Strengths: Great ride and handling, Loved it while it lasted.
Weaknesses: the frame broke
Bottom Line:
I searched far and wide for a full rigid chromoly mountain style frame because I don't trust aluminum's failure characteristics, and the darn chromoly frame still broke. It was under a reasonable load in back, but not excessive, and the left rear chainstay just snapped right in the middle. Very strange. I'm looking into a titanium frame for my next (hopefully last!) bike.
Similar Products Used: old Norco, it was heavy but tough.
Bike Setup: rigged as a daily commuter, with large rear panniers for grocery shopping on the weekends.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
jonathan
a Weekend Warrior
from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Date Reviewed: May 26, 2007
Strengths: Tough hardtail that's gone the distance
Weaknesses: Frame weight. Because of age, can't take advantage of disc brakes.
Bottom Line:
Love the feel of the hardtails and still love my '98 Marin Muirwoods enough to keep upgrading. Replaced seatpost, saddle, cranks and pedals a few years ago and just upgraded the fork, wheelset, tires and riser bar for a more aggressive XC ride. The frame is a bit heavy, but after years of trail and urban riding, it has held up great.
Before the Michelins, which are nice fast wheels with some teeth for the soft spots, I ran either dual Conti kevlar semi-slick (Double Fighter) or a conti with a knobby up front. I got some speed then considering the frame and now, while I probably can't keep up with the new superlite XCs, it's light enought to enjoy a fun weekend ride. And since there's not much need for endurance climbing on Florida trails, I can still take anything that comes.
Old school frame updated for style points. It's all good.
Submitted by
Julian Evans
a Cross Country Rider
from Suffolk, England
Date Reviewed: March 17, 2006
Strengths: It goes on and on! I bought this bike in 1990 and I still thrash the hell out of it! OK buckled wheels, buckled bottom bracket, chains galore this bike has been through hell and back and now functions perfectly with a kids seat on the back. Children now growing up and I'm looking at suspension forks to add to this bike.
16 years of hard work suggests it was made well
Weaknesses: That seat thing others talk about - I though it was just my bike.
Bottom Line:
If Marin still make bikes like this then when the kids leave home I'll get another. This bike is for the enthusiast who needs something rugid, it also works for those that are looking for value - this bike has cost me around £15 a year for the time I have had it
Bike Setup: As supplied in 1990 - well nearly the brakes and chainset are still exactl the same - the chainset requires a special touch these days. Changed the pedals - original were not to my liking
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Bart
a Cross Country Rider
from Oxfordhsire, UK
Date Reviewed: December 1, 2002
Strengths: Strength of frame and forks, Araya rims held up well to abuse.Paintwork very very resiliant.Not too showey, matt grey/silver paint job doesn't scream steal me!
Weaknesses: original rear mech
Bottom Line:
Great buy at the time. Have no intentions of replacing this bike which i have riden many places for fun and use regularly for general commuting too. Thinking of getting suspension forks though.
Bike Setup: after nearly 10 years my 1993 muirwoods still mostly original, rear mech replaced about 5 years ago with stx, other than that only brakepads and tyres replaced. Araya rims have proven exceptional in term of strength and are only now nearing replacement due to rim wear, though it has to be said i am a fairly light rider, and have avoided grit retaining brake blocks with slots.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Gus
a Weekend Warrior
from London, U K
Date Reviewed: October 9, 2001
Strengths: I test rode a few bikes and I found that this one was the only one that suited my body shape. I tried a few treks which looked very nice and had the components I liked but I just didn't feel comfortable on them. I must have a weird posture or something, but this bike has so far proved perfect for me even though I've only used it for a short time. The wheels are smaller than usual mountain bikes and so the acceleration is faster - perfect for round cities, but the high gears can kick ass as well.
Weaknesses: Even though I got a good bike and my Marin Muirwoods had a front suspension, I felt that I paid a hefty price for mine. £419 UK pounds. That's about $600.
Bottom Line:
Someone could offer you a top bike worth loads of money, but if you're not comfortable on it, then it ain't worth squat. Pay that little extra for something that's comfortable. I just hope that mine doesn't get nicked, INSHALLAH.
Similar Products Used: Trek 7200 and Specialised Sirrus.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Alun Jones
a Cross-Country Rider
from Wrexham
Date Reviewed: November 26, 1999
Strengths: Great handling- robust but responsive.
Weaknesses: None to date.Pedals need an upgrade - but they're sacrificial- personal taste etc. Silly Name - even if its a great place.
Bottom Line:
This bike is excellent. Compared to the lump I had been riding for the last couple of months this bike is truly stellar. This bike was the best I could afford and I don't feel let down. I use it for commuting, off road and generally pootling around. I can't imagine wanting to get rid of the Muirwoods (silly name!)but I am itching to get a Mount Vision - one of these years!
Submitted by
Kyle Kidder
a Weekend Warrior
from Courtenay ,B.C. ,Canada
Date Reviewed: September 6, 1999
Strengths: strong frame, strong headset, and a great overall package.
Weaknesses: Front suspesion kinda sucks and the rims aren't vary strong but if these things got improved I would be happy.
Bottom Line:
I've put this bike through some pretty technical stuff and it still comes out on top. Another reason I am so happy with Marin is my bike dealership 'Forbidden Cycles ' because they have been there every time I have screwed up, crashed, or bent my rim.
Similar Products Used: Kona Blast and Fire Mountain, Rocky Mountain Fusion and Cardiac, Brodie Alpha and Omega, and Giant Iguana, Boulder, Yukon, and ATX 830/840
Bike Setup: Shimano Alavio package with RST 381R's.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Russ
a Cross-Country Rider
from London
Date Reviewed: March 18, 1999
Strengths: Good Frame, Good Spec for money, great ride
Weaknesses: None really....a wicked bike
Bottom Line:
Overall a good lookin, fast moving mountain bike and for £399 it was a good buy...
Bike Setup: STX-RC chainset/mech Ritchley vantage sport wheels RST 381 RM front shock
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Clint Turner
a Cross-Country Rider
from Calgary Alberta Canada
Date Reviewed: March 16, 1999
Strengths: Very stiff main tube, chain stays and head tube is very well anchored.
Bottom Line:
I do a lot of trials (tricks, Tri-als) riding, I hop onto rocks, benches and picnic tables, the frame of my bike has to be stiff and rigid. I just got my muirwoods and find it to be a great bike! It kicks some major @$$. I also ride it cross country allot and it is a very nimble bike. Bombing down hill it does not shake me up as bad as most other hard tails I have ridden. Over all a great bike 2 Thumbs up Marin.
Bike Setup: Manituo comp, 99Lx Vbrakes, Lx levers, Lx shifters and Lx cranks.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
James
a weekend warrior
from UK, Germany, and other odd places...
Date Reviewed: March 11, 1999
Bottom Line:
Have owned a '95 Muirwoods for a long time now. Had one stolen and replaced it with another. Have managed break just about everything on the bike apart from the forks and frame. The thing is just solid, and can survive some really sketchy moments unscathed. I'm still using the original front mech, although the shifters and rear mech are now 8 speed STX-RC / LX spec. No suspension (can't afford it yet!). Had to get new wheels after an incident with a tree, and had a mad five minutes buying 217s (very nice!).Overall, top bike. Only faults would be that compared with todays offerings, it's a little (lot) heavy for a rigid bike. The only real reason stuff breaks on it is because I'm not a very good rider and tend to crash a lot....;-)
Submitted by
£ukasz Ronikier
a weekend warrior
from Warsaw (Poland)
Date Reviewed: February 26, 1999
Bottom Line:
Kupi³em swojego Muir Woods'a trzy dni temu i zd±¿y³em ju¿ zaliczyæ zamieæ na Ursynowie ( Warszawa, Polska ) i solidnego koz³a na lodzie przed Pa³acem Ujazdowskim ( jak wy¿ej ). My¶lê ¿e to mi³o¶æ. Lu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Submitted by
Dan Richards
a cross-country rider
from Lebanon, PA
Date Reviewed: January 31, 1999
Bottom Line:
I don't have Muirwoods, I have the 99 Hawk Hill, but my friend does have one. I think it holds up farely well, but the one major thing I noticed was that the rapid fire shifting for the front cogs wore down rather quickly, what I meen is that the lever gets stuck in place when you shift up. Also the clips on the pedals have needed replacement because of various easily avoidable reasons. I think that overall the muirwoods seems to be worth it, that is, from my point of view.
I purchased my Marin Muriwoods bike in the summer of 1998. After riding it only two times the seat came loose and i fell off my bike recieving cuts and bruises all over my body. I then took it too a nearby bike shop to get it repared. I rode it a few more times and then it came loose once again and it ended with me falling to the ground. So after this i took it back to the same bike shop and they actually had to replace the seat because it was faulty. So I continued to ride my bike and it worked pretty well for a while. Then my shifters got out of line and i had to go and get them repared. I'm sorry Marin but with this bike you really screwed up.
Submitted by
Mike Pearce
a cross-country rider
from Moab, UT
Date Reviewed: December 19, 1998
Bottom Line:
I was the mt bike director for a high adventure base in moab. We had bought 60 of these bikes, and let the scouts ride them all summer. They fared worse than four year old bikes without suspension that I've had to manage at other high adventure bases. The main problems were probably a combination of the company that we had set the bikes up, and the manufacturer.Some of the main problems were with seats coming loose on every bike, every ride at least twice. This problem was relieved by Marin replacing the seatposts with a different model.Another problem were the wheelsets. Had the bikes cost ten dollars more we probably could've got some decent wheels on them, but again we were maintaining each wheel after every ride. Truing has become second nature to me. But after upgrading my personal bike with Mavic 281 wheelsets, the new seatpost, and various other ammenities it seems to have proven itself.
