sylus
Old School Grand Master
I picked up a Marin bear valley se the other week for 30 quid, the owner was honest and I knew in advance the basics were there but little else.
The frame no is M73HA0359 and it is a 20.5 frame with exage crankset, canti's and wheel hubs with deore lx 7 speed shifters, mechs and brakes levers.
Some bits had been replaced like the seat. stem, bars and grips and some of those were never going to be able to be recovered. The tyres were shagged, the wheels close to being thrown away, all the gear, brake cables need replacing and setting up etc...I'm sure many of you have seen these lived a life and a short step away from a skip bikes
But I've always loved the Marins..not because they were the best or most exspensive but because they had a certian subtlety about them..understated a bit like a volvo t5r estate ..first glance it looks normal but you know thier is something about it..well thats how I work it
Like most I wanted to do everything back to factory within 5 minutes but now have put that on hold to get the bear back on the road...enjoy riding it then next summer do a back to factory original refurb
So after asking lots of questions in here from the patient folk of rbuk ..thank you...the following has happened so far
The stem has been replaced with a new marin lite one but with a 25 degree rise along with a new marin raised braced bar..some may say it looks odd but I'm 6ft 3 and whilst my inside leg is a normallish 32 inches most of my hieght is in the upper body so I wanted to raise the bars a bit more towards me for comfort..rather than leaning ala racing stylee
a new fred salmon seat post has been bought with a new seat on the way
Wheels,, wonky as buggery so they were stripped and new bearings and a regrease did the trick on the smooth running so the exage hubs and araya tm18 wheels will fight another day..this showed up the wheels being buckled but this is going to be resolved and a replacement hyperglide 7 speed cassette is also on it's way
I'm going to stick with canti's because..well I like them ... I see some bike developements like computers..naaah mate you must get windows 7 it's far better than xp....in truth it probably isn't and xp still works..does everything I need and still works well past 7's life..so no v's for me as the cantis will stay
Self slime inner tubes and schwalbe land cruisers for the winter have been ordered and are on thier way
beyond that not much for now as mentioned I want to get it back on the road quick smart and enjoy riding the bike rather than looking at an ornament
Next year however the intention is a full frame strip and repaint, new stickers and as many nos or reconditioned original parts as I possibly can but now being in no rush I will as they pop up now and again buy original marin lite and 93 bear parts
So apart from a rack and one or two bits this one will be ridden through out the winter to make the best of the old before it gets it's much needed and deserved face lift
The frame no is M73HA0359 and it is a 20.5 frame with exage crankset, canti's and wheel hubs with deore lx 7 speed shifters, mechs and brakes levers.
Some bits had been replaced like the seat. stem, bars and grips and some of those were never going to be able to be recovered. The tyres were shagged, the wheels close to being thrown away, all the gear, brake cables need replacing and setting up etc...I'm sure many of you have seen these lived a life and a short step away from a skip bikes
But I've always loved the Marins..not because they were the best or most exspensive but because they had a certian subtlety about them..understated a bit like a volvo t5r estate ..first glance it looks normal but you know thier is something about it..well thats how I work it
Like most I wanted to do everything back to factory within 5 minutes but now have put that on hold to get the bear back on the road...enjoy riding it then next summer do a back to factory original refurb
So after asking lots of questions in here from the patient folk of rbuk ..thank you...the following has happened so far
The stem has been replaced with a new marin lite one but with a 25 degree rise along with a new marin raised braced bar..some may say it looks odd but I'm 6ft 3 and whilst my inside leg is a normallish 32 inches most of my hieght is in the upper body so I wanted to raise the bars a bit more towards me for comfort..rather than leaning ala racing stylee
a new fred salmon seat post has been bought with a new seat on the way
Wheels,, wonky as buggery so they were stripped and new bearings and a regrease did the trick on the smooth running so the exage hubs and araya tm18 wheels will fight another day..this showed up the wheels being buckled but this is going to be resolved and a replacement hyperglide 7 speed cassette is also on it's way
I'm going to stick with canti's because..well I like them ... I see some bike developements like computers..naaah mate you must get windows 7 it's far better than xp....in truth it probably isn't and xp still works..does everything I need and still works well past 7's life..so no v's for me as the cantis will stay
Self slime inner tubes and schwalbe land cruisers for the winter have been ordered and are on thier way
beyond that not much for now as mentioned I want to get it back on the road quick smart and enjoy riding the bike rather than looking at an ornament
Next year however the intention is a full frame strip and repaint, new stickers and as many nos or reconditioned original parts as I possibly can but now being in no rush I will as they pop up now and again buy original marin lite and 93 bear parts
So apart from a rack and one or two bits this one will be ridden through out the winter to make the best of the old before it gets it's much needed and deserved face lift
