I really can't remember when I bought this, who, or where I bought it from - somewhere in the US, and probably from eBay I think. It seems to have been patiently hanging from various nails and hooks around the garage for ages. It's only very recently that I started to picture what the completed bike would actually look like, which is likely the reason why it was ignored for so long.
I contacted Litespeed for build dates, and they very quickly replied with a date of March 1991, and also that it was destined for the US market. As such, the decals differ slightly from the UK and European versions. The differences between this model and the previous year's is that this sees the introduction of an 1 1/8th head tube, and the dropouts are instantly recognisable as Marin's own design rather than Litespeed's - the rest is basically the same. This is among the last to be produced which were polished, as Litespeed realised the benefit of blasting the weld points to relieve stress.
The frame isn't mint, and as you can see it's been ridden pretty hard at times. There are plenty of scars underneath, and the chain damage to the chainstay is quite harsh just behind the chainrings. I've sanded this back using various grades of paper, and all the sharp bits have gone! It'll never be new again, but there's no terminal damage - just surface scars. Unlike my earlier Marin, I won't be sending this frame to be professionally polished. Instead, I'll be hand polishing it, and trying to retain a degree of patina as I actually want to ride this one. If I go too far, then it'll be a garage queen.
Anyway, I'll let the build thread uncover the final vision, as I gather and modify all the necessary bits.
Pictures aren't great. I'll use a better camera next time...
The only decal that it came with is the seat tube one. This is the same one used for UK/Europe/US markets.
Some bits are really clean, and will make the hand polishing a doddle...
You can just make out the outline of where the original Marin down tube decal was.
I contacted Litespeed for build dates, and they very quickly replied with a date of March 1991, and also that it was destined for the US market. As such, the decals differ slightly from the UK and European versions. The differences between this model and the previous year's is that this sees the introduction of an 1 1/8th head tube, and the dropouts are instantly recognisable as Marin's own design rather than Litespeed's - the rest is basically the same. This is among the last to be produced which were polished, as Litespeed realised the benefit of blasting the weld points to relieve stress.
The frame isn't mint, and as you can see it's been ridden pretty hard at times. There are plenty of scars underneath, and the chain damage to the chainstay is quite harsh just behind the chainrings. I've sanded this back using various grades of paper, and all the sharp bits have gone! It'll never be new again, but there's no terminal damage - just surface scars. Unlike my earlier Marin, I won't be sending this frame to be professionally polished. Instead, I'll be hand polishing it, and trying to retain a degree of patina as I actually want to ride this one. If I go too far, then it'll be a garage queen.
Anyway, I'll let the build thread uncover the final vision, as I gather and modify all the necessary bits.
Pictures aren't great. I'll use a better camera next time...
The only decal that it came with is the seat tube one. This is the same one used for UK/Europe/US markets.
Some bits are really clean, and will make the hand polishing a doddle...
You can just make out the outline of where the original Marin down tube decal was.
