This week’s Readers Rig comes from Jules Pariot in Paris, who shares his 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail, which features a beautiful custom segmented fork and a full suite of homemade bags. Learn more about Jules and his unique vintage rig here…

Words and photos by Jules Pariot (@jules_prt)

Hi, I’m Jules. I’m 27 years old, and I live in Paris, France. I’m a tattoo artist and bike enthusiast who grew up between the north and south of France.

1994 Marin Bobcat Trail

I fell in love with bikes when I got my first rig at the age of six, an old Le Jeune mountain bike with blue tyres. I adore bikes and giving them a new life has always been important to me. The idea of restoring parts and matching them with others is such a nice way to build bikes, as opposite buying a complete bike from a shop.

I’m a big fan of vintage bikes and fat tyres, but it can be tricky to get them to fit together. I was looking for an old rigid mountain bike with 26″ wheels in order to make my own vintage rat bike gravel build or whatever you can call it, and after three months, I found this steel 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail made with Tange tubing. I was born in 1994, so I knew it was the one for me.

  • 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail
  • 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail

The bike was fully built with original components, so I removed everything and did my remake with the original headset, fork, and canti brakes, so this bike is mix and match with old and new parts that fit great together. I reached out to Stolen Garage (@stolengarage) for the final touch. I was looking for a rigid straight fork to replace the original one, and the Stolen team built this segmented fork with cantilever tabs and three bolts cage mount so I’ll be able to put racks, bottle cages, and other stuff. I really love the paint job they did. You can see the heating points and the golden brazing, and they did an amazing job. It’s rad and looks perfect on this rat bike.

  • 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail
  • 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail
  • 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail
1994 Marin Bobcat Trail
  • Frame 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail
  • Fork Stolen Garage handmade segmented
  • Rims Zefal ZX19 (front) / Mavic XC221 (rear)
  • Hubs Shimano DH 3N (front) / Shimano XT (rear)
  • Tires Simworks Super Volumy 26 x 2.22″
  • Handlebars Simworks Gravelbar (48cm)
  • Headset Original Marin
  • Crankset Funn Rigid + 38T Race Face narrow wide chainring
  • Pedals Blue Lug MKS XC III
  • Cassette 11-42 Shimano SLX
  • Derailleur Shimano SLX
  • Brakes Shimano TRP lever + Deore V-Brakes
  • Shifter(s) 11-speed Microshift bar end
  • Saddle Brooks C17
  • Seatpost Unknown
  • Stem Nitto Technomic 60
  • Front bags Homemade
  • Frame bags Homemade
  • Rear bags Homemade
  • Other accessories Safety pizza

This bike is my favorite, especially with this fork. I’ll use this rig for a lot of trips in the future! Special thanks also to La Chouette (@lachouetteparis) in Paris for providing all the great parts and stuff for my rig.

  • 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail
  • 1994 Marin Bobcat Trail

Find more from Jules on Instagram @jules_prt.

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