It was 1992, and I was stood outside Alexandra Palace after walking around Bicycle Expo with my mate.
We thought we'd seen everything the show had to offer, and it was getting time to head back up North on the train when a transit van pulled up in front of us. The guy driving, got out, nodded, and headed around the back of his van whilst we stood by deliberating over our plans for the journey home. What we saw next was one of those turning points in life - a moment where everything you knew about a subject or a 'thing' was about to change forever. He carefully pulled out a Manitou FS from the back of the van. For a moment, there was calm, then came the crowds!
Mountain biking had just changed forever.
The bike was an early prototype that had been flown in late from the states, hoping to get exposure at the event, but the delays in its journey meant it debuted as the show was closing. But, what an entrance! Its attendance stole the show, and quickly overshadowed anything we'd previously seen that day. From its futuristic frame, to its plethora of custom and boutique components, that thing just changed all the rules.
Life just wasn't the same after that moment - I just wanted one of those bikes like nothing else, but the price tag was just too far out of a student's budget. On that day, it became my ultimate bike.
Within time, the stories of failure started to filter through, as the main frames were prone to cracking.
The rest of the bike industry pushed on, and kept reinventing, improving, and refining the full suspension bike. Many different solutions were marketed, and they all worked to some degree, but none were as 'manly' or purposeful looking. I still badly hankered after one, despite the tales of its failure.
Time made me forget the Manitou as progress made me upgrade to the latest bikes and components.
Fast forward 15 years, and I'd started to look back on my old bikes with doughy eyes, and a sense of melancholy. I know! I'll go back, and buy all the bikes I wanted back then, but at today's second hand prices, hence, the Marin collection I started.
My fascination with Marin's Titanium bikes was well under way, and then I remembered that they actually answered the frame failing problem of the Manitou by making the front triangle out of Titanium. Like all reputable and emerging giants on the bike manufacturing front, they all chased the latest innovation in suspension, just to be able to compliment their range of bikes. Prior to Marin seeking John Whyte's assistance in building the best suspension bike, they were keen to jump on the FS band wagon with a reputable design of their own for the 1993 line up. However the conversations went between Manitou and Marin, both companies got together to make a hybrid of each other's bikes, and the Marin FRS was born. Both the '93 and the '94 ranges offered a titanium version, and I had to have one, but they are very, very rare.
This particular one actually turned up on here in the early days of Retrobike. It was looking very sorry for itself with a rigid rear end, no decals, a stuck USE Ti seatpost, a hope BB, and some scuffed Middleburn cranks. I immediately messaged the seller saying I'd have it, without even looking at the price!
The bike arrived some days later, and I was delirious with excitement that I'd finally achieved my dream of owning one of these. None of the bits it came with would stay on the build in mind, so they were pulled off and moved on to other bikes. As I inspected what I'd purchased I realised there was going to be quite a bit of graft to get it where it needed to be. The frame has lots of scuffs and scars from racing, and the alloy bits had all suffered minor oxidisation. The stuck seat post was another issue all together, and I drafted in Martin (HarryCrumb) to work a solution for the stuck post, as this bizarrely seems to be a speciality of his. After at least a month of on and off work in his garage he returned the frame, and a Jiffy bag with several bits of a USE Ti post inside! It had snapped and bent before it would give up its grip and come out. Martin actually had to use a blow torch to melt the alloy USE shim in between the Titanium post and the Titanium frame. He said it looked like Mercury was flowing out, as the shim was melting. The Titanium around it developed a tie-dyed look under the immense heat from the blow torch treatment. Martin always gets quite excited about this part; his eyes light up with a naughty grin on his face while he recalls every detail of experimenting intense heat on rare vintage Titanium frames. It's probably better that I wasn't present for that stage!
It then sat in a queue with all the other bikes, while I slowly gathered the bits I had in mind.
That Manitou has always had class, and rugged good looks. It's the kind of bike I imagined the Terminator would ride if he had a bike! In this version, it's every bit as attractive too, but it irons out the cracking Aluminium tube issue, and for what is in my mind, the ultimate incarnation of the Manitou FS. Funny that, as Marin actually referred to it in price lists as the Marin Ultimate FRS - a price list which has it at £3700 in 1994! The finished spec will be pretty close to what was specced at the time from Marin. The 1994 is far more appealing over the '93 because it used boutique parts and Manitou 3's rather than just XTR, and Manitou 2's.
Anyway, enough background for now, I'll let the pictures do some talking. I've a lot to do with this project, but as I'm at the end of my parts gathering, I thought I'd share the fruits of my commitment.
Full strip down, alloy polishing, and new elastomer rebuild will be on the cards, but I'm leaving the main frame as it is because I like the story the metal tells; it has a lovely Titanium patina. This is the furthest I've built it up so far, as I want to be sure of all the details and component choices before I start the strip and restore process...
We thought we'd seen everything the show had to offer, and it was getting time to head back up North on the train when a transit van pulled up in front of us. The guy driving, got out, nodded, and headed around the back of his van whilst we stood by deliberating over our plans for the journey home. What we saw next was one of those turning points in life - a moment where everything you knew about a subject or a 'thing' was about to change forever. He carefully pulled out a Manitou FS from the back of the van. For a moment, there was calm, then came the crowds!
Mountain biking had just changed forever.
The bike was an early prototype that had been flown in late from the states, hoping to get exposure at the event, but the delays in its journey meant it debuted as the show was closing. But, what an entrance! Its attendance stole the show, and quickly overshadowed anything we'd previously seen that day. From its futuristic frame, to its plethora of custom and boutique components, that thing just changed all the rules.
Life just wasn't the same after that moment - I just wanted one of those bikes like nothing else, but the price tag was just too far out of a student's budget. On that day, it became my ultimate bike.
Within time, the stories of failure started to filter through, as the main frames were prone to cracking.
The rest of the bike industry pushed on, and kept reinventing, improving, and refining the full suspension bike. Many different solutions were marketed, and they all worked to some degree, but none were as 'manly' or purposeful looking. I still badly hankered after one, despite the tales of its failure.
Time made me forget the Manitou as progress made me upgrade to the latest bikes and components.
Fast forward 15 years, and I'd started to look back on my old bikes with doughy eyes, and a sense of melancholy. I know! I'll go back, and buy all the bikes I wanted back then, but at today's second hand prices, hence, the Marin collection I started.
My fascination with Marin's Titanium bikes was well under way, and then I remembered that they actually answered the frame failing problem of the Manitou by making the front triangle out of Titanium. Like all reputable and emerging giants on the bike manufacturing front, they all chased the latest innovation in suspension, just to be able to compliment their range of bikes. Prior to Marin seeking John Whyte's assistance in building the best suspension bike, they were keen to jump on the FS band wagon with a reputable design of their own for the 1993 line up. However the conversations went between Manitou and Marin, both companies got together to make a hybrid of each other's bikes, and the Marin FRS was born. Both the '93 and the '94 ranges offered a titanium version, and I had to have one, but they are very, very rare.
This particular one actually turned up on here in the early days of Retrobike. It was looking very sorry for itself with a rigid rear end, no decals, a stuck USE Ti seatpost, a hope BB, and some scuffed Middleburn cranks. I immediately messaged the seller saying I'd have it, without even looking at the price!
The bike arrived some days later, and I was delirious with excitement that I'd finally achieved my dream of owning one of these. None of the bits it came with would stay on the build in mind, so they were pulled off and moved on to other bikes. As I inspected what I'd purchased I realised there was going to be quite a bit of graft to get it where it needed to be. The frame has lots of scuffs and scars from racing, and the alloy bits had all suffered minor oxidisation. The stuck seat post was another issue all together, and I drafted in Martin (HarryCrumb) to work a solution for the stuck post, as this bizarrely seems to be a speciality of his. After at least a month of on and off work in his garage he returned the frame, and a Jiffy bag with several bits of a USE Ti post inside! It had snapped and bent before it would give up its grip and come out. Martin actually had to use a blow torch to melt the alloy USE shim in between the Titanium post and the Titanium frame. He said it looked like Mercury was flowing out, as the shim was melting. The Titanium around it developed a tie-dyed look under the immense heat from the blow torch treatment. Martin always gets quite excited about this part; his eyes light up with a naughty grin on his face while he recalls every detail of experimenting intense heat on rare vintage Titanium frames. It's probably better that I wasn't present for that stage!
It then sat in a queue with all the other bikes, while I slowly gathered the bits I had in mind.
That Manitou has always had class, and rugged good looks. It's the kind of bike I imagined the Terminator would ride if he had a bike! In this version, it's every bit as attractive too, but it irons out the cracking Aluminium tube issue, and for what is in my mind, the ultimate incarnation of the Manitou FS. Funny that, as Marin actually referred to it in price lists as the Marin Ultimate FRS - a price list which has it at £3700 in 1994! The finished spec will be pretty close to what was specced at the time from Marin. The 1994 is far more appealing over the '93 because it used boutique parts and Manitou 3's rather than just XTR, and Manitou 2's.
Anyway, enough background for now, I'll let the pictures do some talking. I've a lot to do with this project, but as I'm at the end of my parts gathering, I thought I'd share the fruits of my commitment.
Full strip down, alloy polishing, and new elastomer rebuild will be on the cards, but I'm leaving the main frame as it is because I like the story the metal tells; it has a lovely Titanium patina. This is the furthest I've built it up so far, as I want to be sure of all the details and component choices before I start the strip and restore process...
