Been a while since I last posted on this blog. Let's keep it alive, shall we? Just wanna share with y'all my first MTB. I'm not that young, so this bike is pretty old. How old?? Try 20+ years.
It's a 1990 Marin Hawk Hill. An original, made in Marin County, California. That's in the USA :) Believe me, back then NOTHING was made in China. So you can pretty much see the quality and build.. this was from way back when Marin was still small and haven't mass-produced.
This was one of the best XC bike they ever made, with quality parts all-around. The Shimano group & crank set were all made in Japan, the aluminium frame and fork were all made by Marin in the USA and still rides well to this day. I can safely say that I don't mind racing this side-by-side against ANY of the latest Polygon of the same specs :)
Check the bike here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=267329&id=562981410
One notable performance-enhancing component that they included back then was the Grip Shift. It's a shifting technology that didn't require us to use those annoying shifters, unlike other bikes of that era. It was a breakthrough back then, and it is still being used on high-end bikes until now. It gives riders easy shifting without thinking too much on shifting while riding.
The only additional components I added from back then were Zoom bar ends. These are original Zoom components, unlike the ones that you can get from Rodalink today. Those are a bit shady :)
Minor fixes were made over the past couple of years to keep it in riding condition, such as changed new tires and tubes, re-adjusting spokes, oiling and servicing.
The bike still handles remarkably well until now, but then again I don't take it to the mountains anymore coz I don't have the time to go there anymore. But on the streets it still grips firmly to the ground and realistically agile for its age. Oh yeah, at 12kg, it was considered light back then :) Anything else lighter than this would've been made of titanium.
Next up is the rejuvenation project, where i'll be changing stem & head unit together with suspension fork and new rims. Wish me luck.
Regards,
Donny a.k.a Speeder
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