Submitted by
Rock River
a Cross Country Rider
from McKinney, TX, USA Date Reviewed: March 1, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Erwin, or the one I'm riding next!
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$1250.00
Purchased At:
Performance
Strengths:
Big upgrade from my HT GT avalanche 3.0.
Light, responsive, great components for the $
Weaknesses:
None so far
Similar Products Used:
GT Avalanche 3.0 disk
Bottom Line:
Absolutely a great bike for the buck!
As the other person stated, 09's are more $ & not the same components. Looked at the Marathon 3.0, but it didnt' have the full Shimano component set like the 2.0.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
forestlaw
a Weekend Warrior
from San Antonio, TX, United States Date Reviewed: October 29, 2008
Favorite Trail:
McAllister Park
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$989.00
Purchased At:
Performance Bicycle
Strengths:
Very fast through single tracks and tight switch backs. Climbs like a goat. It handles confidently downhill, especially since it is an XC bike. Still need to test the weight, but definitely feels around 27-28lbs. Love the color.
Weaknesses:
Fox Float R instead of RP2 or RP23. The Float R works wonderful, but does not have a Pro Pedal switch as the other models do, it is only pre-tuned from the factory instead. Locking out the rear can help especially when trying to make steep loose gravel climbs easier, b/c the rear suspension might engaged a little too much.
Similar Products Used:
A 1996 Trek 930 that I ate sh&% on mountain biking downhill. Read about my accident in a future post under Bell Slant Helmet/Trek 930/ or look in the forum crashes section.
Bike Setup:
Rock Shox Recon 351 fork. Fox Float R. Ritchey stem, post, handlebars. Shimano Deore LX Shifters (Rapid Fire), derailleur, hubs, crank, and brakes. WTB Rocket V Comp saddle & Speed Disc rims w/ DT Swiss spokes. Kenda Nevegal 2.1 tires. Added Bontrager Alloy ATB platform pedals w/ ceramic bearings instead of crank bros candy C clipless.
Bottom Line:
I got a deal of a lifetime on this bike! I bought it at Performance. The MSRP was $1799. Bike was on sale for $1499. They had a weekend 10% additional sale going on. I had a 20% additional coupon with me. The 20% coupon was supposed to take precedent over the 10% sale. But the guy there messed up and told me I get 30%! They still went ahead and honored it. I like that about Performance I guess. So $1499 minus 10%. Then subtract 20% of that total and the final subtotal came out to $1104.99. But wait it gets better! I get over $100 in store credit b/c of my large purchase. So effectively I bought the bike for a subtotal around $989!!!! :o
I guess you can say I looted, pillaged, or plundered that store. Anyways, this was way too good of an offer to refuse. Even if you were to pay full retail price, the price to parts ratio is still an incredible value.
When riding the bike for the few times when I brought it home I noticed it was ghost shifting. No problem, this happens a lot on brand new bikes straight from the factory. The mechanic there at Performance took care of it for me. Now it shifts like butter.
As for the bike every time I take it out it surprises me. As I said before it handles switchbacks and flies through single tracks easily. On downhills I use to ride on with my old bike I always had that scary-unsecured feeling of flipping over the bars, twitchiness in the fork and being unable to maintain a straight line, and no stopping power (old noodle brakes). Well, those feelings became a reality as I really did flip over and flew down to the bottom of a hill and landed on my head with my old bike on top of me. Suffered some nasty gashes and a concussion. Guess my feelings were right, but that will be discussed in another future post. Those feeling are gone on this bike. I have much more confidence on this bike. I could easily rip down that hill if I wanted, I promised my family though I wouldn’t go down that one hill. If I did it would make me a liar. I wouldn't want to be called that. I have even found other parts of the park to where there are steeper descents than that that I have gone down easily. This Marathon really holds a line wherever I aim it and I have so much control over this bike. The Kenda Nevegals are excellent tires as well and help me stayed glued. The stopping power from the Shimano LX brakes is incredible. I also find my self riding in a more XC/Race-like aggressive stance when on this bike. It really is a lot of fun.
It is taking me some time to get back into mountain biking again since I had my accident going downhill. But I do my best, learn new techniques, and get rid of the old jitters with this bike.
People may disagree about an XC bike behaving as good in a manner as I describe, but coming from an old bike like I had before it's like a night and day difference. This is a real mountain bike, my old was more like a road bike with knoby tires.
If I where you I would run to go get this bike as this is the best looking aluminum Marathon bike out of all the '08-09 aluminum version models. Also, all bike companies are increasing their prices too. The 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 designations are replaced by just Sport and Elite. The '09 Elite would match best with the '08 2.0, however, the fork on the Elite is Recon 335, not 351 like the '08 2.0. Also they moved from LX to Avid juicy 3, not the best in my opinion. The '09 Elite is listed at $2099 versus $1799 for the '08 2.0, and color choice is not as attractive.
Basically, it is a no brainer to run and buy this bike while you can. If you wait and still want a marathon you will essentially be paying more for a lower grade spec and uglier colored bike in my opinion. I'll let you decide.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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