another project! 1991/2 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?