# Marin Bayview Trail 24"er upgrades—let’s see ’em!



## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

Title says it all. Since the Marin Bayview Trail 24"er thread has become so popular, I think it’s time to see what sorts of upgrades/modifications y’all are doing to them… seeing as these bikes have great upgrade potential.

I haven’t even built my son’s yet (have had it almost one month) since it is to be his birthday present in December, but already I am fantasizing about which upgrades to do. Would love to re-build the front wheel with a disc hub, and get a real suspension fork that is disc-ready. Also looking at the big chainring and thinking that there is no way—since I don’t even use a big ring—that my soon-to-be-8-year-old won’t need it—replace with a bashguard.

Gentlemen, let’s see those modifications! :thumbsup::drumroll:


----------



## RallyPunx (May 5, 2009)

The big ring is riveted; therefore, not an easy project to replace with a bash guard. You would have to replace the cranks and chainrings, which will cost the same or more than the bike itself. It's a tough decision that I have been sitting on since we got the bike over a month ago. 

If someone figured out how put a bash guard without replacing cranks and chainrings, please post. 

I would also like to see what upgrades others have done to their ING Marin Bayview.


----------



## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

I was thinking along the lines of replacing the bottom bracket and cranks with something a bit more versatile, like an orange anodised Raceface AM crankset.


----------



## Roaming50 (Apr 30, 2009)

The trouble is that a Raceface AM crankset is probably going to be too long. A 24 incg bike probably should have a 152mm crankset and there are not too many of those around.


----------



## indianadave (Apr 27, 2010)

I made the big ring on my daughters bike into a bashgaurd. Carefully ground all the teeth off of it, and chamfered any sharp edges. Touched it up, and adjusted the limit screws to keep her from accidently shifting into the non-existing third ring.


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

I'll be posting up my build later, currently working on daughters build for tomorrow.

I already have the shorten IsoFlow cranks with orange bash guard. I have a set of 24 inch disc wheels, novatec hubs, velocity aeroheat rims. BB7 brakes, XT drive train.


----------



## BeginnerCycling (Nov 21, 2011)

I'm interested to see upgrades by others too. Other than a water bottle cage, my son is riding his completely stock right now.

I have a dumb question: anyone know if you could permanently fit a separate length of chain around the big ring to serve as kind of a half-baked bashguard? Seems like it could offer a little more protection (at least to the rider during falls) than nothing at all, without spending as much as the cost of the bike. How dumb is this idea?


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

indianadave said:


> I made the big ring on my daughters bike into a bashgaurd. Carefully ground all the teeth off of it, and chamfered any sharp edges. Touched it up, and adjusted the limit screws to keep her from accidently shifting into the non-existing third ring.





BeginnerCycling said:


> I'm interested to see upgrades by others too. Other than a water bottle cage, my son is riding his completely stock right now.
> 
> I have a dumb question: anyone know if you could permanently fit a separate length of chain around the big ring to serve as kind of a half-baked bashguard? Seems like it could offer a little more protection (at least to the rider during falls) than nothing at all, without spending as much as the cost of the bike. How dumb is this idea?


See above quote, better idea.


----------



## BeginnerCycling (Nov 21, 2011)

TwoTone said:


> See above quote, better idea.


No argument that would be better. However, that's a bit more than my current abilities. Any thoughts on my crazy idea?


----------



## GTscoob (Apr 27, 2009)

BeginnerCycling said:


> No argument that would be better. However, that's a bit more than my current abilities. Any thoughts on my crazy idea?


I've seen bike polo guys do that. Looks cool, really heavy, cheap.


----------



## IAmHolland (Jul 8, 2010)

BeginnerCycling said:


> No argument that would be better. However, that's a bit more than my current abilities. Any thoughts on my crazy idea?





GTscoob said:


> I've seen bike polo guys do that. Looks cool, really heavy, cheap.


Yeah, that's what it will be, but it might still leave some marks.

I think your abilities may be fine. An angle grinder, eye protection, and a bench vise. Go to town. Fine tune with a file, or a dremel.

Take a close look at the crank and see how the rivets attach, and where they are (measure if you can). If it's on a proper BCD location, you might be able to drill out the rivets, widen the holes if needed, and use a real bash guard, with a spacer for the chainring bolts. The spacers you can probably buy from your LBS (talk to the shop guys in the back) for a small fee.


----------



## nbwallace (Oct 8, 2007)

*I went a little crazy I guess*

My now 9 year old has been on this bike about a year. I got a great deal on the SE model, I wanted disks. I have dumped a bit of money into this bike. I am sure his sister wil be on it in two years or so.

Older model SID fork
Juicy 3 hydros 160 front 140 rear (these are kind of a pain to keep from rubbing) 
Thompson seatpost
Forte carbon riser bar
Woodman red anodized headset and seatpost clamp
SRAM x-7 rear der
SRAM 970 Cassette 11-34
Shortened 155mm truvative isoflows 155mm
BBG bash ring
Shwalbe Mow Joes


----------



## tubored (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm looking into replacing the cassette on my son's bayview. He complains that his gears don't go low enough.

What are my drivetrain options without changing the rear wheel hub? 8,9,10sp? Obviously I'll have to worry about the shifters if I don't stick with 7-speed, but I've lost track of which drivetrains are interchangeable with regard to the hubs.


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

tubored said:


> I'm looking into replacing the cassette on my son's bayview. He complains that his gears don't go low enough.
> 
> What are my drivetrain options without changing the rear wheel hub? 8,9,10sp? Obviously I'll have to worry about the shifters if I don't stick with 7-speed, but I've lost track of which drivetrains are interchangeable with regard to the hubs.


Get a 7 speed mega range freewheel.


----------



## BeginnerCycling (Nov 21, 2011)

<Bump> Anyone made any interesting mods over the summer? I've been busy/lazy, and we're still running stock, but still liking it a lot.


----------



## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

My son’s birthday is December 1st, so that’s when he’s getting his bike. I have plenty of time to build it up. I already have an 80mm suspension-corrected Surly 1x1 fork that I will be putting onto it. Just dropped off the 24"x2.5" front Surly Large Marge rim and DMR “Revolver” hub off at my local wheelbuilder (Tahn von Rehmer) for the front wheel build (will be running Avid BB7 mechanical discs). I will be plopping a 24"x3" Nokian Gazzaloddi onto the front in place of that anemic looking stock tire. For the rear, I still have time to look around, but I’d like to get something along the lines of a semi-wide trials rim and jut put a 24" Kenda Smallblock Eight onto it. I plan on junking the stock cranks for a simple 22/32/bash setup (probably a SRAM or Raceface offering), and coupling that with a 9-speed SRAM cassette in back and a SRAM rear derailleur. Just need to be sure to get the right length crankarms.


----------



## BeginnerCycling (Nov 21, 2011)

Leopold, I'd love to see pics when you do all of that!


----------



## tubored (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm looking to get the shortened isoflow cranks, and I need to know if the ING bayview trail came with a square taper BB or splined? Can anyone save me the trouble of pulling the crank arms off to check?

Are there big weight savings to be had on the BB? If so, does anyone know what would be the proper size?

And to further benefit from anyone else's hard work, where's the low hanging fruit for weight savings on these bikes? I know the fork is a big one, but beside that, everything seems to at least be alloy and not steel.


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

tubored said:


> I'm looking to get the shortened isoflow cranks, and I need to know if the ING bayview trail came with a square taper BB or splined? Can anyone save me the trouble of pulling the crank arms off to check?
> 
> Are there big weight savings to be had on the BB? If so, does anyone know what would be the proper size?
> 
> And to further benefit from anyone else's hard work, where's the low hanging fruit for weight savings on these bikes? I know the fork is a big one, but beside that, everything seems to at least be alloy and not steel.


I can't be sure if the numbers are the same. I had a ING one, but when I tried fitting DIsc to the rear it didn't fit so I sold it and bought the released Disc version.

So far, the bars stock 324g, I bought some carbon ones on Ebay 165g
The stem was ok at 133g. So makes it easier to get deals on bars since 25.4 not as popular.

A ebay seller unload about 5 carbon bars at same time, all but one was 31.8. The 31.8 all went into the 50's or more. I got the one 25.4 for $32 shipped and it was a new take off.

Seat & post may be another spot, stock is post 317g seat was 309g.

The air fork dropped 1/2 pound. I'll have to weigh the stock wheels to tell you how much I saved there.

Tires are another good place to lose weight.

The BB is square.

You can see what I've done so far here: http://forums.mtbr.com/families-riding-kids/2013-marin-bayview-trail-se-809382.html

Ironically the bars just showed up. Was waiting on them to change over the drive train.


----------



## coldbike (Feb 24, 2011)

tubored said:


> I'm looking to get the shortened isoflow cranks, and I need to know if the ING bayview trail came with a square taper BB or splined? Can anyone save me the trouble of pulling the crank arms off to check?
> 
> Square taper
> 
> And to further benefit from anyone else's hard work, where's the low hanging fruit for weight savings on these bikes? I know the fork is a big one, but beside that, everything seems to at least be alloy and not steel.


Fork and tires are the main ones as far as I can tell, after that, the seatpost. Beyond those three, there is a pound or two to be saved (not losing any low gears) by going to a 1x9 with a proper cassette in the rear, but unless you have derailleurs and shifters on hand, you will have to pay for a new hub, derailleur and a shifter.

For my 60 pound kid, saving a pound or two makes a huge difference to his riding, so it is quite reasonable in my world to spend the money.


----------



## tubored (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm going to order up my shortened cranks. I live in San Diego and it is very hilly here. I'm thinking about going with the Shimano Tourney 14-34T mega freewheel paired with a 22/36 crank with a bashguard.

Does anyone have an opinion on how well that gear range should work out? It seems like it should be nice and wide, I just wonder if it will pose any difficulty in with the original derailleur and also in shifting from the small chainring to the 36t one.


----------



## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

OK, finally started building it up:








Stripped off all the stock components and replaced with:

• Raceface Atlas cranks + BB
• Raceface bars
• Surly 1x1 fork with cantilever bosses removed
• Oury lock-on grips with Odi clamps
• Avid BB7 front disc
• 24"x2.5" Surly Large Marge rim up front
• 24"x3" Nokian Gazzaloddi
• SRAM X7 components

Still waiting on the rear wheel build since I am going to complement the 32/22 front chainrings with a 11-32 Sram PG970 cassette in back. The bike is already 8 pounds lighter than stock, even with the fat front tire/wheel.


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

tubored said:


> I'm going to order up my shortened cranks. I live in San Diego and it is very hilly here. I'm thinking about going with the Shimano Tourney 14-34T mega freewheel paired with a 22/36 crank with a bashguard.
> 
> Does anyone have an opinion on how well that gear range should work out? It seems like it should be nice and wide, I just wonder if it will pose any difficulty in with the original derailleur and also in shifting from the small chainring to the 36t one.


If you do get the shorten cranks let me know if you're interested in an Orange RaceFace bash guard.

I got it when I thought I'd be using the ING bike and bought a red one when I ended up with the Black/red one.


----------



## KiwiRob (Mar 5, 2012)

Leopold Porkstacker said:


> Still waiting on the rear wheel build since I am going to complement the 32/22 front chainrings with a 11-32 Sram PG970 cassette in back. The bike is already 8 pounds lighter than stock, even with the fat front tire/wheel.


This is a very cool looking bike, but why the fat front wheel?


----------



## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

KiwiRob said:


> This is a very cool looking bike, but why the fat front wheel?


Thanks. The reasoning behind the fat front is that it weighs less than the stock suspension fork and wheel setup. No, really, 3 or 4 pounds lighter. Once you've ridden a fat front (at relatively low air pressure) you will realise you can do stuff that suspension-equipped bikes can do.


----------



## KiwiRob (Mar 5, 2012)

Interesting, I would have thought the fatty would have created more resistance and slowed the bike (probably a good thing, some kids don't know their limits). I never though about using a fat tyre as a substitute for suspension, good lateral thinking.


----------



## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

KiwiRob said:


> Interesting, I would have thought the fatty would have created more resistance and slowed the bike (probably a good thing, some kids don't know their limits). I never though about using a fat tyre as a substitute for suspension, good lateral thinking.


Well, riding one of these (over 1,800 miles so far, and 1,410 on my previous fatbike) has changed my way of thinking:


----------



## tubored (Mar 13, 2012)

So I picked up the RST F1RST 24 air fork from the place in Germany, and I went to install it. I realized I may just want to have the local bike shop move the headset race over for me. Since I noticed that the headset is the simple ball and cup bearing style, I'm looking at the mid 90s Chris king headset on my freshly retired hard tail and wondering if I should move that headset over to my son's Marin.

Is there any reason to bother? The original headset will just require a bit of maintenance once a year or so, eh? I doubt there's any appreciable weight savings?


----------



## Asmodeus2112 (Jan 4, 2008)

tubored said:


> So I picked up the RST F1RST 24 air fork from the place in Germany, and I went to install it. I realized I may just want to have the local bike shop move the headset race over for me. Since I noticed that the headset is the simple ball and cup bearing style, I'm looking at the mid 90s Chris king headset on my freshly retired hard tail and wondering if I should move that headset over to my son's Marin.
> 
> Is there any reason to bother? The original headset will just require a bit of maintenance once a year or so, eh? I doubt there's any appreciable weight savings?


On my daughters bike when I installed her F1RST 24 I used the headset that was on the fork that came with the bike. It's not very good, but good enough. Of all the bearings on a bike I think the headset is the least important, and you are correct, almost no weight to be gained here in comparison to other areas of the bike.


----------



## tubored (Mar 13, 2012)

So, here's what I've done so far:
140mm SRAM S600 shortened cranks with 22-32-bashguard setup
Shimano Mega-Range MF-TZ31 Tourney Freewheel (14-34T )
Wellgo M-111 pedals
RST F1RST 24 Air Fork
An old KORE cro-moly and Ti skewer set I had laying around

I've ordered some new schwalbe tires, and I'll probably set them up tubeless, but they haven't arrived yet. I also have a retired hardtail with some XTR M950 hubs that I may have made into 24" wheels. I'd stick with rim brakes, but it would allow the use of a cassette and hopefully drops some more weight from the bike.

He uses the granny gear every ride, so the freewheel was a great upgrade. He chops the pedals less, but still does it occasionally with the shortened cranks. But the bash guard saved his calf on the first ride after I installed it. We haven't ridden with the new forks yet, but I weighed both at the bike shop, and the original was 4.62 lbs while the RST was 3.54 lbs, so it is a huge weight savings and it is definitely going to perform better.

I'd add a photo, but it still basically looks the same except for the black forks.

The bike currently weighs 25.75 lbs with the kickstand removed.


----------



## BeginnerCycling (Nov 21, 2011)

Sounds good, where did you order the RST F1RST Air Fork from?


----------



## tubored (Mar 13, 2012)

RST F1RST Air 24" MTB Federgabel schwarz

It arrived in 1 week. Terrible communication from the company, but it arrived and quickly.


----------



## BeginnerCycling (Nov 21, 2011)

Thanks!


----------

