[Closed] Unridden Marin Mount Vision - retro eBay

On trend with the coil shock.

I am a huge fan of those bikes , well the disc mount ones. For years I've banged on about how they are the best bikes EVER.
However I now own a fat bike and a new Anthem.
Took my trusty Mount out on a proper off road ride , got to my favourite downhill and it's on the brakes all the way down rather than full blast.
It felt so nervous.
So I gave my trusty steed to my brother and bought an old Orange 5 for winter hacking.
That just has to be better doesn't it?

I had one from new, 1998 I think, and I can honestly say it was the biggest piece of shit that I've ever ridden. Horrible, horrible and thrice horrible.

I had a Rift Zone of similar vintage and thought it was ace! (Apart from the Manitou forks - they went within weeks). If that had disc mounts I might have been tempted.

This was mine - a bit of a triggers-broom effort by the end of my days with it...

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I had one from new, 1998 I think, and I can honestly say it was the biggest piece of shit that I've ever ridden. Horrible, horrible and thrice horrible.

What was so wrong with yours? When they were current, there was very little around that was even close in terms of ride quality. The contemporaries were things like Proflex and LTS's - that really puts things into context...
Weren't they the first fully suspended bike to ever won a UCI XC race?

And let's not forget, this is the heritage of Whyte here! 😀

I always fancied one of those Marin single pivot bikes but didn't ever get my hands on one. There was a white one with rst triple clamps I seem to remember - that was the one I wanted most.

Ended up with a ball burnished GT Lts frame that I got a bargain on (I don't remember it being awful - I enjoyed riding it immensely). Then swapped it out for a Univega Ram 990 which I also enjoyed - but in hindsight it has a stupid falling rate rear shock that made it hard to move initially (so it pedalled ok) but could then wallow through big compressions.

I imagine all of these bikes would feel a bit nervous downhill compared to modern bikes. That said, only about 3 years back I was on a '98 Kona U'hu and smashing it round Cwmcarn without too much trouble and having a lot of fun.

Interesting that it is not the standard shock.

I had one of those brand new in my final year at Uni. Got it from Wheelies which was the local shop in Swansea and got upgraded to the Manitou X-Vert 100mm triple clamp forks. Was great except the turning circle and the squashed cable guide caused by a crash 🙂

It was pretty good in it's day with a Fox Vanilla coil shock, XT group all for £1500 from memory.

I had the rear triangle replaced once when it cracked. Most annoying thing was catching my calf on the rear v-brake noodle!

I always fancied one of those Marin single pivot bikes but didn't ever get my hands on one. There was a white one with rst triple clamps I seem to remember - that was the one I wanted most.

In think I broke 3 front ends and 4 or 5 rear ends. And a shock. Still got the latest iteration in the garage in bits. Thought I could try and use the lifetime warranty, but on a 14 year old frame I thought it might be taking the piss.

Thought I could try and use the lifetime warranty, but on a 14 year old frame I thought it might be taking the piss.

I remember riding one as part of some work a guy at my uni was doing on the benefits of full sus in terms of flat/uphill speed. It was clearly a lot more efficient over very bumpy stuff than a hardtail, but I remember awful pedal induced bob! It put me off single pivot bikes until I got a coiler a couple of years ago and realised it must have just been that frame or shock setup.

They were still the bike to have back in my schoolboy days! I remember the B17 in particular that all the cool big boys had.

That saddle is gopping though.

I had a 98 East Peak and liked it at the time. Still have most of it and the saddle is still on my off road commuter. When I then went back to a fully rigid bike though it was faster downhill, I guess the improved geometry forks and tyres were of more benefit than the elastomer RST forks. I was quite happy with single pivot suspension and if I ever did get another full suspension bike I'd probably go for the simplicity of again.

1999 was the vintage year as far as I'm concerned. Great bikes which really made FS mainstream in the UK.

I've had 4 over the years and the 2000 was best with the 190 rear shock as opposed to the earlier 165.

Bought a mount vision pro back in 1997, rode it for a day and less than 30 miles before realising it was a piece of shite - I went back to riding my 1994 rigid Marin Indian Fire Trail and 1993 Marin Pine mountain, sold it to a mate as his first mtb - he seemed chuffed with it.

What was so wrong with yours?

Interesting that it is not the standard shock

The geometry on the latter ones was a bit more progressive. I was pushing the long, low and slack envelope at the turn of the century.

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Maybe I just liked my various ones because they were infinitely better than the Quake 9 frame they were the warranty replacement for 😀

Just found another pic - I was a wheels-on-theground Trailquester at the time and it was the perfect tool for 7hrs in the saddle...

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...and they worked better with 100mm forks.

I had 99 one with some Psylo XC's on! Great bike.

Didn't all the XC ones come with air shocks??

Remember this was the time of URT suspension on mid-high range bikes from main stream bike companies.

Loved mine*, it was my 1st proper MTB, lovely and light and handled brilliantly (at the time), never understood why ppl thought 100mm fork felt better, as mine went from nimble to tall and and a bit ponderous. Though the 100mm Marz MX's were 100% better fork than the original Manitou's, think the handling would have been improved massively with a anti-bob shock.
Eventually snapped the BB off mine and proceed to have a string of new Mount Visions which I broke quite regularly and were replaced by Marin/ATB's (at the time) marvelous backup

*A 2000 or 2001 model with original Hope Mini's both ends and fox air shock

I had a 2000 year model, all Ali finish, still had orange trim.
replaced the fork with a set of bombers and eventually put a early set of Shimano disc brakes great bike ran fire XC pros. Had it 7 years
Do you all remember the hatred that came the mount visions way with ref to sandles, beards, ctc members and mondeo of the trails etc etc

Didn't all the XC ones come with air shocks??

Don't think so?, my 97 mount vision pro came with a non piggyback coil shock (think it had a blue sticker on it and was only adjustable for preload if my memory serves me correct - prob wrong though)

the-muffin-man - Member
I had a Rift Zone of similar vintage and thought it was ace! (Apart from the Manitou forks - they went within weeks). If that had disc mounts I might have been tempted.

This was mine - a bit of a triggers-broom effort by the end of my days with it...

Those bombers still look so ****ing good 8)

Z1's - still the best forks I've ever owned - sooooo plush and so tuneable.

Always liked the look of them.

Makes me so nostalgic seeing all that stuff.

Didn't all the XC ones come with air shocks??

No, my 98 Mount Vision came with a Fox Vanilla R (I think) coil shock (nothing piggyback or air about it)

B17(1997) came with Vanilla RX, coil with piggyback reservoir, RST HI5 elastomer double crown forks, STX-RC drivetrain and hubs, X138 rims, Geax tyres, V brakes and you needed an adaptor to put discs on the back as the ISC51mm standard was just getting hold and Hayes and others were still making different mounts. £1260 to you sir.

I built this up for Teen1. Nice to ride a bike the same age as you. Upgraded to a front disk, added some black bits. He loved it and it always drew lots of comments! Stolen 🙁

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I had a '98 Riftzone and on the whole it was a great well specced xc bike for the time. Used to climb really well, would dig in on the muddy climbs and I'd get up the slopes that mates on other full sus bike and hardtails would have to walk.
Only weakness as others have said was the 80mm Manitou forks, the cartridge blew but was replaced under warranty as I think the rear shock might have been as well.
Those bikes work better with 100mm forks.

Interestingly (err...ish) that model mount vision signifies my start of ‘proper’ MTBing, as it was on the cover of the first mtb mag I ever bought (Maximum Mountain Bike) as a 13 year old.

They were gushing over it as it was the first FS (well the pro version) to win a trailquest event iirc, Paul Lazenby and I forget who else riding it
Mag had gone bust 3 issues later...
/dream sequence filter

I had a quake 5/9 as mentioned on the noisey bikes thread. It climbed well but my hard tail handled better.
It was way ahead of my mates fs bikes, until the swing arm broke from the welding not being finished. The main frame bent when the shock bolt snapped and some other things happened. I sold it cheaply so I would never have to hear it again.
Ironically it rode better with oil pissing out of the rear shock.

Lest we forget what came shortly afterwards...

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That looks a weird suspension system. I missed out about 10 years of mtb - so I fondly remember the B17 / mount vision but never seen that last bike posted.

Up until this September one of these was my main ride. It's still going strong, but I bought a 29er Stumpy 2 months ago.

Crikey, things have really come on in 20 years...

BTW, the coil-over is correct, a mate has one identical that came with his in early 1998. And, it's still his main bike.

Lusted after one of these when they first came out. Saved my pennies and went off to The Bike Place at the metro centre. One quick spin around the carpark was enough for me, the bike felt really short. So I ended up buying a proflex beast for almost the same money (must of seen me coming) as the marin had a XT group set. Looking back I think it was the tan coloured tyres on the proflex that clinched it 🙂

Back in '98 this was the bike I wanted but couldn't afford. Bought an Orange O2 hardtail instead, front suspension and v-brakes was enough of a revelation. Still have the O2, though is't not regularly used anymore, if only it could take discs.

It's got a Torque Tube, I'm in..