Someone recently asked if Marin was a good choice for a first mtb – did they have a good rep etc. I realised I’d not heard much about their bikes for ages. A look at their site and they’ve only got 2 FS bikes on the 2013 lineup the Rift Zone (29er) and Mount Vision (26).
I recall they were always showing off new DH bikes every year, none of which ever went into production.

So what happened?

Sad isn’t it?
Best bike I ever had was a 1993 Palisades Trail.

They had some of the first mass produced hardcore hardtails too.

No idea, tbh.
Fashion, maybe?

From what I’ve heard they’re good but a bit heavy.

Haven’t Marin become Whyte ?

I could be wrong here but I think your man whyte also designed suspension systems for Marin – hence the similarity but the two brands remain separate. Or something like that.

Nah, they’ve had close links but it’s not the same company (at least, not so far as I know)

I think part of it was that they have a sort of mixed image- their hardtails were seen as a bit old-mannish, whereas they like making full suss bikes for mental people. But also, all those full-suss bikes looked effectively the same (in fact some really were the same just with different names) so though they had a unique look it wasn’t a very comprehensible one.

And now, they just look boring.

Brand image in the UK has suffered over the past 10 years and they’re seen as a bit beardy old man in Ronhillish.
Shame as they’ve made some fantastic bikes.

The first full suss I had was a 97 Mount Vision – they were one of the first designers to build a FS bike that was ridable cross country. They were one of the leading brands from the late 80’s to the late 90’s. If I remember rightly the single pivot Mount Vision frame was designed by Whyte.
Looks like they’ve kind of lost their way lately.

One of my favourite bike I have owned was a 2002 hawk hill. I loved that bike. Marin’s used to be cool in the 90’s with neon and grey frames.

I guess I count as old-mannish (but no beard), even on a FS. Deffo not in Ronhill…
Too old for what’s in fashion or not and this forum is only about rational, objective discussion isn’t? Isn’t it? Oh….

Still really like my 2008/9 Rock Springs; the high BB suits West Yorkshire. Pivots still good after 3 years etc

For sure in the early-mid 90s their hardtail frames were seen as being up there with Specialised and Cannondale.

My understanding was until recently they were still a family owned business that refused to sell up (out) to the big boys a la most of the rest. The subsequent financial restrictions, combined with a failure to innovate (or at least innovate successfully) meant that they were unable to keep pace with the big guys. Unlike the boutique brands they were still trying to behave like a big bike company (road bikes, hybrids, hardtails, FS etc) without the necessary development and marketing budgets. Jack of all trades and master of none I guess. IIRC they were bought out last year, so maybe the brand will return invigorated..

Watch this space for next year…

Word is that Marin has been taken over by a new parent company, and will be investing very heavily into a new range of bikes.

The link between Marin and Whyte is a UK one, as they are both distributed by ATB sales. Jon Whyte originally designed the first single pivot Marin Full sus bikes back in about 1996, and a few years later in conjunction with ATB, started Whyte bikes. Jon has since parted the company, but Whyte has to an extent gone from strength to strength, the only link with Marin these days is that in the UK they are still both distributed by ATB sales.

This is what happened to Marin

Marin Man by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

They have made some ace bikes in recent years, though, IMO 🙂

Full sussers changed quite a bit from single pivot to new quad link from last year.

I really like my IFT, 9.6kg in it’s socks, last year it got me a class win or 2nd place in every event we entered:

IIRC, Marin FS bikes were designed by Jon Whyte and latterly by Ian Alexander, who work for ATB sales. The hardtails are designed in the US.

Marin have had an image problem for years, right up until 2008 when they released their Quad 140 range which were very good indeed. I’ve run both a Rock Springs and a Wolf Ridge. The problem is that as soon as Marin created these bikes, they ran out of ideas on how to develop them, a crying shame because I see an awful lot of them about. I counted eight of them at Glentress in June (excluding my own) and a similar number in Wales a couple of months later. Owners seem to be very happy with them all told, they’re enormously capable frames.

And then with that they returned to the doldrums…

I’ve also heard that there’s big things coming for 2014, including a range of hardcore full suss bikes and price reductions all round. This is welcome news. The new owners are pouring cash into R&D, but I don’t know whether Ian Alexander is still designing frames or if they’ve outsourced elsewhere.

My first MTB was a Bobcat Trail that I bought in 93. A great bike that I was gutted to lose when it was stolen.

Dogsby

They were always the mondeo of bikes. (I own a Marin and a mondeo!)
No one ever comes on here asking for pictures of old marins. They were good bikes but you could never fall in love with them.

A mate of mine has a Marin Mount Vision from last years range, he is old and has a beard, so there’s something going on. It is without doubt a bloody heavy machine. He plods around on it and for the money he paid,there’s better out there. He has continual issues with the flock of pivot bearings the damn thing has and at £40 a rear cast drop out nearly making the hair fall out of his chin recently, not very consumer friendly.

They were once the most lusted after bike around. Especially e team Ti. The quad link bikes looked good and were well recieved. Ten that had that hideous design vs with tubes pointing in all different directions like it had been smashed up with a lump hammer.

Now, they just seem totally irrelevant…big shame

I’ve wondered this myself ever since the ‘hardcore hardtail’ range was dropped.

I lusted after these back in the day:

I loved my 2006 Rocky Ridge, other bikes came and went but it wasn’t replaced until last year. Its still hung up in the garage.

I liked their quad links too, a couple of lbs heavier than the competition but all the bearings and shock sensibly place and protected from clag.

I have two Marins.
A 2004 Quad Link Mount Vision that i rode everywhere for 6yrs, reasonably light at 26lb and a good all day mile muncher.
Decided i wanted something a bit more rufty tufty and ended up with a 2009 Wolf Ridge 6.8.
I love this bike, although its heavy at 33lb claimed weight it rides very well. Climbs well enough for me and is an absolute hoot on anything lumpy and downhill. Its the first bike i reach for, even in the snow today.
The suspension is fantastic, i really rate the Jon Whyte designs. They made some great bikes with Jon Whyte but now the Quad III designs just look boring and generic.

The original single pivot frames all the way up to quad 2 designs were elegant solutions to increase effectiveness of suspension. Jon Whyte had done great ideas and executed them well. I had a 1999 FRS – basically a Mount Vision Pro frameset and it worked pretty well all told. It was a little bit like a Mondeo though – competent without being exciting and I certainly didn’t ‘bond’ with it like I have with other bikes.

The original single pivot frames all the way up to quad 2 designs were elegant solutions to increase effectiveness of suspension. Jon Whyte had done great ideas and executed them well. I had a 1999 FRS – basically a Mount Vision Pro frameset and it worked pretty well all told. It was a little bit like a Mondeo though – competent without being exciting and I certainly didn’t ‘bond’ with it like I have with other bikes.

I thought I would never own a full suss, I saw the 2010 Attack Trail and took a punt. Best bike I have ever owned (possibly ridden)

My 2004 Mount Vision and my Wolf Ridge are very different bikes. The Mount Vision is a competent mile muncher, with a long top tube and a suspension system designed to be efficient without being flashy. A bike designed for distance racing and epics really.
The Wolf Ridge is a bike of a more modern era, short top tube, slack angles and very plush suspension.

Plus, its bright bloody orange! 🙂

They have made some fantastic bikes, had a 2005 Attack Trail (last with the TARA linkage), cracking bike. Got a 2009 Wolf Ridge frame after I ovalised the headstock of the AT as a FOC warranty replacement.

I also have a 2007 Quake, heavy, over engineered but feels indestructible and unstoppable once pointed downhill.

Funnily enough, my first mtb was a Marin in 2007. A Wildcat Trail to be precise. I’d never heard of them before going shopping, but was very happy with it. The frame was a great ride and really tough, but the parts were a bit poor. Considering it’s price, that’s fair enough. It was my only bike at the time and used for a bit of everything, from xc to dh. I still own it but it’s on loan to the brother-in-law and doesn’t see any off road action these days.

My 10 year old quad link Mount Vision is still going strong – it’s like an old friend now and we’ve had so many good trips. But actually the only original parts on it are the stem and bars. The frame has been replaced (rear end twice) and everything else a couple of times over. The limitation remains the rider 😳

My mate was at the show yesterday and liked the look of the new products.

My old ’99 Rift Zone – I loved that bike. Covered 1000s of miles on it and even won a couple of national trailquests* with it.

*Yes – I was it’s target market, and even had a beard!

I always liked the lifetime warranty on the bearings as well 🙂
My mount vision only has the bars, rear swing arm and wheels as originals now though. Managed to strip the BB threads on the main frame and had it replaced for £120 with a Mount Vision Pro frame 🙂

I used to own a B17!! Flexy as hell with a catastrophic shock, which ment you were hardcore if you even swang your leg over it. I also owned a Wolfridge, 2009 i think. That was awesome, until some pikey nicked it from my house.

i had a 92 eldridge grade, it weighed 26lbs, pretty light for the day.
upgraded to aheadset after a frontal accident bent the forks, then in 96 it got nicked and i didnt see it for 6 months, when i got it back the paint was ruined so i had it resprayed.
ran it with 50mm suss forks for a couple of years, it was fine,
its been run with slicks, knobblies, with a rack, bar ends, then later riser bars.
and it was all good.
it went to the skip last year due to rust and was replaced with a P7, but honestly its not in the same league.
i reckon if it hadnt got nicked with the subsequent paint job, it wouldnt have rusted inside and id still have it.
i cant think of any modern frame that could be so versatile.

Just goes to show the importance of perception and what a slippery thing it can be. Suddenly your perfectly good bikes just don’t have that something that makes them cool. They could sort themselves out and get right back up there though.

I tested a new Rift Zone back in 06 and loved it! It was the top bike on my wishlist for a while until I realized I wanted a bigger bike.

Yep, perception has a huge part to play. When you’re spending a big lump of cash you’re going to consider everything – the bikes desirability being one of many factors. Though I guess some bikes sell in huge numbers due in large part to perception they’re not necessarily bad bikes.
Having looked at the two Marin FS on their site I’ve got to say they look dull as dish water. They might ride amazingly and last for a lifetime but I personally wouldn’t buy one of those two if I was looking for a new ride. I came very close to buying a Rift Zone some years ago but opted for a Commencal instead – I remember thinking the Marin just looked outdated where as the commencal looked like it had been design by someone forward thinking.

Zippykona that was harsh. My first mtb love was a pine mountain. But frustratingly you’re a little bit right as the lava done then stole my heart

The first mtb I really lusted over was a mount vision in around 97/98 (silver frame, orange swingarm and orange manitou forks) £1500 for the first fs bike to win an XC race iirc.

Since then though it just seems as there’s always a better/cheaper/more exciting bike in every market they are in. They need new USP really.

The new quad 3 designs are dull & boring looking. Might as well buy a Trek, similar design but much better looking.
I know its subjective but i really like the look of the quad II frames, distinctive as well as working very well.

I sill have an original Marin fs 😉 the one with manitou forks bolted on the back 😉 can’t bring myself to part with it.. Still remember the day I got it…memories………..