1988 Marin Bear Valley

[gtturbo]

Some of you may recall this was on ebay recently. It was advertised with a stuck seatpost which I think put people off so I got it for a good price. I'd always assumed stuck posts were more a wet weather thing but the seller had kept this in Spain most of its life so I guess not. I had also spotted from the pics on ebay the post in question was a Suntour XC so for the price it was worth a punt. The post is now out using the freeze technique I'm glad to report.

I've stripped it down and given it a bit of a clean up. It's quite a nice bike. One shifter was odd and also the rear derailleur so for now until I find the correct Exage Mountain parts it has some XT upgrades. I've also fitted a new pair of those Lucky Stone tan walls. I have a spare pair of Exage pedals so will fit those once I have repainted them as I guess something similar would have been original spec.

 

[27motorhead]

Good to hear the seatpost came out without any damage (well I can’t see any!). Great looking bike. Love the MARIN logo on the downtube from this era and also the long upright(ish) roller stem. Those bars look like they’ve escaped the fad of being trimmed down in the early 90s too. Should be a great ride once you get some pedals on it!

 

[vtwinvince]

I just picked up one of these. I thought they all had bull-moose bars that year?

 

[gtturbo]

I just picked up one of these. I thought they all had bull-moose bars that year?

I'm no Marin expert but I know a little bit. I think bull moose was 87 and earlier. Pre 88 Marin's of any description seem pretty rare to be honest but you do see them from time to time.

I've also got a 88 Palisades and that has the same stem/bar combo, Link below.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/1988-marin-palisades.432863/
The Palisades is an interesting ones as, again to my knowledge, it was made in 2 versions in 88. The 'Palisades' which I have that has flat bars and the 'Palisades Trail' which had riser bars and a black fork rather than red to match the frame.