Sea Otter 2013: Marin Bikes 2014

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Marin 2014
Marin Bikes has some flash new bikes coming out in 2014 and was giving previews of four of them at the Sea Otter. The graphics are a secret to be unveiled, with the rest of the line, in August, but apart from that, these were pretty much final models.

Attack Trail
Of the three mountain bikes and one ‘cross bike on show, we started our tour with the new Attack Trail.

Much has changed on Marin bikes in the last few years. Here's the

 

Thru-axle and no pivots on the rear triangle.

The Attack Trail comes with 27.5in wheels (are you getting the idea that there’s a bit of a theme for this year’s Sea Otter) and weighs in at 27.2lbs. It’s a carbon framed 150 bike with a 160mm fork and a 66.5° head angle. It’s what Marin will be pitching as its enduro/trail fun bike. The suspension is now ‘Quad 3’. There’s a clever, modular BB face which comes with double or triple chain keepers depending on your setup, or ISCG. There are two different derailleur hangers too: traditional and one for Shimano direct mount. There are hidden cables with moulded inserts for ease of installation and we’ll see more on it on August 1st.

 

 

Different mech hangers, plus the three different BB faces.
Optional cable mounts if you want to run cables externally.

 

Plumbed in!

Marin Mount Vision
Marin’s flagship XC bike, the Mount Vision has been transformed into a 140/140mm 27.5in machine. It has a steeper 67° head angle than the Attack Trail and this model weighs in at 25lbs, complete with carbon wheels. There’s no chainstay pivot, instead relying on the flex of the carbon. The cables can run either internally or externally on this frame. The idea being that on a multi-day event, you might want to replace the cables and this helps with the speed of that.

1x11 as stock. Massive cassettes don't look so odd now we've seen them for a year.
Saddle angle could do with a tweak

Marin Rocky Ridge
Third bike in the new line is the Rocky Ridge hardtail, back after a few years absence. It too gains 27.5in wheels and a 130mm fork. It has an alloy frame and Marin is pitching it as a fun, hooligan bike that the UK riders might like. The slack seat tube angle still keeps the riding position normal-feeling when fully up, but then helps the saddle get out of the way when lowered. There’s an E-type front mech, which should help you fit 1x chain devices if you so wish.

A bike for UK hooligans
Slack seat tube angle keeps things out of the way when lowered

Finally, here’s the Cortina XC bike, with a 900g carbon frame, 700C wheels and it can be run with either cable or hydraulic disk brakes. And cable or Di2 electric shifting. Whether that implies that there’s Di2 AND hydraulic shifting in the future, Marin wouldn’t say.

Those decals don't say 8th January, they're for 1st of August, when the wraps come off the range.
Disc only

 

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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Comments (12)

    Curious to see a chain guide with 1×11…

    It is a little odd, yes. The bikes aren’t necessarily final spec, so that might yet change.

    I want a Marin…..

    The seat tube on the RR has a massive kink in it – did they drop the prototype?

    With the radical kink in the seat tube on that hardtail your weight and indeed pelvis are a lot further forward than on any other bike I can think of aside for a unicycle (which isn’t a bike anyway). Just looks odd and uncomfortable and as if you will not be able to get comfortable unless you are a triathlete.

    Not so sure.

    like the internal headtube cable management a LOT

    Is the perfilferation of 1×11 on bikes this year a sign of things to come, or just because its easy when prototyping and displaying that a 2x or 3x setup?

    Yuk, yuk, & yuk!

    That hard tail is going to ride like a Chameleon or Sovereign.

    Is it me or does that range look really ugly?. That hardtail looks like somebody left it in the oven too long and it melted. Only the CX bike looks like it was designed by someone not looking at their computer through wall of glass bricks

    Maybe they will all be a fantastic ride and get rave reviews… I wouldn’t put my weekly lotto pound on it though.

    1×11 with Chain guard is I believe to do with laws regarding chains being covered , front mechs effectively did this before 1 x11 and before 1 x11 most people ran chain devices if they weren’t running a double! Getting rid of the front mech is very useful for 29er’s to keep chainstays shorter and i guess to a degree the same applies to 650b’s….. Can’t comment on the aesthetics , but then i’m riding a F
    Foxy XR…. ;]

    I have to say I like the new Attack trail ! It might replace my 4 year old one.

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