Submitted by
Si
a Weekend Warrior
from exeter, devon
Date Reviewed: July 21, 2004
Strengths: excellent very upgradable frame!
Weaknesses: bloody heavy when built up
Bottom Line:
i bought the frame second hand so i cant comment on the rest of it but so fasr the frames stood up to above head high drops and fast thrashing down hills apart from the rear shock which dropped all its oil! Looking at the retail price i'd say it must be one of the best budget full sussers out there, great for upgrades and looks fine too!!
Similar Products Used: GT LTS 5000, royal racing hardtail
Bike Setup: 2002 jr T's, Mavic D521's, full deore drivetrain, shimano deore disk front
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
jamie watkins
a Downhiller
from bridgend,wales,united kingdom
Date Reviewed: August 25, 2002
Strengths: granted the only thing left of this bikes original kit is the seat clamp however I've found it to be a good climber and bloody excellent for the downhills.I've even taken this to france where it got a kicking but still held together
Weaknesses: to begin with the drivetrain is crap i hate sram but have since upgraded to a full xt group.the steel swingarm was way to heavy and robbed the bike of a decent lightweight frame.I'm now using an xc style swingarm off an 2000 east peak.Also the original shock wasn't very good I killed it in a month (put a fox vanilla r on there it works brilliantly)
Bottom Line:
although the bike I own now is just about as far from the original as you can get I still found the bike to be a quality item with a frame that begs for upgrading.My best piece of advice would be to get a decent fork,a new swingarm and a new rear shock and drivetrain.If you get the bike to this point it will serve you well over any terrain for as long as you use it.This thing was a bargin and has served me well,i'm about to get a santa cruz bullit to replace it which is only because i've started racing but my bike should be proof of the frames upgrade potencial.
Similar Products Used: rocky mountain rm9, marin b17, kona nunu, specialized p3, marin wolf ridge.
Bike Setup: 2001 jnr Ts, full xt group, hope enduro 4s, continental vertical pros 2.3", fox vanilla r, halo freedom rims, race face xy seatpost and other finishing kit.
Bike Setup: mavic 521's, deore shifters + mechs, newer insnyc fork cos old one broke. deore hydrolic disk
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Brian Hodgson
a Weekend Warrior
from Knaresborough
Date Reviewed: April 29, 2002
Strengths: Value for money. Light. Quality frame.
Weaknesses: None for the money.
Bottom Line:
Great value for money and I've just found the best bit about a good marque. The swingarm broke on my bike at the weekend after three years of reasonably heavy use and the shop where I purchased it are replacing it for free as it's covered by a lifetime guarantee.
This bike is safe buy for an entry-level full-susser. VFM.
Submitted by
Jeremy
a Cross Country Rider
from marstons mills mass
Date Reviewed: April 16, 2001
Strengths: great price looks good rides good and it's fairly light
Weaknesses: the fork is bad and no other ridres heave heard of Marin
Bottom Line:
a great bike for the price if you want a good cross-country bike but don't have a lot of money this bike is good for you. but you might want to replace the fork and rear shock. give it time i hated it the first season but now i love it
Bike Setup: stock except for a rock shox jett fork
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Chris Plantec
a Racer
from Greenville, SC USA
Date Reviewed: January 10, 2001
Strengths: Great rear sus action on the downhill; good price
Weaknesses: Heavy Cro Mo swingarm just broke components are poor, but its what you get at 600 bucks Poor service and warranty claim from Marin
Bottom Line:
Good bike for the money, but to keep it running one has to sink about 600 bucks into it over the course of 15 months. Marin customer service remains to be seen. I just broke the swingarm in the center of a tube. I recommend spending the extra 300 bucks up front to get a better group, and Id spend it with someone other than Marin who has a better service record.
Strengths: For the money it is a GREAT full suspension. For someone not really hardcore, looking for a spare, or with not too much money this bike is for you.
Weaknesses: Rst shocks are poor I am looking to upgrade to something else, COIL on the rear shock most of the other marins are Fox air and this is shock works coil (not too great), most of the stuff is stock and low end components. I have had a lot of stuff go wrong latley while beating it around racing.
Bottom Line:
Good bike for the money but I would never buy it as my main bike again.
Similar Products Used: k2, Specialized, canondale, i am looking at a specialized fsr enduro expert I loved it but I am going to last this year with this one.
Bike Setup: it is a 99 bike, 2000 shimano Lx v-brakes, rock works sealed clipless pedals, wtb velocoraptor tires, salsa flip off ti skewers, all the rest stock
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Submitted by
Milhouse
a Cross Country Rider
from Binghamton, NY Broome
Date Reviewed: April 23, 2000
Strengths: Price, $680 in August of 99, lack of maintenance, seems to allow rider to sprint without too much loss of pedal power due to suspension. Gets a lot of looks from people who don't know bikes.
Weaknesses: Components are not great, although sram 5's are better than I thought they would be. RST shock seems to work ok. Grips are poor.
Bike weighs 33 pounds.
The Marin corp. has a little to learn about customer relations.
Bottom Line:
If you are poor, buy the bike. If not, spend about $200 - $2,000 more and get a bike that weighs less and has components you can live with.
The bike makes a great backup bike when your good one is down.
The bike's rear coil over suspension is the best part of the bike.
Strengths: It has a very strong frame for a cheap price. The gears are the great, I have not yet had anything happen to them or the chain they are very reliable.
Weaknesses: Practically everytime something touches the bike it takes a little nick out of the paint and I have to keep repainting it. The front shocks do not adjust that much and do not get that tight for road riding and etc. I am having trouble with the gripshift and it tends create a gap between the shifter and the grip on the handle bars.
Bottom Line:
Very excellent bike for a cheaper price. If you want a great full suspension bike and you don't have the money for an expensive one this is the one for you.
Strengths: Cheap, Same frame as expensive ones (ex swing arm)and 5 inch travle.
Weaknesses: Cheap components, it has grip shift, and i keep snaping things.
Bottom Line:
I said most of it before. I just want to let you know what i have broken on it. The following things have broken but its my falt for getting big air and riding DH: Seat, Rear wheel (times 2), Seat Post, Rear Mech, front brake, Front Mech, Bent Gearhanger and Snapped chain (times 2). I just need a DH bike but cant aford one.
Similar Products Used: 99 B17 Saracen Raw Marin Bear Vally LTS 3000 or was it 300
Bike Setup: New Stuff: STX RC shifters, XT Rear Mech, DMR V8's, RST HI 5, mavic D521's, Avid 2.0's and a clud roost due seat.
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Submitted by
adi
a Downhiller
from oxfordshire england
Date Reviewed: May 5, 1999
Strengths: very, very good value
Weaknesses: cheapish groupset and rst 381 rm's
Bottom Line:
If you buy this bike you will not be disappointed. Some people (mainly hardtailers) say that they would never spend only £595 on a full sus-little do they know.It shares the same t6061 alloy frame as the far higher spec models like the wolf ridge(£1,200) excluding the swing arm, which is damn strong and rigid anyway.The brakes and cranks etc. may be anonymous, but they work fine so i don't really care. The only bad thing i will say about it is that the forks are okay when you are starting and are fine on hardtails, but when you have 5 inches on the back they feel very crap. I want to get some x-verts soon and i reckon that will make this bike wicked. p.s mavic d521 cd rims look very cool on this bike.
Similar Products Used: alpine trail proflex k2 1000
Bike Setup: rst 381 rm r 185 rear shock (the stock stuff.)
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andy W
a Weekend Warrior
from The best country on earth: Britain.
Date Reviewed: March 16, 1999
Strengths: Downhill Jumps
Weaknesses: Drop-offs; they look so nasty!
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike. For the money its simply awesome. The only part of the bike that isn't upto the Marin frames hi standard is the RST forks. But I have Manitou X verts now, so my bike rocks. If you get new forks and a component uplift, it perfroms alround* better than the Mount vision Pro! *(Downhill, Trials, XC)
Similar Products Used: Mount vision pro Wolf ridge B17 Wild cat trail
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
James Robertson
a weekend warrior
from Sussex England
Date Reviewed: December 27, 1998
Bottom Line:
GREAT BIKE! This has to be the best value full susser in the world. At only £595 you expect short cuts on everything, OK you get cheap unbranded stuff BUT you get a frame that kicks butt. 5 of travel is plenty on the down hills but does not cause problems on the ups. You can still race your hard tail riding budys up and whip them on the way down. The RST 381 RM's are not the best in the world but you find them on many hard tails at this price and on this bike they do everything you need. The parts are cheap but not so cheap they let the side down, You get unbranded V type brakes that work better than my mates LX jobs and they dont fade in the wet. The rest of the parts aren't worth mentioning except the ESP 5.0 Grip shift shifters. These are the bigges lump of i have seen in my life. WHY? WHY? WHY? trash a great bike by putting these things on it! Marin what were you thinking of. Its not just me that feals this way, I dont know one person who likes them. Changing them is easy so its not a problem. Anyway you get the point. If you get this bike you will be a very happy bunny!
