Marin Bear Valley rebuild 1992

[swadlinboi]

ok, so while on ebay i came across this Marin bear valley starting bid 99p no reserve, so i bidded on it and i have won the highest bid at 99p, so im collecting it Thursday.

my question is do i try to keep to its original spec or should i upgrade it? it has no wheels but i have a nice set i will add in separate comment.
i do have a set of shimano alloy cantilever brakes, or a set of Avid polished alloy V-brakes.

 

[swadlinboi]

I will be using these wheels, I do have other sets but these schrader valve only...
I do have the set of forks pictured and wonder if i should change it to A-head headstem as I do have a few 31.8mm headstem and handle bars I could use...
also have options for 8 or 9 speed or rear....
I do need to repaint it either way, but do I go with original, or do I keep it my own? choose different colour?
will also need to get decals which I cant seem to find....
perhaps before repaint I should see how the other forks look? and what stem options I could use and put pics up?

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Keep it original.

When it came out the Bear Valley was the bears porridge - just right.

The spec was spot on, decent enough to work properly, yet cheap enough to be cost effective, and as a result they were beautifully functional bikes.

No fuss, no needless bling, but also no gratuitous penny pinching, just purposeful and discreet.

I miss mine dearly.

 

[Lhatch4]

You certainly won't offend anyone by customizing a Bear Valley. Great project by the way. My Team Marin is my favorite bike to ride. The type of ridding you do will determine the direction you go. You would never want to ride a ridged fork where I ride. Grippy brakes are important too. If it's a pub hopper then a totally different direction would be in order. I look forward to seeing where you go with it.

 

[marc two tone]

^ what he said ^

All the consumables will be toast. Cable, headset etc....cheap enough to buy.

Challenge yourself to restore it. Lightly scoure away the rusty bits and slap an oily rag over it. See how the finish responds without big dollar layout.

Lower end shimano/exage wont be too hard to get hold of. The shifters may be passed their best. I often find that finding tektro levers and whatever shifters you can match up to, say altus, deore thumbshifters.....
So a total strip down and take stock from there.

 

[RetroDavy]

For decals, Gil at Retrodecals does excellent sets:
https://m.facebook.com/retrodecals

I've also used DNFive Graphics for individual Marin decals and they've been good too: https://dnfive.co.uk

 

[bram_]

Hope your fork isn't bent...

Nice 1 1/8 threaded forks (10mm axle) are very hard to find (my experience). I only found a very ugly shiny black alu fork, but nothing decent so far...

Let me know if you find somthing fitting

 

[XTSTIMAN]

You can get quill to ahead adapters easily enough, plus adapters for rims, slot into schrader holes to use presta valves.
Keep it period and enjoy the looks and limitations, or upgrade brakes and better shifting 8/9 speed. But whichever way you go, just enjoy using the bike

 

[manc_lad]

I took an old 1992 BV and repainted as a custom rasta 91 version. Had a lot of fun in the process.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads...lley-rasta-only-had-a-1992-to-rebuild.426447/
They are lovely bikes and at £0.99 you can do what you like!