91 Team Marin...all road tourer?!

[minor_LEGEND]

Nice progress with this. Marin make great tourers. A woman I used to work with rode a team Titanium set up as a tourer with rack & guards, it had custom cnc'd bosses made to fit them etc. Not the best use of a ti Marin, but cool to see one on a daily basis.

 

[Tootyred]

Decals arrived today. I've gone for a bit of a pastiche arrangement.

Basically the 89 downtube decals blown up by 9% to make them the same aspect, but fitting a oversize tube. Cheers Ian at DNFIVE for sorting those for me.

Rest are pretty standard.

The Tange gold decal is the original, removed with a hairdryer and stored. The glue was pretty good, but the corners were peeling, so I bonded it behind a bit of paint protection film for good measure....after a bit of ironing out.

The most disappointing are the 2 tange fork decals from lloyds! The cut is poor, with the decal a bit out of shape, the colours are a bit washy and the metalic pink....well isnt.

Oh why did you have to leave us Velocal! Yours were spot on. RIP.

 

[Tootyred]

I use the bit of cotton method to find/ sight the tube middle, so much easier as your then just putting the type equally spaced on each side.....

I also tape round the tubes too to help keep stuff level.

 

[Tootyred]

So here she is.....not quite how I was expecting it, but things develop their own mass as I said...and this seems to be rolling nicely now!

 

[Tootyred]

Thats the crank done ( another xt m730 rescued)....this one was pretty knackered (£12 of ebay).....its a bit thinner...but im not going to be jumping cliffs on it! .

Plus, im reusing an old shark fin. Scraped the old tape off and put a new bit of double sided on. Ready to go....and basically free!

Just got to decide on some parts now!

 

[Tootyred]

I've also decided on some brakes....im sorry to the bluff traditionalist, but im going 'V'.

It was one of the things I really wasn't 100% happy with on the previous version. Yes, cantilevers are prettier, but I just want uncomplicated ease of use and a bit more power.

The only problem is the bloody ugly levers that started around 96.....I even started a post a week or so back to see if anybody has a nice looking set they know of. The answer there was "NO".

Decent v brake levers?

Im considering putting V's on my next project, problem is finding decent levers.. Anybody know of any old skool cast levers akin to xt m732 / m733 / xc pro / comp, rather than the pressed / folded ones that came on with m739 kinda era. Hoping i can find something a bit more in keeping with my...

www.retrobike.co.uk

But, I might have a solution....w.t.s.

Ive gone for some XT T780 calipers. These have been in the cupboard a fair while, so time they saw the light of day.

Lets see where the weight of these decisions pulls the bike!

 

[27motorhead]

I've also decided on some brakes....im sorry to the bluff traditionalist, but im going 'V'.

It was one of the things I really wasn't 100% happy with on the previous version. Yes, cantilevers are prettier, but I just want uncomplicated ease of use and a bit more power.

The only problem is the bloody ugly levers that started around 96.....I even started a post a week or so back to see if anybody has a nice looking set they know of. The answer there was "NO".

Decent v brake levers?

Im considering putting V's on my next project, problem is finding decent levers.. Anybody know of any old skool cast levers akin to xt m732 / m733 / xc pro / comp, rather than the pressed / folded ones that came on with m739 kinda era. Hoping i can find something a bit more in keeping with my...

www.retrobike.co.uk

But, I might have a solution....w.t.s.

Ive gone for some XT T780 calipers. These have been in the cupboard a fair while, so time they saw the light of day.

Lets see where the weight of these decisions pulls the bike!

If you can angle the levers in such a way that when you look down on the bars when you're riding they are obscured from view. Problem fixed! And then fit some Tioga Brake Tamers to beef up the feel!

 

[Tootyred]

That's a good idea...or just close my eyes when braking!

 

[Tootyred]

Bit of progress....easy bit. Dug out and fitted some sakae 129 "lowfats" pedals. Bit of a rebuild and body polish.....Christophe clip and straps.

Odd choice, but i really like these old pedals. Very simple, old skool bearings.....just watch the seals as the rot and nobody makes a replacement....so if you buy any beware!

 

[Tootyred]

Also picked a front and rear mech. The rear I'm happy with, but jury is out on the front. I did try a low mount version, but being more modern, I couldn't get enough swing out of it.

I think I might have to rethink that front one and possibly go back to plan A of a m735......plus a bit of black might break up the all silver.