DMC707

I had one of these and rode it lots from 1991 to 1995

First road bike --- built a new one in '95 to race , then had $$$ troubles (broke college student) - so the Marin and I parted ways. Fast forward 21 years and i now have another one ----

I did not take a pic of it before i dismantled it for overhaul, -- but really, the paint on these is the star of the show. The components are silver painted finish Shimano 105. It is tange double butted cro-mo tubing, tig welded -- again, nothing special except for it being a replica of my first

Bike was filthy and i paid a bit too much, but such is life - i am rectifying things now. Everything came apart relatively easy except for the fixed side bottom bracket cup - the race is smooth though so i am debating just leaving it there. Seatpost was mildly stuck (as in, it wouldnt move but came out when my shop guy clamped it in a vice and gave it a good twist )

No real plans for it ---- just am going to re-grease everything, lace in some new rims (PO tried to change a tire with a screwdriver) and hang it from the ceiling in my theatre room. But before it gets sentenced to being a personal museum piece, i will try to do a metric or a charity ride on it for old times sake

I knew nothing about bikes then, i came from a motocross background and had been riding MTB's for 3 years at that point, -- but the paint fit my personality then --- now that i look at it with a jaded eye, i see a humble assemblage of welded tubes covered with garish paint and the whole she-bang will probably weigh in at 23 lbs or so (about what an Ironman Expert would weigh in at) , but 25 years ago, it was a thing of beauty to me

Lazyass

Should clean up nice. I'd ride the wheels off of it.

DMC707

I hear ya -- its a good machine -- could be pretty darn fun with an 8 speed brifter transplant --- sadly (well, maybe not so sad) -- i have a couple other daily driver projects detailed in this thread below that i plan to ride the wheels off of though , and you can only ride one at a time

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...l#post18523671

cyclotoine

That would look amazing in all black kit. I love this paint, Classic Marin. They had some really nice bikes.

stardognine

Hey, quit talking about Pete that way. I never owned a Marin, but rode a couple very briefly, and liked them quite a bit.

DMC707

The road bike was my first, but not my last Marin --- this bike is on the cusp of not being C&V, - its a 94 or 95, -- but still with cantilevers and a threaded steerer , rigid fork also , obviously.

Marin used to be a very conservative company (not with paint -- but from a design perspective) -- a little bit like Bridgestone . They did not adopt suspension early on and didnt deviate far from "NORBA standard" geometry
One thing they could do is spec out a lightweight bike though

This is the Team framset-but i bought it as a complete bike -- i know its not fair to weigh a bike missing parts, but as it sits (and crudely converted to a single speed)- its 17.13 lbs -- it doesnt look it, but this thing is a set of bars, brake levers and pedals away from being ready to ride. thats 2-2.5 lbs of parts, but putting the stock post and seat on there would offset that some -- this Kalloy setup and cushiony Bontrager seat is heeeaaavvy

The post is just there to lock the bike to the repair stand, -- it came with a feathery light White Industries post and a Flite ti railed seat originally --- Complete bike weight in '95 was around 21.5 pounds with Shimano XT for everything that wasn't White Industries

Sadly i still havent got to finish this one out --- i ride a fully suspended 29'er now and the desire to ride this one just isnt burning that bad --- but i can only imagine riding a 21 lb bike would feel like riding a rocketship for a while -- until my back started crying out in pain !

cyclotoine

Most mountain bikes had pretty standard geometry in the early 1990s. Brands had entire catalogs of models with little more than 1/2 a degree of variation in head tube or seat tube angles from model to model and they all had different names! The only really difference was the tubing and the components. Now one model has various levels. Really in the early 1990s we had little more than one model and a whole bunch of levels each with a different model name. Boy times have changes.

I too ride a full suspension 29er and love it. I also have a 1992 Rocky Mountain Blizzard I intend to build up as a single speed fun bike.

My brother had a 1995 Nail Trail. Marin had some slick looking bikes then too. The polished alloy frame with anodized components all in the same shade of red or purple or blue. I always thought they looked awesome. I bought a 1995 Rocky Mountain hammer, we bought them at the same time in the same shop. I still have the original tires from the hammer.