My Marin Mount Vision 2006

Paulfocus

Hi all,
I'm Paul, In a couple of months ill be 30 years old.
Abit about myself first.
As a teenager I spend every spare minute on my mountain bike as a trials bike wanting to be like Martin hawes and Martin Ashton. The use to be a big group of us who all built the bikes ourselfs. Back as a teenager I had the knowledge to build bikes from scratch and had lots of fun doing so.
As I got to 17 years old cars took over and I lost interest in bikes.
When I was 21 years old I fell ill with a serious condition what I fought to control for about 5-6 years. After getting it under control I was very unfit and wanted to get back into to shape, so the mountain bike passion came back alive.
On a very tight budget I purchased this:



I started going out with a few mates what also wanted to get into shape and have fun.
After a few years of riding the hardtail, going to many great places around the country. I decided I needed a full suspension bike as my mates all had them and were out performing me in parts of the trails.
Money been tight I decided the best way was to buy a good frame and swap bits over and add better components over time.

So here's the frame I bought for £165:



I thought it was a bargin at that price!!!

Now you'll have to forgive me for this next bit as I'm not very good with the spec on the bike.

First I ran the new cables and fit a new bottom bracket and crankset (sadly not hollowtech yet!)



All shimano gear.

Next the wheels, my rock shox xc32 tk's what I bought about a year ago for the hardtail and an fsa headset



Used my Easton bars and stem off my hardtail.



Love this headset!!

It took me in total about 6 hours to bold it up to get it to this stage:



Don't worry about the angle of the saddle I've dropped the nose abit now lol.

After a few teething problems it was out on its first proper ride. In the snow!!!!!!!







Never been out in the snow before. But what fun it was and no bad offs!!!

Decided I need a new saddle as the wtb one was old and tired!!! Also fitted a a bender fender as the crud catcher doesn't fit in the down tube:









This is how it looks at the moment.
Has it stands I've built this bike for around £500 so it is a true budget build.
I love it and its far better then my hardtail in every way.

Next on the list is hydro brakes, more white components and white wheels.
Thanks for looking
Any feedback good or bad is much Appreciated.

Paul

russyh

Love the look of the frame, thanks for sharing the build.

tarbot18

Nice bike , nice to see decent bikes built on a budget rather than someone just buying a 4 grand superbike off the shelf.

Paulfocus

Hi,
Thanks for the comments. Been for a little ride today around my area and after the Marin looked like this:



Time to get the hose pipe out!!!!!!

roachbiker

great frame, i had same one from JE James, great XC bike
Is the 'bike park' pic sherwood pines? its my local trail!
Nice to hear you getting back into biking, great way to keep fit

Paulfocus

Hi yes it's sherwood pines, it's about 2 hours from me and its a nice little trail to practise on for the big rides out.
I did lots of research on the frame before I bought it and every review I saw had a good write up and there not wrong! It's so light and easy to throw about.

Paulfocus

A little update:
Well spent some more money on upgrades,

First off,
AVID Elixir 3 White Disc Brakes 160 Front and 160 Rear Set


Read a lot of reviews on these and they seem very mixed so I'm hoping they do me proud.

Second purchase,
Raceface Chester stem 70mm


Like the look and sound of this stem and its a fair bit shorter then my Easton one. I been told a shorter stem will give me a lot better feel.

Soon as I've received them and they are fitted to the bike ill get some pictures up.

Paulfocus

A little update with a few pics.

Well these turned up today



So like a little kid at Christmas I had to get them fit and setup ready for action.

Before:



After:






Hope they work as good as they look.

Still more to come very soon

Thewaylander

Good work,

Think you have a cracking little machine for your dosh there.

Paulfocus

Thewaylander wrote:

Good work,

Think you have a cracking little machine for your dosh there.

Thanks, I love it, rides so well

Still got more to come

Here's the seatpost qr I've finished painting just need to wait til it's completely dry

mrmonkfinger

Avids get some mixed reviews (mainly on quality control grounds) but they're good brakes, IME. I have 4 sets of them, none of which have given any significant problems beyond regular maintenance (worn pads / piston cleaning / bleeding).

Nice bike btw!

Paulfocus

Well I've done abit more work to the push iron.
But still no stem yet All I can say about that is 1st class recorded speedy delivery, My Ass!!!!!!

Anyway to the update:

Decided it was time to get rid of the last white cable! So off to the local bike shop I went.
Also put my freshly painted QR seatpost clamp back on and put my decals on.

Thewaylander

It's a good solid machine but it has alot of scope aswell.

Which is god fun to have as it just will keep getting better, maybe nip onto superstar and look at some of there wheels they have some solid offers a great wheel set for £200 which will change the bike completely.

Paulfocus

Thewaylander wrote:

It's a good solid machine but it has alot of scope aswell.

Which is god fun to have as it just will keep getting better, maybe nip onto superstar and look at some of there wheels they have some solid offers a great wheel set for £200 which will change the bike completely.

Hi, ye I was looking at them last night but my one worry about getting them is I have very little knowledge about bikes now and have no idea what wheels will fit all I know is I've got a 8 speed cassette, 9mm QR and 6 bolt discs. Looking for wheels gets confusing with all the different spec????!!!!

On another note this has just turned up today:



Will have in on in the next hour, ready for llandegla tomorrow!

Paulfocus

Stems on and looks sweet

Thewaylander

You just have the standard quick release ones,

And what speed you have doesn't matter they all fit on the same size cassette unless its the new 11 speed one from SRAM and that costs more than you have spent so far so don't think that's on the cards.

But looking good, set of those wheels is where i'd be saving for next.

Paulfocus

Thewaylander wrote:

You just have the standard quick release ones,

And what speed you have doesn't matter they all fit on the same size cassette unless its the new 11 speed one from SRAM and that costs more than you have spent so far so don't think that's on the cards.

But looking good, set of those wheels is where i'd be saving for next.

Can any one help me on this question please?


Will these fit my bike as the rear QR says 10mm thru axle? And that's the smallest size they do for the back?

Thanks in advance
Paul

The Northern Monkey

You'd need a 10mm skewer (not a 9mm QR). Should still work with your frame I think.

Why not upgrade the forks though? You need a Reba up front, would transform the ride! XC32's are poop!

DanDax1990

Agree with both, I'd upgrade the forks first then the wheels.

You may end up getting a different axle size forks which wouldn't be compatible with wheels and so on...

Nice work so far!

Paulfocus

This wheel business is so confusing?! Will a 10mm skewer fit the xc32's? Has when I bought them they stated for 9mm?
I know what you mean about the forks after having them6 months I had to put a service kit on them and there still not right now! But they have to do for abit now

Paulfocus

DanDax1990 wrote:

Agree with both, I'd upgrade the forks first then the wheels.

You may end up getting a different axle size forks which wouldn't be compatible with wheels and so on...

Nice work so far!

Ye was just thinking that

It's true what people say, once you start you just can't stop lol

The Northern Monkey

Why not just choose QR front and rear?



I'd still buy forks though.

tlw1

I used to have that bike - loved it and regret selling it, but a mate was desperate so I sold it him for bigger all

Paulfocus

A little up date on the bike

Been debating now for a long time on what wheels to buy? And after the ride up snowdon what killed the bearings on the rear hub! It was time to choose a set. I didn't want to spend a fortune on they with the plan to upgrade the forks with a bigger quick release so I will have to change the hubs at somepoint. So I found some Halo Freedoms on eBay for a good price.
I think they look pretty smart, well built and strong.

Paulfocus

Some more pics after I've washed it and add a mucky nutz bender fender xl to the rear.

Paulfocus

Hi everyone,

I've got a little question I'm hoping someone can answer for me?

As you will know I've got some rock shox xc32 tk which are abit too soft for me and I've heard you can swap the damping units for this: RockShox Compression Damper Assy Argyle MoCo w/Internal Gate?

Does anyone know if they do fit my forks? And if so is it a straight swap or is there abit of modding needed?

I know there not the best forks to start off with but with a baby on the way in 6 months time I can't afford to be buying new forks and just want my xc32's to perform abit better to keep me going for longer!!

Thanks in advance
Paul

Paulfocus

Added some decals and a firmer coil spring in the forks. Ready for the weekend in Scotland

billybuntus

Fantastic project. And a great looking bike. Good to see your still using your frame this far on.

Most others seem to spends thousands.

Is the rear mudguard a replacement for a standard crud guard type that hangs over the rear wheel?

I'm looking for a rear mud guard and that looks neat.

Paulfocus

billybuntus wrote:

Fantastic project. And a great looking bike. Good to see your still using your frame this far on.

Most others seem to spends thousands.

Is the rear mudguard a replacement for a standard crud guard type that hangs over the rear wheel?

I'm looking for a rear mud guard and that looks neat.

Hi there,
Thanks for the feedback
The mudguard is a Bender Fender XL modded to fit on the rear.

Paulfocus

It's been a long time since an update but that's because I've not done anything to the bike but ride it.

Decided to treat myself to a slx dual crank tho this year.

DanDax1990

You not bothering with new forks now mate?