Retro mtb...another progect!

I was given an old Marin Muir Woods mtb a few weeks ago from a neighbour,its nothing fancy,just a run of the mill steel ridged mtb from the late 1980s,
it has a canti lever front brake and chainstay U brake on the rear and quite low grade running gear but nice wheels and old skin wall tioga city slicker tyres!



its a small frame but i can clean it up as it is and hang it up-its runs except for the rusty chain, maybe stick the fork and parts on a larger frame sometime...
meanwhile i have been waiting patiently for one of these to turn up;



these appeared in Edinburgh around 1987/88 and i got a 6 month old one in Autumn 88 that has hit a taxi and bent the front end, a local blacksmith heated and straightened the fork and down tube using a vice,a bolt in the fork axle and a monkey winch to pull out the fork!, and it worked, i sanded and painted the frame smoothrite black and got a sticker set and front hub relaced onto another rim at the Bike co-op in Edinburgh,i loved that bike and went everywhere on it,riding all over East Lothian exploring trails and old roads, rode it on the beach too...
i sold it in the early 90s to fund motorcycling and would then have just a cheap diamondback until the cannondale super v`s rekindled my interest in mountainbikes around 1998, until then i lost interest in mtb`s as they lost the old cruiser riding position and went all flat bar/massive stem road riding position with skinny wheels and flouro lycra road cycling clothing, at the time a honda XR600R Enduro thumper with more power to get you into rather than out of trouble was alot more appealing!.
so last Sunday evening i was browsing through a website and an ebay email came through...20" muddy fox courier spares or repair... i clicked on it, enlarged the picture,scrolled down to the price which had a Buy it Now £30 (£15 p&p) and no views yet,quick feedback check and i hit the magic button...this turned up by courier at work on Tuesday morning...

yeah i know drop bars!, but look closely, apart from that this bike is
all original...

i bet that is the original back tyre,if it would stay up this bike would be ridable,
after putting the wheel on it i gave it a quick look over and soon worked out this has never been offroaded!, probably bought for a commuter,hence the drops,
there are no dents on the frame,no wear grooves on the wheel rims with grit embedded in brake blocks,original if faded seat is unripped,original beartrap pedals have reflectors,they last 2 minutes offroading,and just the fact its all stock,
only the big chainring is worn out,probably by a worn out chain,a sign of road use,
so a quick look at the parts as it has arrived;

original front wheel,sealed muddy fox hubs on Araya rims,dia compe cantilevers...

original rear wheel and suntour mech...

sugino cranks,sealed BB with no play,original pedals,suntour front mech...

the frame is tange cro-moly and lugged with nice features...




other nice features of pre 1990 bikes are wide rims,these lovely Araya rims are 32mm

and big flange hubs...

and canti levers just look alot nicer than V brakes even if V brakes were supposed to preform better....

and the big chunky alloy suntour thumbies,so glad there on it...

even came with a wonder light!...


so whats needed to get it rolling again?
F&R complete brake cable set, as outers split,
inner gear cables,
F&R tyres,tubes,rim tape,
chain and outer 48t chainring
big riser bars,grips and brake levers,

some stuff i have thats suitable already,bars,lever,tyres & tubes,
other stuff is ordered,once i have all the stuff will post another rebuild and ride on it,maybe a movie...with 1987 music too of course!,
i plan on riding this ASAP!, man this bike bring back happy memories exploring trails here in East Lothian 21 years ago!, the trails are all still here and soon an old courier to ride them on again...