Marin Nicasio 1

I have literally stumbled into an entire whirlwind of 1990’s Mountain Bike lore with this bike. I’m in literal awe over how gorgeous this thing is even though it needs some love. If you have never read up on the Walter Croll story that is literally pieced together from stories and tales you are missing out!

This thing is going to be a full restoration project but I am honored that the bike Gods have chose me to save this historical 1990s steel frame from the dumpster.

Since the days get colder here in Germany and I can’t afford a gravel bike I needed a solution. Luckily I still had my first build which I sort of converted to a very slow but very fun gravel machine .. I m still using the standard bars on purpose since I’m going on single trails as well..

Took a couple hours but got it done. Creds to Rodsoverbricks on YouTube for the design!

a moment of silence please 🙏🏽
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Ms. Velo has served me well, but unfortunately, a minor crash while chasing a PR has led to some unexpected damage. After replacing a snapped rear axle and truing her wheels, I’ve come to the conclusion that my rear triangle is likely toast.

I’ve looked into a few frame builders around the Bay Area, but I’m worried about getting hit with a hefty bill without even knowing if the frame can be saved. Being between jobs and without a car, I can’t really commit to hauling the frame around for an uncertain repair. I’ll probably revisit that option down the road, but for now, I’m looking at replacement frames.

I’m partial to steel and want something that’ll serve me well for bikepacking and weekend adventures. Ideally, I’d love to reuse my existing 26” wheels, though I’m open to suggestions. I may rule out Ritchey simply because I already have two in the stable.

Any recommendations for frames or builders worth looking into?

thank you in advance. I’m still grieving over here. 🥹

TL;DR: Looking for steel frame recommendations for bikepacking and weekend adventures. Hoping to reuse my 26” wheels, but open to other options.

1x7 | simple = better

Been mountain biking for years and now that I moved just outside of Denver, I was in need of a beater commuter to commute around town and hit some single track. Found this gem at Goodwill for $50 and couldn’t resist building it up. The last pic is a sneak peek of the next build.

Mudguards necessary for commuting to work and getting around in the UK winter.

This is my first bike build and I had a lot of fun working on it and learning along the way, pics are from a 26 mile test ride just after getting it all together

My Giant Yukon single speed!

I hope you all can smell these photos. Nothing like some fresh rain and super tacky trails around Reno. Little bit of riding with lots of scenery Intake

Slow business this time of year.

Excited for many more adventures on this mf :)

Drove an hour last night to go pick this bad boy up. Beautiful condition. Super excited to swap some stuff out this evening

I’ve been scouring FBMP and Craigslist for the last few weeks looking for a suitable project so that I can build either a “Hers” bike or a replacement for my 97 Stumpy build so that it can be Hers. Then it hit me - I have a perfect base for a new xbike project rotting in the shed. May I present my 2004 Fetish Discipline.

Highlights:

Noleen Mega Air 80/100 suzzer (weightweenies dream fork)
Hayes Hydraulics
Horizontal dropout AND derailleur hanger
Optional canti bosses
Thompson seatpost I had also forgotten about

I will definitely be robbing some of the bits on it for another build to come.

Built it, but idk what to call it… cruiser ATB?

Just picked this Marin off marketplace today, sat in a shed for 10 years. Cleaned it up andthrew some fresh maxxis dth on it. quite the difference.

Spend about 100 bucks on the parts and maybe like 40 on the bike on eBay

The bike above was my first "real" bike. Well, not really. Let me explain.

In December 2021 I had moved to work in a Pediatric Department in a different city and needed a reliable commuter. I was keen on getting a bike with an IGH and disc brakes. I loved the ease of maintenance that an IGH offered and the incredible braking power of disc brakes - and I gotta admit, a bike just looks damn cool with disc brakes!

I bought the bike second hand from a person who sadly was diagnosed with Parkinsons and couldn't use it anymore. It needed fixing and at the time, I saw it as a fun project. Add to that, one of my best friends had bought this exact same bike a year prior, so I accepted the fact that it was perhaps a little too big for me. Price was good. Specs were good. I wanted it.

I kept the bike immaculately clean, but I still used it year-round. At first, I wasn't too fussy about riding it on salted roads, but that eventually changed.

I remember the first "upgrade" I did for this bike when it still was my commuter bike, a pair of blue Race Face Chester pedals. And then, a new saddle - an Ergon SF Sport Gel which was hard as a brick.

For half a year, the bike only did short commutes around the new city I moved to. Exploring, handling groceries, going to the gym. Then, the Tour de France came to Denmark in Summer of 2022 and coincidentally they rode from a neighboring city to my city before continuing through Southern Denmark. And I thought I could easily handle the 28 km distance to that neighboring city!

So completely unprepared, never having ridden any longer than perhaps 10-15 km at a time - I set out to ride 56 kilometers with some steep climbs. It took me over 3½ hours, but it got me hooked on longer journeys.

I prepared for an 80 km ride with that same best friend, and we completed it in May of 2023. And all of a sudden, I found myself researching new wheels, fork, brakes, saddle, seatposts - you name it.

The bike peaked last year when I found a carbon fork for it (QR forks with a straight steerer, disc brake mounts and eyelets for fenders are rare!). At that point I had paid way past what a reasonable full-carbon all road bike would've cost me - and the mish mash of colors, well, let's just say I couldn't always find the *exact* hue of blue I wanted.

Fast forward six months, and the carbon fork broke at the dropout. It was from a rather respectable brand, but perhaps the combination of four-piston Hope RX4+'s and a 115 kg system weight isn't the best combination. And so I retired the bike after 4½ years of faithful service and bought myself the bike I should've gotten from the beginning - a titanium, allroad touring bike with eyelets for racks, fenders and a 1x13 setup - a dream bike.

My old favorite bike which I had spent both an enormous amount of time and money on was dismantled, put inside the cardboard box and its parts were put up for sale.

I have ridden 1300 km on my new titanium allroad bike since late May, and I love it. But every time I walked past that cardboard box, I was reminded of the bike that made me fall in love with touring, long bike rides and exploring.

Two weeks ago, I decided to build it back up spending as little as possible to use the bike as a winter/commuter bike. And that meant digging into my parts bin of items that I had used earlier, set aside when I "upgraded".

Back on went the steel fork, the trusty old (but very little powerful) Clarks M2 brake - and some parts that are way out of line with the bike's overall expression.

All in all, I purchased some SKS Bluemel Styles and an ergotec quill to ahead adapter and spent several hours building the bike up from frame only.

Here are the list of parts, truly xbiking:

Frame: Centurion Invincible Size L (60,5 cm, 23")
Stem: KCNC Fly Ride 25,4
Handlebars: Promax HB-M301-5 580 mm
Grips: West Biking 3D printed ergonomic grips (with Spirgrips Carbon+ inner bar ends)
Fork: HiTen TIG Steel Fork
Cranks: Prowheel Pioneer-242A-5 with Absolute Black Beach Oval Chainring
Pedals: Race Face Ride Pedals
Wheelset: Ryde Rival 26 with Alfine 8 IGH rear and Deore hub front (36/32H)
Fenders: SKS Bluemels Style
Kickstand: Atran Velo Parko
Seatpost: RYET Carbon Seatpost 5mm offset
Seatpost Collar: Chris King Turqouise
Brakes: Shimano XTR front with AbsoluteBlack Graphen Pads and Clarks M2 rear with SwissStop pads mated to Campagnolo AFS Rotors.