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Submitted by
Darren
a Cross Country Rider
from Southampton, Englandshire
Date Reviewed: December 13, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | River Plym to Dartmoor | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Behind Bars, Abingdon, Oxford UK | | Strengths: | Excellent geometry - designed by 2 Formula 1* racing designers. Reasonable weight. Very precise steering for a full sus. Awesome climbing ability, even when standing out of the saddle. Very little bob on the flat (the ability to lock out the forks is very useful). 6" rear travel is very plush and still very fast, albeit with a more relaxed steering head angle. 5" travel gives sharper steering and a firmer rear. Haven't felt the need for the 4" setting yet. I was initially apprehensive about the 9 speed block, but gears function perfectly, even after serious mud abuse..
Also boasts a major league rear swing arm bearing that will probably outlive me. | | Weaknesses: | Horrible headset bearings rusted and seized on ride #2. Chainring crank kept falling off (aluminium crank bolts aren't worth the tiny weight saving). IRC notos tyres are a waste of time. Bottom bracket started doing the canoeing thing after a couple of months. Rear V-brake and gear cables can snag on the rear shock valves. Sometimes the Tullio axle can be a pig to remove/fit. Other times it's OK...
Little bits of sand and grit can get past the front hub seals to cause annoying squeaking.
Rear swing arm spreads alarmingly under heavy rear braking.
Shock pump not supplied with bike. I buy a bike with suspension, I NEED A SHOCK PUMP! | | Similar Products Used: | Only fully rigids: Muddy Fox Courier (MTBs have come quite a way since then. Take half the forest floor home in your U-brake); Specialized Rockhopper (the year that Hyperglide came out. A fine bike for its time). | | Bike Setup: | Ditched the execrable IRC Notos tyres at the first opportunity for Panaracer Trailblasters. Much improved. SPD pedals a must. Top bottle mount is a bit horizontal (nowhere else to put it, really), but the Specialized bottle cage with the rubber band thing grips the bottle nicely. The lower bottle cage gets blasted by everything the trail can throw at it, so wrap this bottle in a plastic bag if you don't like the taste of mud and dog eggs. If you do like the taste of mud and dog eggs, please don't share this with us. There's probably a website out there that caters to your special needs. | | Bottom Line: | An outstanding bicycle! Don't be put off by the little niggles in the 'Product Weaknesses' section. I bought this bike in February 2001, so this was one of the first off the shelf for this redesigned model, so I can forgive Marin some initial teething troubles. Apart from the tyres - there was no excuse for those.
The bike shop have been great, and the headset, bottom bracket and crank bolts were replaced with no quibbles. Tying the rear brake/gear cables together where they cross over cures the snagging-on-the-shock-valve problem. Also inverting the rear shock should work. I haven't worked out why the Tullio front axle should be so stiff sometimes (it's not trapped grit or dirt), but copper grease on the threads and shaft helps, and it's a small price to pay for the wonderful torsional stiffness the Tullio system gives the front forks. Cheap (or home made) foam bushes keep grit out of the front hub. Any bits of grit that do get in there will eventually wear away and stop squeaking (or is it the hub that wears away? I try not to think about it too hard).
One of those alloy U-shaped brake stiffener thingies stops the rear swing arm spreading. Of course, there's always the disc brake option.
To be fair to Marin, this is a very fine bike indeed, and on a new model some minor teething troubles can be expected. I believe that Marin are fitting different headsets and crank bolts now, and the replacement bottom bracket is still going strong. British winters can wear out a mountain bike like nothing else (the grinding power of mud), so the Attack Trail has done very well.
The bottom line of The Bottom line: The Marin Attack Trail is a sheer joy to ride, and it's done everything I have asked of it. Worth every penny/cent.
* Footnote: Americans - Formula 1 is an automobile race, a bit like Indy 500 or CART, but with corners, and they don't stop for rain. Go see Sly Stallone's "Driven" movie. It's nothing like that. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben Tudor
a Downhiller
from Surrey, England
Date Reviewed: August 14, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | China Pig | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$2420.00 | | Purchased At: | Cycleworks, Leatherhead | | Strengths: | Variable travel, good selection of parts - XT/XTR/RaceFace drivetrain exceptional for the price. Psylo Race forks plush and stiff - good for a single crown 5" fork. | | Weaknesses: | I have blown up two Sid Race air shocks on this bike in the space of four weeks. On both occasions this has been with the rear suspension set to 6" mode for downhill. The UK version of the Attach Trail does not have the lower mounting point on the front triangle for the shock, meaning that the shock is compressed at an extreme angle. Marin have now supplied me with a Fox Vanilla RC shock.
The front wheel was spaced wrong - the two flanges on either side to space the 20mm thru-axle hub were the wrong way round, placing the front wheel off centre. The granny ring collapsed whilst riding a trailquest orienteering event.
the rear disc mount is a cheap bolt-on metal plate - it looks shabby compared to the rest of the bike and fairly weak. 2002 Attack Trails come with a beefed up mount. | | Similar Products Used: | Mountain Cycle San Andreas, Giant ATX 990 | | Bike Setup: | Psylo Race forks, Marin TARA frame (UK version seems to ship with XC style front triangle as opposed to more DH-oriented US versions) XT/XTR drivetrain with race Face Prodigy cranks (Isis drive) Avid levers and Vs replaced with Hope C2 Disk brakes. Originally shipped with Sid Race rear shock. Two of these later and I'm using a Fox Vanilla RC - no idea how this will survive as it's just arrived. | | Bottom Line: |
I have never had a bike which has had so many problems, especially not in three months of ownership and relatively light use.
The very lowest point was blowing a rear shock in France just before racing.
I wish I had not bought this bike, whilst the shop and ATB Sales (Marin's distributors in the UK) have been exceptionally helpful, I would rather have had a bike which was right first time. The problems I have had since buying this bike outweigh the good value the bike presented when I bought it. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Barry Hall
a Weekend Warrior
from Provo, UT, USA
Date Reviewed: July 1, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Gooseberry Mesa | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$2800.00 | | Purchased At: | Honers Hills cycle shop | | Strengths: | Adjustable travel
front fork locks out
Great color
comes with everything you could want already on the bike so you don't have to search around for after market components | | Weaknesses: | The quick release on the rear travell isn't as easy to use as I had hoped; however most bikes don't even give you that option, so I can't complain to much. | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized FSR
Gary Fisher Sugar 4 | | Bike Setup: | Race Face cranks XT/XTR shifting, Gripshift rockets, Rock Shox psylo race front fork, Rock Shox sid race in the rear | | Bottom Line: | This bike is the ultimate riding machine. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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