Took my Marin Quake 7.3 2008 around Hopton wood’s yesterday on the Pearce xc track and a few of the downhills, this was the first proper ride out on the bike and it handled really well, the downs it was excellent, climbing it wasn’t to bad just at times felt a little back end heavy, as the front kept popping and when I stood up to power the bike up the hill felt I was a little over the front. I’m wondering if there is some changes I could make to the bike which would make any benefit, it has d does have rock shox totems up front and the wheels are downhill tyres are 2.5,, think the wheels are mavic ex something, can’t remember of the top of my head.

Of course you can, within limits, is probably the best idea in the world? I doubt it.
I’d spend the money on something more XC in the 1st place (older bikes sell for not a lot) and use the Quake for what it was intended for IMHO.

I think there is more life in it myself, it does climb really well for a heavy bike,, just wondered if swapping the wheels or tyres out would make a massive difference?

Changing to something like a 2.4 Racing Ralph Will make a huge difference. Some wide handle bars or different stem will stick the front end to the hill climbing.

So yes, some minor tweaks will make a big difference in feel.

Good advice thanks

so I am running a 50mm stem and 720mm bars, should I be looking for wider bars?

Yes, wider bars will bring you down and forward. If you have spacers under the stem swapping them to above the stem will do the same, as will flipping your stem. That might be where to start experimenting as it’s free.

2 tyres are on the way (racing ralphs)
do I need to get pretty much flat bars?

A flat bar would make you lower still. You need to figure out how big a change you need. You won’t know without trial and error. I doubt you’ll need to make massive changes though.

I’d just get a different bike. I used to have a marin quake and doesn’t it weigh in at something like 40lbs? racing ralphs won’t suddenly make it a touch xc. new forks and new wheels would begin the process i think.

Too easy to get a new bike, the bike handles great, just needs a small tweak for me to ride perfect. Weight doesn’t really bother me as I’m all about the downhill drops jumps roots, I just want it to climb slightly better

i presume you have a coil unit on the frame? switching to an air shock like a fox dhx air unit should reduce the weight at the back. i dont have a quake but i also switched from coil to air and its made a massive difference to my bike especially on the climbs.

dirtbiker100
I’d just get a different bike.

As blunt as that sounds, it’s spot on. I used to sell quakes, you can spend three fortunes on it and it’ll never be a great pedalling bike. Virtually any of the current 160mm bikes will wipe the floor with it in terms of DH ability whilst much much better for all round trail riding.

Maybe not what you want to hear, and yes, I realise a new bike isn’t always the answer, it’s too handy a solution, nevermind costly, but i’d sell the quake and get something else if I could. I went through many revisions of my sx trail, at one stage built it down to 32lbs in order to make it more versatile. it was an excercise in futility, an expensive one at that.

Enduro,stumpjumper,Mega,Meta,Remedy,Trance,Reign etc etc etc

astura – Member

I’m all about the downhill drops jumps roots,

And that’s exactly what Racing Ralphs aren’t for tbh. I think you’re going to end up with something that still doesn’t climb too well, and doesn’t do the job it’s good at any more too.

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TBH, i’d just practise the ups a bit more in terms of finding a better body position/balance that enables you to keep going without wheelie-ing off the back!

Changing stem/bars etc will move your CofG maybe 50mm, but i bet you could move it 200mm by just changing your body position………

Already have a Dhx air shock on it, its a great shock, thanks for all the advice.

Still going to keep it, I love the bike – for me handles so well. As said before the only real part I struggled was when standing to pedal on the up, felt that even with a good body shift I was miles over the front

your other option is to see if you can reduce the weight of the wheels. maybe go to a 32 spoke build and maybe tubeless.

Virtually any of the current 160mm bikes will wipe the floor with it in terms of DH ability

Not sure I agree with that. I’ve had several ‘modern’ 160 AM bikes (Spicy, Enduro, Slayer), and they have all felt like trail bikes which are pretty good downhill, but the Quake (I have one at the moment) feels like a proper plush DH bike while still being fairly agile and manouverable. It isn’t a great climber, but IMO that’s due only to the weight. Compared to my old DH bike, it still feels easy to sit and spin up the climbs on it though.

Back to the OP’s question – yes you can make it lighter which will make some difference to the climbing, but it’s never going to be anywhere near XC-like climbing. The frame itself it just too heavy to ever be a climbing machine. Some lighter air forks (36 Floats, or Lyrik RC2DH), along with some lighter wheels (something like Hope pro II or Superstar Switch hubs on Stans Flow) would make it a few lbs lighter.

I absolutely love my Quake. They seem to go for not a lot of cash these days, and are (in my opinion) absolutely ideal for UK DH trails.

I’m facing the same dilemma, I have a Quake AL7 I bought new in 2007, had about 2 years riding on it ( pretty much all welsh trails ), and love the way it feels when descending, and although heavy,managed to climb without too much bother. In 2009-2010 the bike was parked up and family life took over, I didn’t ride again until mid 2013 when I brought the quake out of retirement and refreshed the drivetrain. Unfortunately, I wore a ‘family waistline’, and found the quake to be too much to climb with.
I bought a used Spicy 916, love it to bits, but it DOES NOT ride like the quake does on anything rough. I bought this to get myself back riding, and it has done its job, now my fitness and ability is improving I’m finding myself worrying about braking the Spicy frame, without a frame warranty…. So I’m thinking of buying a new bike.

Now I have a fully serviced, mint condition Quake, that’s not worth anything in a second hand market, but too heavy for me to enjoy all day riding with. A good condition Spicy 916 that I enjoy riding, doesn’t descend as good as the quake, and I’m afraid of breaking. Option of buying a new bike, something in between the 2, with a decent frame warranty for peace of mind.

Thought about making the Quake lighter, currently tips the scales at 39lbs, could probably get it to 37 without spending a massive amount, but realistically it’s still too heavy for all day riding, and my fitness level. (Spicy weights 31.2 in current form)

Sell both any buy something in between, Canyon Torque vertride maybe….

I don’t know

That’s a toughie! The Quake’s only seem to go for £500-700 depending on condition. I also have the ‘family waistline’ and feel your pain, but I decided to keep the Quake to take out for shorter letting-it-all-hang-out hoon-fests on the local trails.

So far so good. Nukeproof warhead flat bars added at 760mm, racing ralphs added and dropped the forks from 180 to 170, two rides in now, did a big one up eastridge and stiperstones the other day and the bike handles much better on the hills and totally still dominated on the downs. My mate has an alpine 160 and I left him for dust on the downs, when climbing I found with the wider bars I was able to get up when needed and really wrench myself up the hill so that worked. Hit two trees though which almost fetcjed me off with the wider bars. Totally happy with it now the angles have certainly worked better for me