Well, fast forward to December 2021 and 34T is sold out everywhere. I got the 32T directly from FSA's website. I hope it will make this bike somewhat tolerable now.
Hmm, I'm planning to try a 32T chainring too because I don't want to lose climbing gears, which I need with how I ride.
I put a deposit down on a Marlin 7 for next season but this was after a lot of number crunching trying to figure out gear ratios, all while comparing the gearing to my Specialized Hardrock Ultra which was fixed and reconditioned to a 3 x 9 setup with a 44 34 24 crankset and a 12 - 36t chainring. This set up has a HUGE range as you can imagine.
I determined that with the 11 - 46t cassette and a 29 inch wheel, the Marlin would have two less fast gears than the Specialized if you observe that the latter has about 14 when you account for the redundancies inherent in a 3x system. I wanted to retain the torquey 28t - 46t gear ratio on the Marlin 7 but I determined that I was only able to let go of the absolutely faster 44 - 12t gear on the specialized. The 44 - 14t gear was still a good 11% or so faster than the top gear on the Marlin 7 and I make good use of this gear while sprinting. Switching from a 28t chainring to a 32t chainring makes the escape velocity on the Marlin 7 increase from 35kmph to 40kmph, according to the 99spokes website.
In the case of the 34 vs 32t chainring on a Marlin 7, you will get a ratio of 3.09 vs 2.90 in the fastest gear and it will be about a 6.25% difference in speed. Or, you will spin out 2 - 3kmph faster with the 32t chainring than on the 34t chainring.
If I was only doing road riding, I would be going for a 34t chainring but I also want to be able to climb hills too and I'm not a small guy. Seeing as I was dealing with a shop for an original sale, I was able to determine what the potential issues were before actually taking the bike home. (I have 9 months to make a final decision and the money is refundable and transferrable so that's awesome)
But ya, I agonized over the issues you guys brought up and in the end, I elected to go with the 32t chainring but also to upgrade the drivetrain to the Deore 1 x 11 m5100 shifter / cassette / derailleur with the 11 - 51t cassette. (The other upgrade is a Rockshox Recon Silver RL) The shop handled this REALLY well and I am SO excited for spring.
While the 34t chainring is still an option for me, the 32t chainring is better for my needs: I don't want to sacrifice my climbing gears and the upgraded cassette allows me to still retain the bottom end.
