Owner of Team Marin '91 here. Team Marin is the awesome bike. I have bought mine 2004 second hand, but in almost pristine condition, and enjoying the riding him all this years. I have also DiamondBack Axis, same year, full XT . Also great bike, even litlle lighter, and racier, but Marin is unique bike. I prefer ride him over DB.
Thanks! Stay tuned for the clean-up and the build. This one has to be a museum piece - unlike my late 90s S-Works M4 Dentist Bike which is a complete dog's breakfast. Will have to do a video on it soon.
There is something special about 80s/90s MTBs....the 26" wheel and frame look so well proportioned compared to 29 ers. I will NEVER let go my 26er 1991 rock hopper.
They do look great, but if you're as big as me you do tend to look like a circus bear riding them! My modern 29er is much faster and more comfortable, but nothing like as special to me.
Very nice build, I will look forward to it. No ideas on the Zolotone though, I bought an old Muirwoods for a fiver about 15 years ago that was finished in it with yellow forks. Sold it to my mate, I'll see if he still has it. Today I picked up a Team Marin myself from 1995, original owner selling it, he paid £1100 for it new and it has been well used but well maintained, almost no rust or paint chips in the rather nice champagne silver finish, Tomorrow, foolowing your lead I will be delivering four 1990s bikes to a guy in London who distributes them to needy friends. It was time to say goodbye to 2 Tufftrax, one Muirwoods and one Al Carter but good to know they will be going to some deserving cause.
Ooo lovely. Can’t beat a bit of pink on a bike. Speaking of pink. Minoura bottle cages are available in the same fluro pink as the front end and decals. They’d look right at home on there!
Good shout on the Minoura. Hadn't thought of those, and I seem to remember they did exist back in '90. The Zefal thermoplastic ones were also cool but so hard to find originals today.
when a guy uses period correct cable housing you know he is serious 😂🤣 excited for this one!! as for the frame, the only tip that i can think of is - a nylon brush might help because it will get in the all crevices in the texture of the paint? other than that not too sure. also you were finally able to get the xt brakes with the rounded boss head/bolt things !! niceeeeee
Serious is the word. This level of rarity must be treated with respect! You're dead right about the brush, I was thinking that. Whatever kind of rust converter or touch up paint I end up using, I'll apply it with a stipple effect to blend in with the texture. As for those XT brakes, they're not super hard to find except the original blocks are like hens' teeth. Back in the day we used to replace with Aztec or Kool Stop, this time I'm going Ritchey.
@@TeeLichtet I don't exactly have fond memories of my grey Aztecs! Still got some on one of my early 90s builds, they squeal like geese. The Ritcheys are ready to go on this Marin, let's see how they fare.
I don't know why there aren't any channels like yours. If I watch another "cheap pub bike build" or "ASMR restomod build" or "1X11 better than original" video I think I may just end it all.
There is a small community of old men that respect history and abhor the "front rack on a Rockhopper" crowd as much as me, but we're a dying breed. Also I'm a hypocrite because I do own more than my fair share of aberrations, including an S-Works singlespeed conversion and a Bianchi frankenbike!
I had the privilege of living out there for a while in 2000, mainly saw a lot of Cannondale, Santa Cruz and Schwinn at the time. Marins were very popular over here too, but you never saw the Team ones!
Thank you and yes, ugh, they're all still out there. All those that used to turn classic 80s road bikes into "fixies" are the same ones that are now putting front racks on Hardrock restomods and selling them to kids for £££. Actually when you think about it, great idea.
Always love your delivery and respect to all aspects of the builds wether your taking liberties to stray from catalogue for whatever reason. Enjoy your videos very much thank you for the entertaining content. Cheers!
Thanks for the kind words. I do like to take a hard line when it comes to adherence to period details, then occasionally violating my own rules just because I can. I am nothing if not a hypocrite.
This is sublime stuff Oliver…I am currently gripped by the Marin disease and have 2 x Bear Valley (1990) 2 x Eldridge (1990 & 1991), 3 x Rocky Ridge (1992, 1994 & 1996), 1 x & Indian Fire Trail (1992) 1 x Bear Valley SE (1994), 1 x Nail Trail (1995) & finally a Muirwoods for my wife (1992) A non retro addition is my Alpine Trail from 2000 (you’ve seen this before) 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻
@@red_dread I have a 1990 Eldridge which I built 11 years ago, it's my favourite bike. I'm missing the bars though so alas another incomplete fluro front end
@@red_dread I'm sure you're right but the bike is a Mish mash of parts anyway, mostly period correct and it's there for riding. Looking forward to seeing your team - hope you source the stem
Since Zolatone can still be purchased, I would color match it and then either spray it on with a gun or just touch it up with a small brush after some light sanding. As long as the color match was identical or close to it, touching it up with a brush would bring about almost, if not, perfect results since the finish is super dull?? Looking forward to the build! Takes for another video!
Another tremendous video and exciting to see genuine grail bike like that. No idea on the zolotone I'm afraid but will look forward to seeing what you come up with. Also, a nice surprise to hear a throwback to the great Simon Quinlank.
Early 90s was the muscle car era but for bikes. Quality was very high compared to new bike of today. I have a barn find that “Red Dread” would soil his trousers over if he saw it. I have come across a 1991 Klien Rascal black and hot red with full XT, Turbo saddle and hot pink Answer hyper light bar and 1st gen SPD. All original with 10 percent period correct up grades. Been ridden/raced so lots of clean up needed.
Wait a minute, was that the one that was for sale online quite recently? In a small 17-ish” frame size? I was very tempted to buy it for my eldest daughter but she’s not quite big enough to ride to infant school on a Klein!
Lovely paint job it is ! I just finished restoring a 1991 MBK Tracker Hi-Tech MTB and spec'd it with the even scarcer black version of the M730 groupset (Hubs, Crankset and Cantilever Brake). Thought you might consider this exclusive version of the M730/732 for this one or a future build ;)
I have indeed considered black XT, many times, but never managed to lay hands on the stuff. I came close once, on Facebook marketplace, but the seller must have found out what it was because she relisted the bike at 10x the previous price! Someone still bought it within seconds.
I have similar wheels on my 90,'s mtb but mine are the Ritchey vantage sport, I love them, very light compared to another more contemporary mtb I own. Looking foward to your bike built!
I think these rims will look great on the Marin in the absence of the original wheels. Even the DX hubs I can put up with in the short term, but that will need to be rectified eventually!
So jealous. A few years ago I contacted Marin to see if they had records of the spec for Zolatone. Unfortunately there was nothing. I think I still have the touch up bottles that you got with them and wondered if the contrnts could be reverse engineered. I eventually used normal spray paint and got the texture by holding the can too far away! I have a survivor 1990 Eldridge (except saddle n tyres) if you’re interested or know someone who is. My 1990 Pine Mountain will stay with me always. I took out my first bank loan to buy that!
Word on the street is you can still get Zolatone - I haven't started investigating in earnest yet. As for your Eldridge, if I hadn't found this one then I'd have bitten your hand off. I'm sure many would.
Thank you so much for your awesome videos! I love the old MTBs you collect! I just got my hands on a Kuwahara C-Pacer and was wondering if you or anyone else happens to know something about this bike. Except for the Kuwahara 1991 catalogue, I can't find any more information about it. Also, was Kuwahara well known in Great Britain as well? Thanks in advance
They weren't widely advertised here in the UK back then so I wasn't really aware of them as a kid. It was only in later years that I came to recognise what great bikes they were. Those BMXes in ET were Kuwaharas! I'd love to see a '91 Pacer - is yours the one with the 700c wheels?
Yes, it has the ARAYA VX-400, 700C, superhard anodized rims and its a carbon composite frame. It's a really light bike and nice to ride. I guess in 1991 it was one of the nicest Cross-country bikes to buy, but it sold for a fortune back in the day. I believe that's why its quite rare and I can't find a lot of information about it. You are more into 26" wheel MTBs, right? Or do you own an old 700C bike we haven't seen yet? Love your channel, keep up the great work! Best wishes from Germany
Nice. Im currently restoring a 90, palisades. The frame is a head scratcher for sure, i think im gona try and get a matt grey powder coat, as the zolatone is going to be so hard to restore. 😮
Anything involving blasting would make me very nervous. Apart from a feather duster and perhaps some lightly sparkling spring water, I doubt I'll be messing with this frame too much. It's already the best preserved Zolatone frame I've seen in recent years, I don't want to risk that.
I feel for you with the details. I’ve just finished up a Dawes Quest where rd and rear wheel had fallen prey to modern upgrades. Sad times (even if they do work brilliantly). Looking forward to the rd restoration (in excruciating detail, please!)
You're in luck then, because I plan to spend an entire evening (on camera) with that rear mech. I have several others from the same year so can easily come up with whatever internals are required to bring this one back to life. I also suspect the quest for the original pink stem could end up being a film unto itself.
Proper dream bike, very nice indeed. Hopefully got a dream build of my own happening soon using a frame that was manufactured on a famous fault line in America, answers on a postcard 😜🤣🤣
I think I might have seen that very frame on eBay. Was it the one the seller was cleverly selling in two parts? The upside down fork and proto-disc brake are something special too.
@@red_dread no this one is a complete bike that I’ll strip and rebuild. There is one seller that’s had a load of Mountain Cycle bits for sale recently, Frames, subframes, swing arms etc, it’d be interesting to have a chat with him I reckon
Loving this, excellent as usual. Now where’s my cloth ? I seem to have weak lemon drink all over this screen. I believe it was the spd’s that were to blame….
I subsequently found out that the pedals and the bike are in fact from the same year: 1991! But if that makes you spit your weak lemon drink then wait until you see some of the other dark horrors coming in part 2...
I’ve looked at this finish before and I think I could pull it off by painting/airbrushing a small area at a time and lightly touching it with a light duty sand blaster turned down very low.
I thought I held my tongue rather diplomatically on that matter! Northern clubmen always have plenty to say about London cyclists, but I have to admit a couple of my mates down there can really ride. Most of my best pals in E and SE like to talk as much about coffee making as I do about bikes, which delights me.
I have a raliegh torus titanium with a rough ball burnished finish and it was terrible for oil and grease build up, to clean it properly i found out that if you add lemon juice with the soap and water the citric acid lifts the grime from the finish, I'm thinking this approach might work on the rough paint on the team marin and clean away all the grime, it looked terrible around the front derailleur and bottom bracket, hope this helps
Thanks, I'm certainly thinking about gentle options - even Muc-Off scares me, especially because every tiny decal from 1991 is still on this thing. Will probably start with car shampoo and a soft brush.
I think a soft media blast might work on that finish. The tricky part would be to find the right media and air pressure that would remove the very top layer of paint without going all the way through. I'm sure someone out there has experience with that.
it probably would but no way I'm risking that! Also the finish on this one is amazingly good for its age, so I'm keen to preserve as much of it untouched as possible. I think it will be a case of very localised detailing with a brush and some sort of rust converter and (ideally) touch-up paint.
I believe you have the 1991 model there. The 1990 model had white lettering on the zolatone, along with the 1990 first-generation M091 XT rapid fire shifters & normal-profile XT cantis. The servowave M092 XT shift/brake levers & low-profile XT cantis came out in 1991.
You're right - they didn't change much between 90 and 91 but those are some undeniable telltale signs. Mine's not going to be catalogue spec because I'm going to have to take some liberties with the seatpost, wheels, saddle and stem - but I will of course be respectful of this bike's unique history.
Scrub the frame with bubbly dish soap and water using a natural firm bristle brush to get in small areas. Pull all water and dirt off with a wet vac. If you want to change it oily rags with clean out to try and create a new finish.
I do enjoy watching your videos :) btw you have some female subscribers as well :). I still have my 87/88 Specialized HardRock. One owner and still going strong.
Delighted to hear it! Last time I checked my subscribers were pretty much entirely middle aged men, so you are especially welcome. Make sure you cherish that Hardrock. Those are so sought after today.
the pink stem is missing, oh no!... lol my favourite canti combo are odyssey straddle rods with onza H.O. calipers, I don't mess around with brakes either, very powerful with lots of bite
I will be tirelessly hunting for that pink stem, fear not! Straddle rods were such a cool (if unnecessary!) upgrade. Onza HO cantis are so rare nowadays, sadly this is because I hear they were prone to cracking.
Dear Red. I love your Videos. I can feel for the matter. But isn't it about time you put your childhood trauma to rest :-) You have them all now. All the untouchables from back when. You may be in peace. You are safe. All is good :-)
Oof, now that is something really special. Perhaps even rarer than mine? Those hybrids were nowhere near as popular as the MTBs back then, but they make total sense. I’d ride to work every day on one of those!
FWIW, I purchased a pair of those M737 SPD pedals in 1991 to fit to my brand new Cannondale M1000. And, since I was a penny pinching Uni student at the time, they were quite likely not bleeding edge new. On a sadder note, one of those Ritchey rims failed me on the maiden ride home from the shop, the other tacoed and sent me OTB at an MTB race within a month or so. Yours, having lasted 33 years or so, were likely laced a little more carefully :).
1990 was the first year they came out so you were lucky! I had to wait until '93 to get my DX ones. I've never ridden Ritchey Vantage rims in anger so can't tell you how confident I am in them, but I won't be riding this bike hard so I'm not worried.
Tried cleaning the zolotone on mine and it just came straight off 😬 Had to full respray and not in bloody zolotone! Shame but a mare to work with. Also “handle like a greased pig”? 🤔 I won’t ask 😂
I'm going to be extremely careful with mine. Certainly won't be cleaning it too vigorously or riding it hard, I plan to keep it as a museum piece! Haven't you ever ridden a greased pig? They don't tend to like it.
@@red_dread mine was rusted top to toe so the writing was on the wall really. I will look forward to seeing her built up! I've certainly had a few pigs in my time 🤣
Got a free Pine Mountain 1990 frame and fork with Zolatone paint, stripped it because i did not liked thé feeling. I am going for a yellow fluo with black decals with spray.bike.
Yes, they did gradually get darker between 89 and 91. Did you see the lighter grey Palisades I did recently? Another beautiful bike. Was yours Zolatone or gloss finish?
Love your videos bro - we need more! Do you have an email address or way you contact you? Love to pick your brain on a couple of my current projects (1990 Fisher and 1985 Raleigh Maverick) thanks
Fear not, more are always on the way. I just tend not to upload too frequently because I have so many small children, my time is rarely my own! You can get at me on oliver.chesher@yahoo.co.uk, would be very interested to see your projects.
Owner of Team Marin '91 here. Team Marin is the awesome bike. I have bought mine 2004 second hand, but in almost pristine condition, and enjoying the riding him all this years. I have also DiamondBack Axis, same year, full XT . Also great bike, even litlle lighter, and racier, but Marin is unique bike. I prefer ride him over DB.
I'm finding that mine is surprisingly heavy, but much nicer to ride than any of my others from the same era. Geometry is just right.
Wow - I love it. I look forward to seeing what you do with the paint. I love the passion you have for keeping it all period correct.
Thanks! Stay tuned for the clean-up and the build. This one has to be a museum piece - unlike my late 90s S-Works M4 Dentist Bike which is a complete dog's breakfast. Will have to do a video on it soon.
There is something special about 80s/90s MTBs....the 26" wheel and frame look so well proportioned compared to 29 ers. I will NEVER let go my 26er 1991 rock hopper.
They do look great, but if you're as big as me you do tend to look like a circus bear riding them! My modern 29er is much faster and more comfortable, but nothing like as special to me.
@@red_dread yeap I am not that big (1.77 meters) but do have tall buddies with that same issue.
Well said! I'm 1.6 meters and they'll have to pry my '92 RockHopper (and my other 26" bikes) from my cold, dead hands.
Very nice build, I will look forward to it. No ideas on the Zolotone though, I bought an old Muirwoods for a fiver about 15 years ago that was finished in it with yellow forks. Sold it to my mate, I'll see if he still has it. Today I picked up a Team Marin myself from 1995, original owner selling it, he paid £1100 for it new and it has been well used but well maintained, almost no rust or paint chips in the rather nice champagne silver finish,
Tomorrow, foolowing your lead I will be delivering four 1990s bikes to a guy in London who distributes them to needy friends. It was time to say goodbye to 2 Tufftrax, one Muirwoods and one Al Carter but good to know they will be going to some deserving cause.
Great to hear you're distributing quality bikes to those in need! Will you be sharing pics or footage of your Team Marin anywhere online?
Ooo lovely. Can’t beat a bit of pink on a bike. Speaking of pink. Minoura bottle cages are available in the same fluro pink as the front end and decals.
They’d look right at home on there!
Good shout on the Minoura. Hadn't thought of those, and I seem to remember they did exist back in '90. The Zefal thermoplastic ones were also cool but so hard to find originals today.
when a guy uses period correct cable housing you know he is serious 😂🤣 excited for this one!!
as for the frame, the only tip that i can think of is - a nylon brush might help because it will get in the all crevices in the texture of the paint? other than that not too sure.
also you were finally able to get the xt brakes with the rounded boss head/bolt things !! niceeeeee
Serious is the word. This level of rarity must be treated with respect! You're dead right about the brush, I was thinking that. Whatever kind of rust converter or touch up paint I end up using, I'll apply it with a stipple effect to blend in with the texture. As for those XT brakes, they're not super hard to find except the original blocks are like hens' teeth. Back in the day we used to replace with Aztec or Kool Stop, this time I'm going Ritchey.
Blue Ritcheys or grey Aztecs! The latter turning into teflon in wet conditions.
@@TeeLichtet I don't exactly have fond memories of my grey Aztecs! Still got some on one of my early 90s builds, they squeal like geese. The Ritcheys are ready to go on this Marin, let's see how they fare.
Fantastic channel. Your passion is palpable and you present it so eloquently. This is right up my street. Subscribed!
There's plenty more where this came from! Welcome and thanks for subscribing.
I don't know why there aren't any channels like yours. If I watch another "cheap pub bike build" or "ASMR restomod build" or "1X11 better than original" video I think I may just end it all.
There is a small community of old men that respect history and abhor the "front rack on a Rockhopper" crowd as much as me, but we're a dying breed. Also I'm a hypocrite because I do own more than my fair share of aberrations, including an S-Works singlespeed conversion and a Bianchi frankenbike!
Growing up in California a few hours away from Marin it's lovely to see you guys refer to them as exotic. They were everywhere.
I had the privilege of living out there for a while in 2000, mainly saw a lot of Cannondale, Santa Cruz and Schwinn at the time. Marins were very popular over here too, but you never saw the Team ones!
Excellent work. It’s going to be great watching the restoration
. Excellent prelude to the build of this lovely machine and I particularly liked your response to hipster comments.
Thank you and yes, ugh, they're all still out there. All those that used to turn classic 80s road bikes into "fixies" are the same ones that are now putting front racks on Hardrock restomods and selling them to kids for £££. Actually when you think about it, great idea.
Love those early servo windows on those levers! Remember seeing those as a kid in the bike shop and just drooling.
Same here - never owned a set until now!
Always love your delivery and respect to all aspects of the builds wether your taking liberties to stray from catalogue for whatever reason. Enjoy your videos very much thank you for the entertaining content. Cheers!
Thanks for the kind words. I do like to take a hard line when it comes to adherence to period details, then occasionally violating my own rules just because I can. I am nothing if not a hypocrite.
Can’t wait for the full build!!!!
It will be my big project of the year, that's for sure.
Wonderful videos. Thanks. 🙂
Plenty more to come!
This is sublime stuff Oliver…I am currently gripped by the Marin disease and have 2 x Bear Valley (1990) 2 x Eldridge (1990 & 1991), 3 x Rocky Ridge (1992, 1994 & 1996), 1 x & Indian Fire Trail (1992) 1 x Bear Valley SE (1994), 1 x Nail Trail (1995) & finally a Muirwoods for my wife (1992) A non retro addition is my Alpine Trail from 2000 (you’ve seen this before) 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻
It is indeed a disease. This one is already giving me the night sweats.
Ooh what a treat for a Monday
Stay tuned for Part Two: The Quest. I won't rest until I've found that pink stem.
@@red_dread I have a 1990 Eldridge which I built 11 years ago, it's my favourite bike. I'm missing the bars though so alas another incomplete fluro front end
I'm sure colour matches are possible, maybe even Halfords? I haven't got to that stage yet but the missing pink stem is going to torment me.
@@red_dread I'm sure you're right but the bike is a Mish mash of parts anyway, mostly period correct and it's there for riding.
Looking forward to seeing your team - hope you source the stem
Since Zolatone can still be purchased, I would color match it and then either spray it on with a gun or just touch it up with a small brush after some light sanding. As long as the color match was identical or close to it, touching it up with a brush would bring about almost, if not, perfect results since the finish is super dull?? Looking forward to the build! Takes for another video!
I would be over the moon if I got hold of some brand new Zolatone touch up paint! Got my eyes out...
Another tremendous video and exciting to see genuine grail bike like that. No idea on the zolotone I'm afraid but will look forward to seeing what you come up with. Also, a nice surprise to hear a throwback to the great Simon Quinlank.
Simon Quinlank subscribes to this channel. He shares my disdain for hobby idiots.
Early 90s was the muscle car era but for bikes. Quality was very high compared to new bike of today. I have a barn find that “Red Dread” would soil his trousers over if he saw it. I have come across a 1991 Klien Rascal black and hot red with full XT, Turbo saddle and hot pink Answer hyper light bar and 1st gen SPD. All original with 10 percent period correct up grades. Been ridden/raced so lots of clean up needed.
Wait a minute, was that the one that was for sale online quite recently? In a small 17-ish” frame size? I was very tempted to buy it for my eldest daughter but she’s not quite big enough to ride to infant school on a Klein!
Lovely paint job it is ! I just finished restoring a 1991 MBK Tracker Hi-Tech MTB and spec'd it with the even scarcer black version of the M730 groupset (Hubs, Crankset and Cantilever Brake). Thought you might consider this exclusive version of the M730/732 for this one or a future build ;)
I have indeed considered black XT, many times, but never managed to lay hands on the stuff. I came close once, on Facebook marketplace, but the seller must have found out what it was because she relisted the bike at 10x the previous price! Someone still bought it within seconds.
I have similar wheels on my 90,'s mtb but mine are the Ritchey vantage sport, I love them, very light compared to another more contemporary mtb I own.
Looking foward to your bike built!
I think these rims will look great on the Marin in the absence of the original wheels. Even the DX hubs I can put up with in the short term, but that will need to be rectified eventually!
I'm looking forward to this build. I hope to see a detailed build thread on retrobike.
There'll be a lot of detail online, you can be sure of that!
So jealous. A few years ago I contacted Marin to see if they had records of the spec for Zolatone. Unfortunately there was nothing. I think I still have the touch up bottles that you got with them and wondered if the contrnts could be reverse engineered. I eventually used normal spray paint and got the texture by holding the can too far away! I have a survivor 1990 Eldridge (except saddle n tyres) if you’re interested or know someone who is. My 1990 Pine Mountain will stay with me always. I took out my first bank loan to buy that!
Word on the street is you can still get Zolatone - I haven't started investigating in earnest yet. As for your Eldridge, if I hadn't found this one then I'd have bitten your hand off. I'm sure many would.
I still have my neon yellow 1990 Marin Muirwoods, with mostly original parts. I may have to watch this build and get some restoration tips.
You might like the Palisades I did recently then - very similar except it didn't have that all important Zolatone!
Thank you so much for your awesome videos! I love the old MTBs you collect! I just got my hands on a Kuwahara C-Pacer and was wondering if you or anyone else happens to know something about this bike. Except for the Kuwahara 1991 catalogue, I can't find any more information about it. Also, was Kuwahara well known in Great Britain as well?
Thanks in advance
They weren't widely advertised here in the UK back then so I wasn't really aware of them as a kid. It was only in later years that I came to recognise what great bikes they were. Those BMXes in ET were Kuwaharas! I'd love to see a '91 Pacer - is yours the one with the 700c wheels?
Yes, it has the ARAYA VX-400, 700C, superhard anodized rims and its a carbon composite frame. It's a really light bike and nice to ride. I guess in 1991 it was one of the nicest Cross-country bikes to buy, but it sold for a fortune back in the day. I believe that's why its quite rare and I can't find a lot of information about it. You are more into 26" wheel MTBs, right? Or do you own an old 700C bike we haven't seen yet?
Love your channel, keep up the great work!
Best wishes from Germany
nice video as always
Nice. Im currently restoring a 90, palisades. The frame is a head scratcher for sure, i think im gona try and get a matt grey powder coat, as the zolatone is going to be so hard to restore. 😮
Don't give up on that Zolatone! Once it's gone it's gone forever. There will be a way...
Zolatone grey and flouro decals: this combo has never been bettered 👍🏻
Completely agree. A work of art.
Consider dry ice blasting to clean up the paint. Looking forward to the follow up videos. Thank you!
Anything involving blasting would make me very nervous. Apart from a feather duster and perhaps some lightly sparkling spring water, I doubt I'll be messing with this frame too much. It's already the best preserved Zolatone frame I've seen in recent years, I don't want to risk that.
I feel for you with the details. I’ve just finished up a Dawes Quest where rd and rear wheel had fallen prey to modern upgrades. Sad times (even if they do work brilliantly). Looking forward to the rd restoration (in excruciating detail, please!)
You're in luck then, because I plan to spend an entire evening (on camera) with that rear mech. I have several others from the same year so can easily come up with whatever internals are required to bring this one back to life. I also suspect the quest for the original pink stem could end up being a film unto itself.
Proper dream bike, very nice indeed. Hopefully got a dream build of my own happening soon using a frame that was manufactured on a famous fault line in America, answers on a postcard 😜🤣🤣
I think I might have seen that very frame on eBay. Was it the one the seller was cleverly selling in two parts? The upside down fork and proto-disc brake are something special too.
@@red_dread no this one is a complete bike that I’ll strip and rebuild. There is one seller that’s had a load of Mountain Cycle bits for sale recently, Frames, subframes, swing arms etc, it’d be interesting to have a chat with him I reckon
You are a maniac! I love it!
I'm a danger only to myself.
Loving this, excellent as usual. Now where’s my cloth ? I seem to have weak lemon drink all over this screen. I believe it was the spd’s that were to blame….
I subsequently found out that the pedals and the bike are in fact from the same year: 1991! But if that makes you spit your weak lemon drink then wait until you see some of the other dark horrors coming in part 2...
I’ve looked at this finish before and I think I could pull it off by painting/airbrushing a small area at a time and lightly touching it with a light duty sand blaster turned down very low.
A lot of votes for sandblasting in the comments. No way I'm going there with anything harsher than a feather duster!
Love your vids, found your channel when I began my restoration of a Record Sprint. More quipping about East London please!
Ben from SE London
I thought I held my tongue rather diplomatically on that matter! Northern clubmen always have plenty to say about London cyclists, but I have to admit a couple of my mates down there can really ride. Most of my best pals in E and SE like to talk as much about coffee making as I do about bikes, which delights me.
I have a raliegh torus titanium with a rough ball burnished finish and it was terrible for oil and grease build up, to clean it properly i found out that if you add lemon juice with the soap and water the citric acid lifts the grime from the finish, I'm thinking this approach might work on the rough paint on the team marin and clean away all the grime, it looked terrible around the front derailleur and bottom bracket, hope this helps
Thanks, I'm certainly thinking about gentle options - even Muc-Off scares me, especially because every tiny decal from 1991 is still on this thing. Will probably start with car shampoo and a soft brush.
I think a soft media blast might work on that finish. The tricky part would be to find the right media and air pressure that would remove the very top layer of paint without going all the way through. I'm sure someone out there has experience with that.
it probably would but no way I'm risking that! Also the finish on this one is amazingly good for its age, so I'm keen to preserve as much of it untouched as possible. I think it will be a case of very localised detailing with a brush and some sort of rust converter and (ideally) touch-up paint.
I believe you have the 1991 model there. The 1990 model had white lettering on the zolatone, along with the 1990 first-generation M091 XT rapid fire shifters & normal-profile XT cantis. The servowave M092 XT shift/brake levers & low-profile XT cantis came out in 1991.
You're right - they didn't change much between 90 and 91 but those are some undeniable telltale signs. Mine's not going to be catalogue spec because I'm going to have to take some liberties with the seatpost, wheels, saddle and stem - but I will of course be respectful of this bike's unique history.
@@red_dreadIt is a 1991. Darker grey than a 1990 and had the new Marin dropouts for all future steel frames👌
Cool bike, I haven't got a clue how to sort that paint out. I still pronounce Marin as well all did back in the day 🤣
It still sounds weird to me when pronounced correctly!
Scrub the frame with bubbly dish soap and water using a natural firm bristle brush to get in small areas. Pull all water and dirt off with a wet vac. If you want to change it oily rags with clean out to try and create a new finish.
I'm inclined to agree about oily rags. That's a great idea.
Колись ще через років 20 ці велосипеди можуть бути дуже дорогі і бути музейними експонатами. Але всерівно найприємніше це їздити велосипедом.
I do enjoy watching your videos :) btw you have some female subscribers as well :). I still have my 87/88 Specialized HardRock. One owner and still going strong.
Delighted to hear it! Last time I checked my subscribers were pretty much entirely middle aged men, so you are especially welcome. Make sure you cherish that Hardrock. Those are so sought after today.
The Cartel thanks you 😊
Was that a biopace crankset with a 48 tooth tasty almost as good as the sarasen
There are indeed 2x 48 tooth Biopaces in this video. An XT one on the Saracen and an Exage Trail one on the Ridgeback.
@@red_dread tasty and savory 👍😁
the pink stem is missing, oh no!... lol
my favourite canti combo are odyssey straddle rods with onza H.O. calipers, I don't mess around with brakes either, very powerful with lots of bite
I will be tirelessly hunting for that pink stem, fear not! Straddle rods were such a cool (if unnecessary!) upgrade. Onza HO cantis are so rare nowadays, sadly this is because I hear they were prone to cracking.
Damn, my diamondback axis has the same components. I was wondering why it had deore xt and not xtr, now I get it.
Is yours the one with the smoke paint effect? They actually used real smoke to get that! Stunning bikes.
Quite funny.
Dear Red. I love your Videos. I can feel for the matter. But isn't it about time you put your childhood trauma to rest :-) You have them all now. All the untouchables from back when. You may be in peace. You are safe. All is good :-)
There's still the first generation Zaskar and Xizang to find, then the Hei Hei, the Ti-Mega, the Tomac Raleigh... I'm not ready to quit just yet.
I still have my 1991 Sausalito hybrid in glorious Zolatone
Oof, now that is something really special. Perhaps even rarer than mine? Those hybrids were nowhere near as popular as the MTBs back then, but they make total sense. I’d ride to work every day on one of those!
FWIW, I purchased a pair of those M737 SPD pedals in 1991 to fit to my brand new Cannondale M1000. And, since I was a penny pinching Uni student at the time, they were quite likely not bleeding edge new. On a sadder note, one of those Ritchey rims failed me on the maiden ride home from the shop, the other tacoed and sent me OTB at an MTB race within a month or so. Yours, having lasted 33 years or so, were likely laced a little more carefully :).
1990 was the first year they came out so you were lucky! I had to wait until '93 to get my DX ones. I've never ridden Ritchey Vantage rims in anger so can't tell you how confident I am in them, but I won't be riding this bike hard so I'm not worried.
Tried cleaning the zolotone on mine and it just came straight off 😬 Had to full respray and not in bloody zolotone! Shame but a mare to work with. Also “handle like a greased pig”? 🤔 I won’t ask 😂
I'm going to be extremely careful with mine. Certainly won't be cleaning it too vigorously or riding it hard, I plan to keep it as a museum piece! Haven't you ever ridden a greased pig? They don't tend to like it.
@@red_dread mine was rusted top to toe so the writing was on the wall really. I will look forward to seeing her built up! I've certainly had a few pigs in my time 🤣
Got a free Pine Mountain 1990 frame and fork with Zolatone paint, stripped it because i did not liked thé feeling. I am going for a yellow fluo with black decals with spray.bike.
I realise that the texture of Zolatone is like fingernails down a blackboard to some people!
Got one but i dont think its rare
You've got a '90/'91 Team Marin? How many others have you seen?!
My 1989 team marin ...was lighter grey paint ...
Yes, they did gradually get darker between 89 and 91. Did you see the lighter grey Palisades I did recently? Another beautiful bike. Was yours Zolatone or gloss finish?
Love your videos bro - we need more! Do you have an email address or way you contact you? Love to pick your brain on a couple of my current projects (1990 Fisher and 1985 Raleigh Maverick) thanks
Fear not, more are always on the way. I just tend not to upload too frequently because I have so many small children, my time is rarely my own! You can get at me on oliver.chesher@yahoo.co.uk, would be very interested to see your projects.