another build. He's the initial 'outing' and discussion from the eBay/marketplace watch -

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=362512&p=2705821#p2705821

It soon became apparent that there aren't many of these about, so change of plan and go with a full restoration build on this one....

Bought new from Ben Hayward cycles in 1992 - it was a one owner from new bike. Years of having other bikes stored on top of it in a...

• boy"O"boy
• Replies: 109
• Forum: Reader's MTBs --> 1997

Watching with interest Al. - If you ever decide to service the fork, I'll let you go 1st! The DO NOT OPEN sticker puts me off from investigating further!!

Cheers.
boy"O"boy

 

[retrobikeguy]

mine was confirmed as made by swallow (ironbridge), made on the hush they say

and the gt with its own dropouts

 

[al]

Yes I won't be meddling with the fork, especially as it happily goes up and down...which is nice!
I very rarely get involved in the greasy bits of bikes, as I need adult supervision to help me open a packet of biscuits.

al.