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Submitted by
Chris
a
from Phoenix, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: August 1, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Pinacle Cyclery, Mesa | | Strengths: | Lightweight frame well constructed for the price. | | Weaknesses: | Just about everything else. | | Bike Setup: | Stock | | Bottom Line: | First and foremost -- this is not a MTB. Fortunately, that's not what I was looking for. I was looking for a commuter bike, and, as others have stated, it fit the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, there are several things that have left me longing for a new bike. First, the crankset is WAY short in the gearing. Don't expect any amount of speed on this bike. Second, the gear shifters, as stated, flat out suck. Lastly, the wheels add a lot of excess and unnecessary weight to an otherwise light weight frame. The front fork does a reasonable job dampening bumps, though I have to keep it at maximum stiffness for the ride quality I like. The stock seat is comfy enough, however. The handlebars are fine, but the grips could use replacement, as the stock grips tend to leave a lot of black rubber in your hands on any ride longer than a few miles. Overall, it's a great frame for the money, but you'll need to replace virtually all the basic components to get a nice ride. I compared this bike to a similar priced Trek, which my other half purchased. The Trek had better components, but a much heavier frame, so I stuck with the Marin. Unfortunately, out of the box, I'm disappointed with my decision. If you don't mind replacing the crankset first, followed by the wheels, and shifters, this has the potential to be a really nice, inexpensive commuter bike, but out of the box, it's a very disappointing experience. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bob Hellbringer
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle USA
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$230.00 | | Purchased At: | REI | | Bottom Line: | This is a follow-up review. After getting some road time I have to say that I've grown less fond of this bike. It still serves my needs, but I can't stop feeling like I would have gotten the same bike for 65 buck Mongoose at Target. My main dissapointment has been with the Shimano Altus shifting system. I'm not an expert by any means, but even I have to wonder how this product made it to manufacturing. Shimano is going to lose respect if they keep releasing junk like this. I looked up the value and the cost of the entire Altus system is all of $25. Where's the other $200 of bike? I've had the chain sieze up inside the front gears when down-shifting and using hard, but not even stand-up hard, pressure. When this occurred the 3rd time in 3 months, it finally damaged the front derailluer. I'm a dissapointed in Marin for using this product, I had always thought Marin was a top-notch company.
I'd also like to add that when I attempted to add a full-coverage fender, the front fender could not be properly attached to the fork, due to the lack of holes to screw in to. I ended up using zip-ties to fix this. It works but it's also annoying when you consider the bike seems to be targeted at commuters. How hard would it be to weld a standard size screw hole at the bottom of each side of the fork.
Enough ranting. I'm going to lower my rating slightly due to the problems I mentioned above.
http://www.mtbreview.com/reviews/Derailleur/product_20842.shtml | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bob Hellbringer
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle USA
Date Reviewed: September 6, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$230.00 | | Purchased At: | REI | | Strengths: | Inexpensive, Failrly Light, Acceptable components, Simple | | Weaknesses: | Needs Improved Shifting Components (Shimano Atlus). | | Similar Products Used: | Old Scott MTB _____ Stolen... grrrrr >:-( | | Bike Setup: | Stock - Road/Trail Hybrid Tires, Shimano Atlus Gearing, etc... 20" frame (I'm 6'2"), Charcoal Black. Some personally added products (ie rear rack, bottle cage and the like) | | Bottom Line: | I was looking for an inexpensive city/suburbs commuter bike and this fit the bill perfectly. I live in a hillier area near Seattle, so I wanted something geared on the lower scale for hill climbing. I wanted something that could take the bumps and curbs, but still had a smooth relaxed ride for the paved and dirt/gravel trails. This bike is simple and it looks good. A few minor quibbles: The Shimano Atlus shifting system is pretty harsh and slow (perhaps my return checkup visit to the shop will take care of that?). Also (very minor but improtant to me), the holes for connecting a rear rack on the top of the seat stay (near the seat), are poorly designed. I had to go through 4 rear racks to find one to fit it (Performance Trans-IT, BTW). It has a good front shock (though I haven't heard of InSync... Justin Timberlake nightmares.. NO!), good brakes, tires and seat. If the shifting were smoother I'd be VERY happy. Not a good MTB, but it's fine for cruising and mild trail riding. A classic average hybrid commuter. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Edgar
a Racer
from Chicago
Date Reviewed: June 27, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | On the Route | | Weaknesses: | Hey Bob Smith,
Before you badmouth a bike, can you learn to write grammatically correct sentences? Two, this bike is an entry level mountain bike which is not meant to do a lot ( notice that " a lot" is two words - good spelling). Three, tell you fat friend to loose some weight. High end racing bikes may not hold more than 275 lbs on it. | | Bottom Line: | Hey Bob Smith,
Before you badmouth a bike, can you learn to write grammatically correct sentences? Two, this bike is an entry level mountain bike which is not meant to do a lot ( notice that " a lot" is two words - good spelling). Three, tell you fat friend to loose some weight. High end racing bikes may not hold more than 275 lbs on it | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bob smith
a Racer
from Pittston , PA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 17, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Lake Scranton/Number 5 Dam | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: | none | | Weaknesses: | The whole bike is a piece of poop. THe frame is so crappy, if a person who is only a little obese sat on it, it would crack in half and leave their fat @$$ on the ground. | | Similar Products Used: | None. There is no bike in equal crappiness to this bike. | | Bike Setup: | It's in two peices, after my slightly obese friend, Albert, sat on it. | | Bottom Line: | This is the worst bike I have ever seen, it does not deserve to be called a bike. I would rather my little 10 inch Team Murray, with the very handy and trustworthy, coast brakes. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
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