Submitted by
Ryan#121
a Cross Country Rider
from Corbin, Ky, USA
Date Reviewed: October 15, 2008
Strengths: Solid as a rock, and I mean that. I got the bike in 1998 or 1999, and it survived my younger days of dirt jumping, big drops, and high speed wipe outs.
Weaknesses: Just this Summer I had to put a new set of rims on the bike, and just replaced the stock tiers this fall.
Bottom Line:
The bottom line is I'v had this bike since I was a kid, and I would be willing to bet my life that it has over 10,000 miles on it easy. When I first got it we all had computers and averaged around 120 miles a week. Now 10 years later I still put in 4-5 12 mile rides a week. It survived many dirt jumps, drop offs, and slam downs. The bike is a classic, and still out preforms many of the modern bikes I ride with. Oh yeah and I still have the stock seat, it sucks. Can you guys tell me the year for sure, its all blue with a few red lines, the name is set with a silver/grey back grond and red lettering. It came with black RST forks. Thanks.
Similar Products Used: My first and only mtn. bike I ever needed.
Bike Setup: Its got a new set of Redline 500 XC wheels and hubs, and I talked mom into a new set of SRAM 9.0 components when I was a kid. Panaracer Cinder tiers, and I put on a set of Rock Shock Indy XCs.
Strengths: This thing takes a massive beating, i took this thing on a black rated trail in moab and it was amazing! i took a cannondale prophet on a trail that was only a blue and it broke! the Marlin is definetely a high quality bike for how much you pay
Weaknesses: The saddle is murder. replace it.
Bottom Line:
This bike is sweet! definetely the best bang for your buck when it comes to hardtails.
Bike Setup: STOCK! all except the saddle and some clip in pedals.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from Bethlehem
Date Reviewed: October 11, 2005
Strengths: Very nice frame(upgradable), lockout on shock, Deore rear derailleur, Genesis geometry
Weaknesses: Alivio front derailleur, shock bottoms out easily
Bottom Line:
For the money, this bike cannot be beat IMO. I bought this bike to get the "hardtail feeling" again as I have been riding a Trek Y-22 for almost 10 years. I still have that bike(and love it), but really wanted to get a bike where I am not always worried about cracking the carbon, such as over technical stuff.....the Marlin is made to be ridden, and hard. The Manitou Axel shock is very nice with the lockout feature, though it does bottom out fairly easily. Admittedly, I have done no trail riding with the Marlin yet so I should probably give an updated review after I do. I am anxious to get this out there and start beating it up.
This bike is for a wide range of people, from weekend warriors to racers who want a beater. It is a very nice bike and can be easily upgraded over time. I also think it is lighter than comparable bikes, at least from, my time looking att hem in the LBS.
Bike Setup: Stock but will add on bar-ends and clipless pedals.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Bill
a Weekend Warrior
from Phoenix, AZ USA
Date Reviewed: July 29, 2005
Strengths: This was my first real mountain bike and still is. Currently rebuilding the ol' girl with a new fork and some componentry. The thing is friggin' indestructible. I've ridden the hell outta it both on and off road. Crashed it innumerable times into innumerable things and she still rolls strong. She's like a first love. A great first bike that will take you well into more experienced riding.
Weaknesses: HAve to agree on the seat, still not sure if im sterile now or not. Of course the componentry has started to act up with age, but that's just usage. Needs front suspension
Bottom Line:
This bike is officially an heirloom. I look to upgrade to a more hi tech bike in the near future, but I'll never get rid of my Marlin. Fisher is the man!
Similar Products Used: Learsport (Australian)with RST fork
Bike Setup: Pretty much stock still. Putting a noleen crosslink elite fork and new V pull brakes from nashbar. new ringle riser and cane creek head set. And of course a WTB Speed V seat. Much improved. Oh and a couple of sets of tires. Specialized mt Baldy and Panaracer Dart/Smoke
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ryan
a Cross Country Rider
from Seattle
Date Reviewed: April 22, 2005
Strengths: the frame is rock solid, I have ridden the crap out of this bike and its still totally intacted, actually all the components on the bike have been good to me for what they are worth.
Weaknesses: The stock seat sucks the stock rims are kinda weak and the front gears dont take rocks very well (or dont like being hit by rocks)...
Bottom Line:
this bike is a solid rig, simple from todays standards but great for the non-pro riders. Gary Fishers have always been good and now I hear they are even better. Anyway... its comparitively cheap and very upgradable.
Bike Setup: Upgraded to an RST suspension fork a few years back from the rigid, new tires, new rear rim, ne front and rear cassetts and new rear deralure... oh yeah and a new seat.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Cody
a Weekend Warrior
from Tucson, Arizona, US
Date Reviewed: February 22, 2005
Strengths: A very good all around package. Decent stock components. a very good beginner bike
Weaknesses: hardtail
Bottom Line:
sweet bike, i'm a want to be freestyle rider and it holds up to some pretty strong abuse, but my forks suck (40mm of travel) so im not sure what it can do yet.
Similar Products Used: the Tassajara; its the exact same frame, my brother has one the only difference is components. It has the same paint scheme too.
Bike Setup: crappy rst forks; looking for new ones
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Eric
a Cross Country Rider
from Montclair, NJ, USA
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2001
Strengths: Great Bike, The shocks are great, the frame is great, the shifters are great.
Weaknesses: The rims and the bike are pretty weak
Bottom Line:
My parents have to buy me a new bike because i ride too aggressively for it and I have grown out of it.
Submitted by
Andrew
a Cross Country Rider
from shelton, Ct
Date Reviewed: August 8, 2001
Strengths: everything
Weaknesses: could use a couple of higher gears......
Bottom Line:
bought it last year. i put rok shox on it, and put a new tire on the rear wheel. also put new better brakes. this bike is definitely worth the money. no problems at all. however, when im goin on the road, i could definitely use a higher gear, last time i tried, i could only get to 35 before i was pedaling my legs off
Submitted by
James
a Cross Country Rider
from Alexander, N.C.
Date Reviewed: October 30, 2000
Strengths: Killer frame is customizable as hell and I haven't killed it yet
Weaknesses: What weakness?
Bottom Line:
Bottom line is that I got this thing for $150 bucks from a 300 pound body builder, I've thrashed and trashed it...it's been to hell and back and to hell, and then stayed in hell in a while and then threw it in granny gear and climed back out! I've had to throw a new rear shifter on and a new rear grip shift. The seat bolt broke(oooh, a whole 32 cents) but dam*, the little tiny bugger with a 300 pound monster on it? sh*t yeah it's gonna break. It weighs in at 25 pounds...I've ridden it for five(5) grueling years and had to put about 50 bucks worth of parts into it. Your next bike should at least have a fisher frame. Fisher is for all.
Favorite Trail: www.mtbikewnc.com <-- many many favorite trails
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$150.00
Bike Setup: everything except the frame is non-stock...son of strong arm cranks kick as*, caged pedals from 1,300 buck klein bike rules, trashed the rear shifter but the new shimano deore lx is adequate, grip shift rocks, MRC brand shock doesn't even exist anymore but it's 1.5 whole inches of travel kick the as* of some 3 inch travelers(took a lot of tweaking), and my dia-compe headset is about shot, but the frame lives!!
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Joshua McCullough
a Cross Country Rider
from Columbus OH USA
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2000
Strengths: the frame. hardtails rule.... a lot of bike for the money, and the brakes are pretty good...
Weaknesses: the goddamned saddle! goddamn! the derailuers are a little suspect...you can easily pop out of a gear under hard acceleration, and thats no good thing when youre trying to get up a hill..or shooting over rocks, or whatever. might be a matter of adjustment. who knows.
Bottom Line:
hey. it was two years old when i bought it new... so whatever, ya know? good frame. and easy to upgrade.. and it happens to fit wonderfully, which is good. me and a friend of mine went out on a 50 mile roundtrip, the day after i got the thing... ON THE STOCK PRIMAL RAPTOR 2.1s/47/52s!!!!
yeah. i was stupid. thats why you buy the kevlar commuters, see?
but the bike did great. save for the saddle. that !@!@$$$ thing. damn it to hell. my ass hurt for a week, man.
go get one. its better than complaining about how you cant afford a super V....
Picked up the Marlin from the local Schwinn outlet just 2 weeks ago. It's obviously not the best bike ever, but it seems like I got a lot for The deralieurs (how do you spell that?) seem a bit finicky, though. Also the seat sucks - not good! And of course there's no suspension - a bad combo with a crummy seat. But next year I'll get a real bike. This seems like a nice cheap learner bike, and I can commute on it next year...
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