Well, I found a bike abandoned in a dumpster after dragging myself home from another round of interviews. It's a great bike for my brother, but I know nothing about it. It is the Marin San Rafael Ovation. 8 speed.

That's about all I know. It's in pretty decent condition and will need a little TLC, but I convinced my brother it's a great winter project for me, and by spring, he's gonna have a great new bike.

Koffee

They are a smaller independent brand. Some friends of mine had Marin mountain bikes a few years ago and loved them. From what I know, they're good construction. Nice find!

i dont think they are very independent.. or small.. but the bikes are ok

these guys? https://www.marinbikes.com/

Why is this in ss/fg?

Fine bikes. My favorite shop who loves the practical and value-conscious (but not cheap) buyer is all about them.

My assumption would be that Koffee knows this forum's obsessive knowledge of old and often rare frames. Particularly (for whatever reason) 80's steel.

Exactly why she put it in this forum, plus she's a mod, she can do whateva she wants.
a bike shop where I worked at in ST. Louis Park, Mn, used to see them. They are definitely not a small company by any means. I think the San Rafael is maybe a hybrid, or maybe one of their low-end road bikes. I thinks me first guess is right. Anyway, still a good find though Koffee.

Drew

Is Marin still claiming to have invented mountain bikes?

Yeah, I thinks so.
AT least that's what their reps were telling me about a year ago.
I would'nt care, my biggest mountain was my addiction, oops.

Oh, this was a BIG brain fart... I thought I clicked on General Cycling Discussion and put it there, and instead, I found myself staring at SS/Fixie responses. But it is not a ss/fixie thread, so I've moved it right back to where I originally meant to put it. My bad.

Well, it sounds like I scored a decent find. Of course, I didn't think it was some high end Fondriest throwback or anything ( ), but I did think it may be a decent bike and just wanted the confirmation.

Thanks!

Koffee

I have a Marin Larkspur hybrid. I live in the Bay Area, so Marin is a fairly well known name around here.

I was in Taiwan recently, where Giant is one of the main brands there - they are manufactured in a big way there. Someone told me that the Marin brand is manufactured in the same factory. (This often happes if a company has a nice factory - they will manufacture stuff for other co's under contract.)

I have a 06 marin san rafael. Nice bike.
I can not quite afford a decent road bike and with hauling my toddler this made a good choice for me.

Good score Koffee


No, no. They never made that claim. Marin County has deep roots in the origins of Mountain Biking.

Read this:

History of Mountain Biking

My wife rides a San Rafael from Marin. It's a nice hybrid. Older models are steel frames, newer ones (since 2003 or 2004, I think) are aluminum.
Marin has a reputation of making solid, quality products. From what I heard from a local dealer they are one of the biggest bike sellers in the UK.

No, but they certainly popularized it with making some of the first off-road specific bikes. The history of Mt. Tam is well known and the Marin founders' involvement...

Thanks all! It's great- I got the bike sitting in my nephew's room. I wanted a winter project, and after I had to give away my Free Spirit, it's nice to know I've got another bike to work on instead.

Koffee

I always thought Marin made nice looking bikes. They used to be pricey when I followed their offerings, but that might not be true anymore. You do see them in Southern California, but not, of course, as often as Cannondale. The fact that there are fewer of them gives them a little cachet some other bikes don't have. For example,Trek and Cannondale are great bikes, but there are so many of them, you hardly pay attention to them. On the other hand, if you see a DeRosa, you stare.