2000 Marin Mount Vision Build

[hawkhill97]

Re:

Well, I've been thrashing this one around my local trails for a couple of weeks now and am loving it.

I've set a couple of PBs on my regular routes... mind you, that's compared to riding them on a rigid SS so maybe a geared FS isn't a very fair comparison!

After much faffing with seat height I've found it rides best at pretty much full XC pedalling height. The suspension works well enough that you don't need the full range of body movement 99% of the time, and the arse-up-head-down position just feels good

The chain must have stretched/bedded in a little as the gears are no longer slipping under power if slightly cross chained. I've also tidied up cable routing and added some anti-rub patches to the frame.

Still need to trim the excess 25mm or so off the bars. The only further change I'd be tempted to make would be to lose another 20mm off the bar width. This isn't possible with my current brake lever/shifter set-up, but could be possible if I moved to grip shifts. OTOH since I'm carrying a fair bit more speed on the trails than I do on my other (rigid) retrobike, maybe the slightly wider bar isn't a bad thing to keep things under control!

 

[hawkhill97]

Re:

Took the bike out for a longer spin on the Mendips last night. Won't say I made it up Cheddar Gorge particularly elegantly, but once again the bike flattered what little climbing ability I have.

I'm getting spoilt... going back on the rigid SS is going to be hard work after this!



Even with the low front end (and high seat if I can't be bothered to drop it first) it still descends pretty capably. Haven't tried it on anything truly terrifying yet, but I reckon it's up there with my more modern hard tail for inspiring confidence.

Loving this bike even more than I thought I would

 

[boswell]

Re:

Looks good fella!
I know what you mean about going back to the rigid SS when I bought my '97 Mt Vision off a mate in '98 I used my rigid Cannondale M700 so little it became my road bike the Marin was so much more fun on the trails uphill and down.
Threads like this have inspired me to give Marilyn a little TLC.

 

[hawkhill97]

Very smart! Let's see her out on the trails again

 

[fotorat1]

Re: Re:

Took the bike out for a longer spin on the Mendips last night. Won't say I made it up Cheddar Gorge particularly elegantly, but once again the bike flattered what little climbing ability I have.

I'm getting spoilt... going back on the rigid SS is going to be hard work after this!



Even with the low front end (and high seat if I can't be bothered to drop it first) it still descends pretty capably. Haven't tried it on anything truly terrifying yet, but I reckon it's up there with my more modern hard tail for inspiring confidence.

Loving this bike even more than I thought I would

Some nice drop offs to try out in the back ground!

 

[hawkhill97]

Yep, you'd certainly get some pretty good air time going off of those.

D'you reckon 100mm of travel would be enough when you hit the deck?

 

[shedobits]

Re:

Just re read this, great thread and a great bike. More pics please.

 

[hawkhill97]

Re:

Oh, go on then

Here are a few from a recent trip around North Dartmoor.





There are a lot of 4x4 access tracks around this area of Dartmoor, for which a FS bike is really overkill... but this one climbs so well and the travel is short enough not to feel like you're riding a sofa down a motorway rather than a bike down a rocky track, so it was great fun.

I've also had the bike out for a pretty epic (by my standards anyway!) ride on Exmoor, where the ability to stay seated for looooong climbs when the going got rough was very welcome.

TBH it's now pretty much become my go-to bike for both long weekend rides and short after-work blasts (the hard tail is still getting taken out for anything with road linking sections and the rigid is still there to punish me for my weakness when I'm ready!).

The only area this bike struggles is on the steepest downhills, where the high seat is a real liability, and doesn't give much room to absorb the bumps with body movement, and the bars are quite low and far forward. However it feels so good the other 98% of the time I'm happy to live with this... and I'm gradually improving my technique to work around this.

I did kind of think at one stage in the build of putting a dropper post on and going with a short stem/wide bars cockpit, but that's definitely not gonna happen now, very happy with the bike as it is.

It's a massive improvement over my previous Marin FRS bike, due in roughly equal parts to the hydraulic disc brakes and the air shock.

 

[shedobits]

Re:

Thanks for these, recently got a Rift Zone so looking for ideas. Great build you have there.

 

[hawkhill97]

Thanks! If you want any close-up pics or info on shock mounting hardware etc just let me know.