atb sales were a major part of marin. they were the main instigators of most of marin fs designs with jon whyte basically licensing the design to marin (i think). atb then set up whyte bikes and jon whyte was the main designer/head honcho and atb sales focus has gradually moved over onto whyte to the point where marin are almost a contractual obligation rather than something to really push. take a look at whyte bikes now and they are almost a modern version of what marin where 10-12 years ago with fs, hardtails and hybrids in the range. atb sales have just moved away from distributing someone elses brand and have stuck with their own.

I used to have an old Bolinas Ridge and a Nail Trail, they used to be well regarded back in the day I remember.

Andrew Shandro even rode downhill for them (their downhill bikes were shit, but loads of people used them)

You used to see loads of marin gt trek and kona bikes on the trail .There seem to be few of the popular brands from the past on the trails but lots of very expensive boutique marques

Thats because MTBing is the new golf.

still running my ’99 FRS. Took all the stickers off it, now has big forks and discs. It’s done 10 Alp trips and loads more in UK. Without the stickers folk ask me if it is some early Santa Cruz…

Here’s my ’93 Eldridge Grade, still in daily use.

Edric 64 – Member

You used to see loads of marin gt trek and kona bikes on the trail .There seem to be few of the popular brands from the past on the trails but lots of very expensive boutique marques

Go back a few years and you could say the same thing about all these new Marins, GTs etc on the trails replacing the popular brands like Muddy Fox and Raleigh 😉

The newer full sussers got too ugly even for die hard Marin fans.

I’ve had a few QUAD/TARA full sussers and love them, everyone else hates the high BB and slightly flexy rear end, but I freaking love it, I never catch cranks on rock gardens, I never come off front of the bike and I’ve only ever broken one of them despite riding as heavily and lazily as I can.

Also they depreciate like hell so make a good used buy.

Lastly, lifetime warranty on bearings, KERCHING. My 2007 bike has only needed one set in that time and I’ve honestly abused the hell out of it, and those bearings were free, unlike various mates who have spent about £150 a time on their Spesh FSR’s bearing replacement about every 2 years of careful use.

Their not obviously the absolute best, but I’d be very happy having another put it that way.

I know office furniture suppliers based the original filing cabinet design (since copied by Orange) on the 97 Marin Quake.

Its funny how things come around

My first proper mtb was a mar in nail trail, with ovation kit and manitou magnum r forks…Shame you don’t see many more. They nearly released the Alchemy range 2 yrs ago but it fell through.

I took the stickers off mine as well. It now looks like someone has rustled it up in a shed.
Which is a good thing.
Now 1×10 as the front mech always filled up with muck and never worked.

put some longer forks, short stem and a platform shock on that Quake and it would be absolutely fine.

I bought an older SH Attack Trail frame off this very forum some years ago.

It was truly appaling at going downhill.

I kept it a month before offloading it on ebay.

The only good thing about my experience with it, was I made a few quid out of it.

“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”
You could say that about many other brands though?
Trek FuelEX,Remedy,Scratch; Giant Trance’08,TranceX,Reign,ReignX; Cube AMS110,130,150; Cube Sting,Stereo,etc; Lapierre Zesty,Spicy,Froggy; must be more
Granted there were multiple names for the same frame, but it didn’t take very long of glancing the catalogue or website to work them out
They stopped in 2009/2010 or so and went to a frame name and a spec number

“Full sussers changed quite a bit from single pivot to new quad link from last year”
Eh?
QUAD link 1 came in in 2003. QUAD link TARA about 2004/2005? so last single pivot would’ve been 2003/2004ish?

“had a 2005 Attack Trail (last with the TARA linkage), “
I thought they did them in 2006 too?
Then they made them 6″ only for 2007 once the 120mm mount vision came out

“They were always the mondeo of bikes”
I thought that was the spesh stumpjumper FSR?
(by extension the S-works version would be the Jaguar X-type.. )

“buy a Trek, similar design”
Err?
One is single pivot, one is a sort of DW link?

“Lastly, lifetime warranty on bearings, KERCHING”
The lifetime frame warranty is pretty good too
My brother had a 2003 east peak, it broke and he got a 2008 mount vision for £180 to cover the new shock, that broke and he’s now on a 2010 mount vision (came with a new headset). He was kind of hoping that’d break so he’d get a 2011 140mm MV

“mates who have spent about £150 a time on their Spesh FSR’s bearing replacement about every 2 years of careful use”
err?
The spesh bearings may be crap (mine didn’t last a year) but they were £40 a set? not £150?
Replacing for better ones from goldtec (£65ish for the set) and they’re still going 3 years on

I don’t get why they made the 2011 140mm one for only the one year?
It looked good (to me?) and it reviewed well enough (singletrack mag)
2012 one just looks like so many other bikes

For me Marin hit the height of cool back in c89 when they did a small run of uk designed hardtails with a “browning” suspension fork complete with cross brace to keep it straight – a bit like a cannondale headshok but before cdale had thought of it. The bike had a zolatone paint job and to this day I’ve always hoped to get my grubby mitts on one.

Heres my 2. The Palisades is what started it all for me. Got it for my 21st.
Bought the Team Marin later as dad had same year Pine Mountain I always hankered after.

My first mtb was a Palisades Trail like that one ^. Must have been about 14. Nice bike but as a brand they never really capitalised on the name’s cachet.

I had a circa 97 alpine trail with the quad link Tara setup that could be adjusted from 4″-6″ of rear travel, it was my first full Susa and eventually loved it. I replaced most of the components with xt drivetrain and a set of funn f2 hydraulic brakes, a set of revelation forks and it just flew downhill, I found it totally confidence inspiring, however uphill I struggled a bit with it as the frame was a little small for me. I now have a stumpy fsr and don’t think I’m as comftable on that when things get steep. However it’s a better all rounder!

I still have the alpine trail, well the wife has it now and a lot of the more expensive components have been replaced with the originals so the better quality stuff could go onto the palisades trail frame I brought. Another great lightweight HT frame by Marin 🙂

However I wouldn’t buy a new Marin now based on there dated design and heavy weight

I loved my Bear Valley back in 92, it was the business and looked amazing.

I last lusted after a Marin when I was toying with a hardcore hardtail to go with the full susser in 2008 and was tempted by their range of burly framed bikes. But since then I don’t think I’ve looked at a Marin and thought about an irrational purchase – and thats whats all about.

Marin don’t appear to have that showroom appeal needed to make people buy.

Looking at a couple of the 2013 bikes and they are nice enough but they are understated and subtle with very conservative tube/frame shapes.

Perhaps they’d do well to follow KHS and go with a direct sales approach?

Oh and compare the Marin to the Whyte that ATB Sales sell and the Marin looks a bit impoverished.

The Marin Rift Zone XC6 shown above is £1,699 and the Whyte T-129 at £1,749.

Marin = 100mm Recon Silver,Monarch RL, SRAM X5/7 3×10 & Elixr 1s
vs
Whyte = 120mm Reba RLT, Monarch RL, SRAM X7/9 2×10 & Elixr 3s.

I kinda liked Marins but was very disappointed by their current line up when I went looking for a new bike a couple of months back. I have been riding a Rocky Ridge exclusively since getting back into riding, and it is a fantastic trail bike – huge fun and has really helped get me back up to speed. Why they dropped that range I have no idea.

Hopefully they will get back ontop of things soon, it would be a shame to see the brand sink completely without trace.

The latest 2013 quad 3 designs are a rocker-link design somewhat similar to the Old Trek design aren’t they? I’m on my phone so cant see it clearly enough to be sure about the actual pivot point placement though.

Marin used to have a reputation for hanging good quality kit off their frames, making them a good value purchase. Sad to see that’s no longer the case.
Whyte bikes are now the Marin of the glory years of Marin full suss designs, ever since Jon Whyte left they’ve been adrift. The Quad III bikes look like they were picked out from a Taiwanese catalogue without much thought, such a pity.

This thread makes me want to build up the old ’98 Alpine Trail 🙂

Parts have been robbed over the years – but could easy be put back to the Mt Vision spec that it got upgraded to…

From the 2013 London Bike Show the Marin models don’t look half bad.

But I still prefer the look of this Whyte T1-29, even if it does look rather too uncannily like a Specialized…

“They were always the mondeo of bikes”

See, what’s this statement meant to mean anyway?
Mondeos are fairly popular cars. For a reason. They’re big enough, reliable enough, economical enough and reasonably priced. Any STW thread entitled “What car for…” Generally has a whole load of recommendations for Mondeos.

Yet label a bike with the tag and it becomes an insult. A bike from a major manufacturer is to be derided and is somehow inferior to the niche bikes.
When, mostly, very much the opposite is true.
Also I’ve spotted that there is a “new breed” of MTBers who belittle many brands that have been around since Day One (or nearly so) as being old and past it. Marin, Kona, GT etc. They seem to be largely ignorant of the influence of some of these brands (I’m thinking especially Specialized and Kona) and what they have done for the sport and the development of MTBs in general.
The only Marin I’ve ever ridden as an early Pine Mountain (if I recall correctly) when they first went to alloy in about 1992/3, and it was a belter.
Sure, they went through a bit of a bad patch. So did many other brands – Yeti anyone? – but the recent stuff is lovely.
Those taking the piss are either a tad thick or jealous. 🙂

From the 2013 London Bike Show the Marin models don’t look half bad.

Nor does the Whyte in your third picture.

My first MTB was a ’95 Marin Hawk Hill. I still have it, currently in a 1*9 rigid-sort-of-fat-bike style. It was originally 3*7 rigid with cantis, then it got V’s (great) and bouncy forks (disaster) and it’s variously been single-speeded, commuterised and bodgetastic pub-biked. I love it and, although for the most part it’s basically cluttering up the garage, I’ll never part with it.

This is sort of how it looked originally (not mine, pic from web)

I don’t think the mondeo comment was intended as taking the piss. I took it as meaning Marin bikes are like the Mondeo in that they are in fact great at what they do, they’re reliable and good value but they lack (oh God, dare I say it) the X factor. They’re not beautiful or particularly desirable – to many people who factor those aspects into their bike choice. It was only a few years ago when they did have a bit of a ‘make over’ and I thought it really worked. You started seeing the bikes featured and used in magazine shoots, they were talked about – their efforts seemed to be working and they appeared, as a brand ‘youthfull’. In recent years it seems that they’ve reversed their approach though and, to me anyway, they look more middle aged, more conservative.
It’s a simple fact that we all make choices based on what we perceive. It’s not shallow or a trapping of modern society, it’s just our nature. If it looks like it’s for old dull people it doesn’t really matter how well it actually functions – it’s already on the back foot. Of course, one mans ugly pile of metal is another mans functional image of beauty – but we’re all, like it or not, susceptible to trend in some degree.

Dogsby – Member
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

There’s a nearly complete one in my garage at the moment – make me an offer for that old time retro ride feeling!! (think it may have the original tyres, sure they’ll be good for another few years.)

And WTF is wrong with Ron Hills – I wear em and I loves em!

I had an “Attack Trail” (nice name) back in the day, which fell to bits quite quickly.

When I protested to the importer, ATB sales, they said effectively I was using it too much, I quote word for word Grant from ATB Sales:

“some of ours customers only ride their bikes once a month”

And apparently after a dirty ride in the peak district I should

“wipe it with a cloth”.

Ace.

I broke 3 swing arms and one frame, the wheels fell to bits in 3 rides, as did tghe replacements.

Good other than that though.

I still have two Marins in the garage – a ’92 Eldridge Grade, which now wears road tyres and is a lovely bike to ride around town, and a ’99 Mount Vision, which I bought because it was the first full-susser that didn’t weigh more than the Eldridge. Rode it last weekend, with its original bearings, because my 2009 Anthem X has just eaten it’s second set (£180 fitted at a Giant dealer). It was still a capable ride, although it did feel tall and a bit flexy compared to the Anthem.
And I remember when a Marin Team Ti was the superbike to lust after.

And I remember when a Marin Team Ti was the superbike to lust after.

yes, I remember that – I went and test rode one once, even though there wasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of affording one:-)

In the 90s I lusted after a Marin – the grey ones with the splashes of colour – but ended up with a Hard Rock because that’s what the LBS stocked.

Fast forward a few years and I bought a Whyte 46. So very similar to the Quad Tara Marins of the same era, but the Whyte was desirable and the Marins simply weren’t. Image is everything.

Need them to come back into fashion so I can sell my old Wool Fridge that’s gathering dust

It’s worth whatever someone will pay of course but using the 2nd hand bike value formula mentioned on here earlier this week ie half original value minus £10 a year that makes it in theory worth approx £800 now agreed ?

I went to buy my first ‘proper’ MTB I wanted a Marin Eldridge Grade and nothing would turn my head.

Except for the Orange Clockwork I bought instead. I’ve never looked back.

I loved my Team Marin…

As you can see, I didn’t care too much what I looked like when riding it.

(Ron Hills are shit for MTBing though, they creep down at the back)

Whilst I’ve never been a fan, they seem to make decent bikes. Which is probably half the issue, why buy Marin? There’s no car park kudos, it’s not a must have brand, in a lifestyle/fashion driven sport ( for better/ worse) these things are as important as performance, and Marin just don’t cut it.

I wonder how much the failure of the Alchemist platform hurt them financially?

1998 Pine Mountain with Exotic carbon forks, 48/34 chainset,11-25 cassette, slicks – takes care of commuting duties. Splendid frame. Wish I could get hold of a later, disc mounted version.

Didn’t cynic-al join them as a product designer to develop a new full suss fat bike?

Still riding my 2009 orange nail trail. Its fully rigid, climbs like a bastard and doubles as a winter mud plugger and slicked up road bike.