I really rate this bike.
I bought one of these for my 10 year old son and it's been an excellent bike for him to progress on. The main upgrade we did was buying a second hand Rockshox air fork and popping that on. The original fork was super heavy and didn't compress under his weight. I agree with your comment about it needing a suspension fork, even if it's not very good. It's not about the performance it's about the look. I could never have convinced my son to ride a fully rigid bike. We also replaced the tires as they wore out with Maxxis ones. I've also been super impressed with the drivetrain, i'd never heard of Microshift before, but it's been very durable. My son managed to bend the derailleur cage with such a big impact that it was split open. I folded it back into a more normal shape with vice grips and it's shifting really nicely again. I think having a smaller amount of gears means this drive train doesn't need to be so perfectly aligned to work well. Also weirdly the bike is cheaper here in New Zealand. When we bought it a year ago it was NZD1200 (CAD900), I notice it's now selling for NZD1400 (CAD1080). I love that Marin makes proper bikes in this price range. I'd also recommend it to anyone looking for a good value hardtail for their kids.
I'd also like to say I love this site, it's such a good resource for information on mountain biking in general. It feels way more honest and real than the other sites I read about mountain biking. One of the posts on here about bike packing, inspired me and the kids to head out on an overnight bike ride earlier this year.
Sept. 28, 2022, 6:10 p.m. - Andy Biggs
I really rate this bike. I bought one of these for my 10 year old son and it's been an excellent bike for him to progress on. The main upgrade we did was buying a second hand Rockshox air fork and popping that on. The original fork was super heavy and didn't compress under his weight. I agree with your comment about it needing a suspension fork, even if it's not very good. It's not about the performance it's about the look. I could never have convinced my son to ride a fully rigid bike. We also replaced the tires as they wore out with Maxxis ones. I've also been super impressed with the drivetrain, i'd never heard of Microshift before, but it's been very durable. My son managed to bend the derailleur cage with such a big impact that it was split open. I folded it back into a more normal shape with vice grips and it's shifting really nicely again. I think having a smaller amount of gears means this drive train doesn't need to be so perfectly aligned to work well. Also weirdly the bike is cheaper here in New Zealand. When we bought it a year ago it was NZD1200 (CAD900), I notice it's now selling for NZD1400 (CAD1080). I love that Marin makes proper bikes in this price range. I'd also recommend it to anyone looking for a good value hardtail for their kids. I'd also like to say I love this site, it's such a good resource for information on mountain biking in general. It feels way more honest and real than the other sites I read about mountain biking. One of the posts on here about bike packing, inspired me and the kids to head out on an overnight bike ride earlier this year. 