1999 Marin Nail Trail
I needed to get off my fully rigid £180 Free Spirit Kielder and onto something with a modicum of “MTB” about it. Fortunately, a deal was struck with a mate of Dave’s who hadn’t really done much with his bike and I ended up with this near unused Nail Trail at a bargain price.
I needed to get off my fully rigid £180 Free Spirit Kielder and onto something with a modicum of “MTB” about it. Fortunately, a deal was struck with a mate of Dave’s who hadn’t really done much with his bike and I ended up with this near unused Nail Trail at a bargain price.
For those of you who remember the ’99 model you may recall that it came with a ‘state of the art’ Diatech cable front disc brake. Shame it didn’t work (they never did), a fact I conclusively proved by disappearing through a hedge backwards at terminal velocity.
Having judiciously invested a hundred and fifty quid I now have a fully hydraulic brake set up and the bike still represents a huge saving on a new one. The only other upgrades have been a WTB Speed comp saddle which has been great from day one and a pair of Yeti grips.
Upgrading the rear brake needed a new wheel and hub plus a disc brake adapter from Supercycles, which has worked really well as the alu frame affords plenty of space to attach the adapter (see pic). I’m using the 2003 spec Julie brakes with alloy levers and they seem to work just fine.
This bike has a solid frame and a commanding riding position with the wide riser bars fitted by its’ previous owner. Sooner or later the running gear will need replacing but probably the obvious upgrade would be the forks.
In the meantime, I’m pleased with it as it is and have become very attached to the blue stem!
| Component | Spec |
|---|---|
| Frame | 1999 Marin Nail Trail |
| Forks | RST Mozo Pro |
| Front mech | STX |
| Rear mech | STX-RC |
| Shifters | STX |
| Chain | n/a |
| Cassette | Shimano 8 speed |
| Chainset | STX-RC |
| Front brake | Magura Julie 2003 |
| Rear brake | Magura Julie 2003 |
| Rims | Ritchey front; Mavic 221 rear |
| Hubs | Diatech (front) Deore (rear) |
| Headset | Ritchey Logic |
| Stem | Marin 120mm (er, very blue!) |
| Bars | Azonic 2″ riser |
| Seatpost | Marin |
| Saddle | WTB Speed Comp |
| Pedals | Time ATAC |
| Tyres | Continental Vertical 2.3 |
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☕Buy Matt a coffeeThere are 4 replies to Mark so far
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July 24, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Muddymoles says:
Mountain Bikes – What we are riding
A quick round up of the Mountain Bikes that have found favour with us recently. A broad and eclectic bunch, especially if you like bikes from the Calderdale Valley.
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April 17, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Muddymoles says:
Blue Pig is now orange
The Ragley Blue Pig from Shedfire (or is that Tweakbikes?) has now reached the painted stage, turned out in a fine orange/yellow. Or yellow/orange. Or something.
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May 23, 2011 at 9:24 am
Dan M says:
Ive just seen a nail trail avertised locally for £50. Im tempted to buy it for the wife. Will a more modern dics brake set-up bolt straight onto the front fork ? and is the rear conversion an easy fit ?
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May 23, 2011 at 9:33 am
Matt says:
Dan, I think to Mark’s eternal regret he let this go instead of passing it on to his wife.
If the one you’ve seen is original I think you can relatively easily put a modern disc brake onto the front. The brake mounts will be ISCG so you might need a cheap adaptor but it depends on what you’re trying to fit on there.
I’d seriously think about a modern fork as well though – those original RSTs are crap, but at £50 the bike sounds great.
At the rear the A2Z adaptor was quite straightforward to fit. It’s a bit fiddly but basically works quite well.
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