1993 MARIN Titanium FRS Build

[rothaz]

My pin up bike as a young teenager had always been the 93 Marin Titianium FRS. It was impossibly inaccessible - retailing for around USD $5,000, which inflation adjusted is about $10,000 today. One night lying in bed, 25 years later and approaching my 40th birthday, I was struck by one of those lightning bolts that I imagine a few people on here can sympathise with... I FINALLY HAD TO have one!

After trawling through pages and pages of images on google for a few weeks I came across the below on an Indonesian website, "https://www.bukalapak.com", which seems to be sort of like Indonesian Gumtree. This was quite tricky as the entire site is in Indonesian (which funnily enough I don't speak). I contacted the seller and using Google Translate (he didn't speak English) established that he believed this was a Titanium FRS (and in a 19in Large Size - I'm 6'2"). In such a sorry state, it was hard to be sure.

I posted the photos on the Marin Early Years Facebook page which generated quite a lot of excitement... and argument! Many seasoned pros insisted that it was a steel Pine FRS, whereas other were convinced it was Ti.

Anyway, I got the Seller (now on WhatsApp) to send me some videos of him testing it with a magnet and send photos of the serial number. I decided that was enough proof for me, and resolved to go for it. Despite being in the sticks in Java, he still knew what he had, and I certainly didn't get an absolute steal!

Next I had to work out how to pay for it (via his cousin in Jakarta with a Paypal account!) and ship it to me (in Abu Dhabi!). I managed to find a freight forwarder who would air freight it to me once it was delivered to an address in Jakarta from Java.

Then began a month long argument with the delivery company (Aramex) as one of their employees tried to defraud me and hold the bike to ransom. All rather infuriating but I got there in the end!

 

[rothaz]

Anyway... It finally arrived. First thing I had to do was rip off the horrible replacement decals...!

I was pretty happy with the overall condition. Serial number "VO-45", confirming this was a very special lady and part of a limited production run.

XTR seat post was a bit scratched up, and the headset locknut had been mauled at some point, but other than that, she was in pretty good nick. Most importantly the frame and XTR were complete and in very good nick. Main things that were going to need replacing were:

- Saddle (modern Marin)
- Tyres (I already had some spare Marin Lites)
- Knackered old Marin Lite Roller steam and Tranz-X bars (I set the sights high and started looking for the holy grail of Marin Ti bar/stem one piece combo!)
- Purple/Magenta original bottle cages and bar ends were missing
- Generic Quick Release seat clamp
- I had some spare original octagonal Marin Lite grips
- Front and rear Manitou 2s needed complete rebuilds
- No pedals so decided to source some Shimano 737s
- New decals

Final Pic is the 93 Catalogue snap which is the only reference photo I could find and decided to work towards...

 

[Once A Hero]

Sounds like the bravest purchase ever! Great work!

 

[rothaz]

After a few pleas on Retrobike and a few Facebook groups I managed to source the required parts as follows:

- Marin Lite Titanium saddle - Retrobike Forums, delivered from UK
- Marin Lite purple bar ends and bottle cages - Retrobike Forums, delivered from UK
- Marin Lite tyres - off my 95 Marin Nail Trail
- Marin Decals - from Gil at www.retrodecals.co.uk
- XTR decals for seatpost and cranks - eBay, delivered from Poland
- 3DV Ringle holey Ti seat QR - Retrobike Forums, delivered from Singapore
- Shimano 737 SPDs - Retrobike Forums, NOS delivered from Argentina (still with original delivery stickers on)
- Replacement Manitou 2 elastomers - www.suspensionforkparts.net , delivered from USA
- Replacement Marin Lite headset - Marin Early Years Facebook group (off a 93 Team Issue), delivered from UK
- Purple valve caps - eBay, delivered from USA

- And the hardest part of all (that I thought was going to be impossible) - original Marin Lite Titanium one piece bar/stem combo (catalogue photo attached), found via Marin Early Years Facebook group, delivered from Australia

The bar stem combo was by far the hardest part to find. I found one with a fellow Retrobiker in Australia, who had owned in since new and had it on a retro Trek. He very kindly agreed to give it up, as he relented that its spiritual home was on this build! What a legend. Its such a great thing about the Retrobike community that people bend over backwards to help each other out with dream builds. I had some great chats with like minded people all over the world. The Ti bar/stem arrived from Oz wrapped with a red present ribbon!

I actually ordered 2 sets of decals. Originally going for the purple ones that I saw in some pictures, and that various people swore were the correct ones, but in the end I decided I would prefer the satin finish silver ones which were as per the catalogue, as far as I could tell. There are so few original reference photos, it made it tricky. Anyway - I now have a spare purple set of 93 Marin decals if anyone wants them?!

 

[rothaz]

In general, the bike was in very good condition. Apart from stripping down and cleaning all the parts, the only major servicing required was rebuilding the front and rear Manitou 2s. Since the Ti doesn't rust it was all very straight forward - no stuck seatposts etc!

The only other thing that needed doing was the Easton/Shimano XTR seatpost which was scratched to bits. I had it polished and re-plated at my local car workshop, and then added replacement XTR decals. I still need to get around to doing the same with the cranks…

Other than that, it was simply a case of fitting the sourced parts and applying the decals.

My first ride around the block was an absolute pleasure. Smooth as chocolate.

Photos below include comparison to the original catalogue photo.

 

[Dr Dremel]

Wow talk about a unicorn - great build all around! Rear suspension desperately needed, I remember the Marin saddle being a right a..e splitter

 

[Rotorhead]

Lovely and a very impressive mission accomplished.
Think you’ve got it nailed. Just need to get your angles right on levers, bar ends and seat .
Out of interest, what is the post made of and plated with then?

 

[rothaz]

Lovely and a very impressive mission accomplished.
Think you’ve got it nailed. Just need to get your angles right on levers, bar ends and seat .
Out of interest, what is the post made of and plated with then?

Ha ha yes - I’ll take that. Def needs some adjustment.

I thought it was machined Aluminium that would polish straight up. Apparently not. Not quite sure what they did to it, but it’s totally gleaming!

 

[brocklanders023]

Great resto, very cool.

 

[fguki]

First and foremost: AWESOME find and risky business! Chapeau to your bravery! Superb bike!!! BUT:

Again, I am surprised how inaccurate and sloppy Gils decals are - SOMETIMES! Dont mean to put him down but:

Why do the USA flags still have white borders where there shouldnt be any? Why are the colors of the USA flag MARIN incorrect (too dark). Why does the top tube decal have a slightly incorrect font, wrong vinyl used and - what is most important - it is way too narrow in sizing?

Sorry but I never understand that. THAT is, what divides awesome repro decals from cheapo looking repros. The trick is to not see it at first glance that decals have been renewed. Only at 5th glance and 50cm up close. And most of my critizisms to repro decals are Graphoics work level 1 mistakes! 1st day work inaccuracys.