another project! 1990 Marin Pine Mountain

[jonnyboy666]

i was never a massive fan of Marin bikes, for me in the late 80's and early 90's Muddy Fox was my thing, the small UK brand appealed, then when i discovered GA cycles in Southampton i felt that Mark the manager looked down on my Muddy Fox Alu Pro, they sold Kona, Marin, Proflex, Shogun, when i replaced the Muddy Fox i went initially for a Proflex and later a Kona, i saw the Marin bikes and they looked cool, with the bright coloured forks etc they stood out but i didn't get one simply because in my area quite a few people had them, i bought the proflex as i was tempted by suspension, then later the Kona Explosif (a 92 frame only bought in 94, Gary had it hung up in the shop for 2 years)

but over the years, especially now, i see zolatone paint and i think yeah that's cool.

so like many of you i randomly look on ebay etc, i came across a Marin Pine Mountain, turns out it belonged to a member on here, @jimbog , it was up in Maidenhead so i made a day of it by going to ride at Swinley on the way back.

the bike was a bit beat up but as shown in the pics, most of it was original, James had been using it as a commuter/beater bike, typical for older bikes as many of you know.

any way here's some pics of it once back at the shop

 

[jonnyboy666]

so i stripped the bike, i am going to get it painted, there's a powdercoater around the corner from the shop, i tested him with an old aluminium frame, finish was ok but the amount of shot or whatever left inside the frame was an issue, this being a steel frame i'm less concerned about that, it's always easier to get it out of a steel frame, i know that means the zolatone paint will be gone but i'll get him to do a sypathetic grey, and obvs bright orange fork/stem and bar. i've already bought new decals from DNfive, they had most available in the right sizes

a lot of the components will be re-used, i have a more appropriate set of wheels, i'm gonna try and be a bit more Deore DX specific, either way it should be anothe nice build.

 

[jimbog]

Watching this one. Pleasure to meet you when you picked it up mate. Top gent

 

[Tootyred]

Unless the zolotone has faded a huge amount, that looks like a 1990.

 

[jimbog]

It’s a 1990 for sure. 91’s were dark grey zolatone. I’ve had all sorts of early marins.

 

[brocklanders023]

Yeah, it's a 90 (light zolatone and white decals). 91 = dark zolatone and colour coded decals. There are a few late 90 frames kicking about with the dark finish but this doesn't look like one of them. Nice project btw, I really enjoyed restoring the one I did.

 

[JCS]

Did some of the zolatone Marins come with rear u-brakes on the chainstays? If so which year was that?

 

[jonnyboy666]

i did wonder about the year model, i looked in the archive, only went back to 91 that i could find a similar bike, i did notice the darker finish but thought it may have just been the photos, so 1990 it is then! also makes sense with the brakes then as this one has non lopro brakes and the 91 has (in the archive pics) black low profile brakes

 

[AGT]

i did wonder about the year model, i looked in the archive, only went back to 91 that i could find a similar bike, i did notice the darker finish but thought it may have just been the photos, so 1990 it is then! also makes sense with the brakes then as this one has non lopro brakes and the 91 has (in the archive pics) black low profile brakes

 

[stocko]

Love these 1990 Marins....often calling into surftracks in Poole bitd to look at these