Submitted by
dunchallas
a Weekend Warrior
from London UK
Date Reviewed: August 24, 2010
Strengths: FRAME... as the guy in the shop where I bought it said, this was one of the last really great frames Marin made before thier low/mid range bikes started to suffer from thier sales success.
Weaknesses: Components are average at best but what do you expect for the money. Could not care less though as I broke things I replaced them and the bike just gets better.
Bottom Line:
This bike started off as a mountain bike then I used it as a commuter in London for about 6 years after buying another mtb. To be frank, it was mainly because i did not really care if it got nicked or knocked about. Needless to say I did not give a damn about the crappy forks at the time. However it outpaced most of the road bikes at the lights and had great agility.
Anyhow last year I decided to take it off road again, bought some half decent tyres, gave it a tune up and well am a little embarrassed to say it er rocked. Uphill this bike just goes and goes, the geometry, stiffness, weight etc etc all work really well. Downhill & singletrack, it just does what you ask of it.
I actually own another Hawk Hill a 2008 SE, which I picked up very cheap on ebay, and even my GF thinks the old bike kicks its shiney ass... so now am putting new shox and disc brakes on the front.
My advice if you are looking for a bragging rights bling XC trail bike then pass this one by... maybe come back to it as a training bike though. If you like your xc trail laughs cheap, enjoy building up something and dont mind flying past the carbon XCs heading up the hill on your custom retro knacker. Find a good condition 09 HH frame.
Strengths: Strong,light frame.Worth building up with better components.Nice welds.
Weaknesses: Sram derailluers.Grinds chain in 34t/13t combination for some reason with two different cranksets.Yet I can't grind the chain with the same set-up with my Raleigh F-500.Heavy fork.Seat-tube seems a little small for the 27.2mm seatpost. Derailluer guides mounted below downtube,not on top-tube which would be better.
Bottom Line:
Just another beater bike,or so I thought. I liked the bike when my neighbor let me ride it even though the neighbor screwed up the bike.Once I got my hands on it,I found what a great frame it had under all the junk.I installed all the parts you see above that were once on the Moab 3.This Marin fit me better with the right dimensions,wheelbase and all that. Bike sprints and feels lively.Good for twisties and climbs.Not a bad bike for the price.I recommend the Hawk Hill just for the frame and build it up with better parts.
Strengths: very good and light frame very good price
Weaknesses: very bad drivetrain components no stiff suspension(problem whith bushings very soon)
Bottom Line:
chance everything exept frame of corse ,headset,bar the first thing i should change now is the "fork" and anything sram from the day i tryed sram ,I LOVE SHIMANO
Bike Setup: rithey comp pedals,ritcey logic headset,shimano deore crankset,syng sunspension,lx 99 brakes ,1.9l brake levers,sram 5,0 shifters-deraill(change them NOW).marin race lite leather titanium rails sadle HG-72 (LX)chain
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Submitted by
Jonathan
a Cross Country Rider
from Nashville, TN
Date Reviewed: August 1, 2001
Strengths: Nice, light frame
Weaknesses: bad components but you can't expect much at that price
Bottom Line:
This is a really great frame! It's worth the price because you can always pay a little more to get nicer components and shocks. I've used it a lot on some really technical cross-country rides and it has been amazing.
Strengths: Light, Stiff Frame, Very responsive and best climber I've ridden.
Weaknesses: Crappy forks, cranks, brake levers, gripshifts, pedals and sloppy rear derailleur, slippery seat post.
Bottom Line:
This bike outclimbs anything I've ridden, or ridden with, and sprints like a champ. It's fairly light, extremely quick and nimble in switchbacks and seems to remain comfortable on longer rides, (35+ miles) You pretty much buy the frame for the $450, as the components are for the most part crap. A few dollars spent wisely; and you can have a bike to blow away your $1,000 bike riding buddies. (Although, I've got about $800 in it at present.) I plan on riding this one for at least a couple more years, until I can scratch up the cash for either a Factory Homegrown, or a Litespeed Unocoi. Until then, I'll keep blowing away bikes at twice the sticker price, and having a hell of a lot of fun doing it. ***Hindsight being 20/20, I'd have definitely ponied up the extra few bucks for the Palisades Trail or Indian Fire Trail model. Same frame, better components.
Purchased At: Allanti Cycles, Brentwood, TN....Bike Peddler in Nashville is a better Marin dealer, though.
Similar Products Used: Gary Fisher Tassajara Schwinn Homegrown, Moab, Mesa GS Trek 4500 Kona Hahanna
Bike Setup: Shimano 515 clipless, RST SDK dual air fork (light!), Alivio rapid fire shifters, after market brake levers, bontrager stem, bontrager bar ends, Slime tires (grippiest yet!) Alex 606 wheels and hubs, (upgrade the lame promax 260 pads, or you'll gum up your rims) and lizard skin chain wrap.
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Submitted by
Alex Currie
a Weekend Warrior
from Plymouth, Massachusetts USA
Date Reviewed: November 6, 2000
Strengths: -Excellent handling -Stops on a dime -Price -VERY light
Weaknesses: -Chain grinds sometimes, but derailler is adjustable, so no big deal
Bottom Line:
I ended up paying about $600 for my whole rig. Granted I got a deal on the fork(sold for $600 by itself once)but the frame is stiff and handles like a dream. The polished aluminum is still shiny and looks new. THIS BIKE IS LIGHT.If you want an easily upgradable bike that you can have some fun with even as stock, get this one. The stock fork isn't half bad, and you won't reget buying it. MARIN RULES!
Similar Products Used: Specialized Rock Hopper, Cannondale F400
Bike Setup: Noleen Crosslink EXP fork, Ritchey Pedals
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Submitted by
Kel Hockey
a Cross Country Rider
from Jervis Bay, Australia
Date Reviewed: July 15, 2000
Strengths: Cost, durability, a light front end, an overall great bike suited for anyone who doesn't compete X-country MTB professionally.
Weaknesses: Miss-matched componetary; a shimano chain grinding against a low-end quality rear cluster soon turns the teeth on the rings like the teeth on a great white shark if not cleaned VERY regularly
Bottom Line:
After 2 years of use this bike performs as well as it did when it was very new, shiny, and there was not any grit in the drive train. I ride to work 4 days of a working week averaging about 150 km's per week and a recreational ride of about 50 k's on the weekend and this bike is still a very reliable mount . I ride on the hard black stuff with the white line all over it, as well as gravel, sand, mud, muck, swamp, and only MY riding ability stopped the bike. I still can not believe that I brought it for a meagre $700. It's earnt its own worth back in saving on the fuel bill of my car. If you have a lot of money, no riding ability, and think that the more you spend on a bike the better your riding will be, go ahead, buy that $4000 giant Pushie, or that lovely LOOKING Cannondale. The fact is that your riding ability will probably never reach the quality of your bike unless you give up the job that made it possible to buy your bike in the first place .If you like to have fun, don't mind the odd graze and scratch, and does not go berko whenever you find another scratch on your bike frame, buy this bike.
Submitted by
Aaron Davis
a Cross Country Rider
from Tallahassee, FL
Date Reviewed: June 22, 2000
Strengths: great frame, respectable drivetrain and other parts for price, light (just over 27bls out of the box)for this price range...did i mention cheap? looks/feels great with MINOR adjustments (for the bike-mag reading snobs like me :) )
Weaknesses: seatpost is to small for seat tube (watch for it sliding out and harming your dangly bits), not very performance oriented fork (good for this price though!).
Bottom Line:
these cheap bikes from marin are great. a few aftermarket switches for comfort and looks sake and you'll get the performance of an upper level bike. we changed just a few parts out of the box, and it started to smell like a champ. use all of the parts on the bike until they wear out, and then upgrade with what you want. just be careful on some of the parts currently speced with the bike which weren't thought out too carefully, but they don't pose too much of a serious threat.
Submitted by
Paul
a Weekend Warrior
from Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Date Reviewed: March 31, 2000
Strengths: Excellent frame
Weaknesses: Fairly poor front shocks
Bottom Line:
Absolute storming bike!! The frame is first class, light, responsive and a dream to ride. The sync328 front shocks may be not the best quality, but an upgrade to Manitou's after the originals die will be worth the cash!!
A full five marks for this one. If you've got £400 burning a hole in your pocket buy one!!
Bike Setup: Standard, plus full Shimano gear, cranks and brakeset.
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Submitted by
Stuart Milton
a Weekend Warrior
from Aberdeen , SCOTLAND
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2000
Strengths: Its the lightest bike I've ridden.
Weaknesses: Dodgy Seatpost and hard seat.
Bottom Line:
Magic Bike, best i've ever!! ridden. Components could be better, but what do you expect at that price. Anyone using this bike for 'proper' off-road work may think about upgrading the front shocks.
Favorite Trail: Kirkhill Forest - Advanced Single Track
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Similar Products Used: Raleigh Max 100
Bike Setup: Off the shelf setup
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Submitted by
Patrick
a Weekend Warrior
from Minneapolis, MN
Date Reviewed: March 10, 2000
Strengths: Extremely Light, delicate handling, extremely inexpensive, great frame to work with. I may add some new components, but with this frame I won't need a new bike for a long time.
Weaknesses: none yet
Bottom Line:
I never liked my last Mt. Bike. I love this one. With the exception of someone who races or is heavily involved with downhill, this bike should suit almost anybody as long as it's the right size.
Submitted by
Slater Smith
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: February 21, 2000
Strengths: Price, Beauty, Strength
Weaknesses: None Yet
Bottom Line:
As the boomer generation gets older, manufaturers are increasingly targetting the more affluent with bikes that cost what I paid fo my first car. My Pallisades Trail was stolen two years ago and since I was so busy with my career (I work for an Internet pre-IPO company) I have not been in the market for a new bike until now. I was shocked at the $1,500+ for mountain bikes! Not only that, most of these bikes were painted all sorts of gaudy colours and splattered tackily with various manufacturers logos - ghastly! I was happy to find a solid dependable bike that was tastfully finished in a beautiful brushed silver for a reasonable price. Please note - the technology on this bike would have cost you $3,000 a few years ago - if your looking for a great bike with race pedigree and you don't need to look like a pink Eldorado on the Vegas strip, see if you can pick up one of these beauties - you won't be dissapointed. *****'s
I bought this bike having never ridden a trail, not knowing how much I'd get into mountain biking. I rode it stock for a while, noticing areas to upgrade as my skills improved. I highly recommend this method of buying if you are a beginner. Marin gives you a GREAT frame and no-name components. If you are just a casual, easy-going rider it will serve you well as is. If you really get into it, you can just chuck the no-name/ Ovation parts without feeling like you wasted your dough. I upgraded carefully (read, MTBR marketplace) and now I have an aluminum frame bike with XT components for a FRACTION of what a complete bike would have cost.
