I’d ridden various versions of the Mount Vision in the past, right back to the very original one, in more recent times as I’ve become a convert to the slack angled, long forked hardtail way of life and as such have found the Mount Vision a bit steep and nervous for the way I ride these days. My XC racing is largely behind me and I prefer to just ride what’s in front of me and enjoy it all a bit more.
The 2010 Mount Vision is a bit slacker in the head angle, a bit steeper in the seat angle and is meant to offer a better all round trail appeal for everyone. A bike that will still munch the miles if you want it too but will handle the singletrack and the techy bits in a bit more of a sure footed, friendly fashion.
2010 Marin Mount Vision
I’ve got to start with the looks, Marin can often be a bit of a ‘Marmite’ design, usually polarising opinion in the group, but they’ve really gone to town on the new model and made some nice design tweaks over previous incarnations. Gone is the nasty little step in the top tube that the headset sat in. The swingarm has been mad more swoopy to take it well out the way of your heels, which works really nicely now. Most noticably though a lot of the welds on the front triangle have been ground smooth leaving lots of people asking if the frame is carbon, it’s a sweet loking frame.
I have had the benefit of riding this bike a few times now, so I’ve had a chance to get to know it quite well. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Marin’s suspension system and indeed both Deadly and Tatts both have quad link 140 frames which they seem to get on with. But as mentioned above I’ve always found the Mount Vision a bit nervous for my taste so I was keen to see what difference the geometry changes had made.
Mount Vision
I’ll be honest my first ride out I was a bit underwhelmed. It had 2.1″ High Rollers on and it felt nervous and twitchy and I just felt too stretched out and skitty on it. Playing with the rear shock settings out on the trailed helped, but I didn’t really feel happy on it. On my return I mentioned it to JP and he made a few changes. He loves it and he was keen for me to try again and see if my opinion had changed.
The stem had been swapped for a shorter one and the tyres were swapped out for some wider Maxxis Ardents, a bit like a lighter High Roller in a way. The difference was immediately noticeable, I no longer felt so stretched out and as a result felt a lot more at home. I did a lot of familiar trails on that second ride and my speed through the singletrack was commented on, so it was obviously working better for me. In fact the singletrack round the top of Steyning I flew round and did feel a bit like I was cheating 
Mount Vision
So it just goes to show that if you have your mind set on a certain bike but it doesn’t feel right you can get the cockpit feel sorted out to your taste with a bit of minor tweaking. On the trail the bike is fast and fluid. It’s only about half a pound heavier than my Hummer so I didn’t notice the extra weight of having rear suspension. The quad link suspension works well helping you search out grip on the climbs, and is as usual super smooth on the downs.
The revised geometry works well, it doesn’t feel steep and nervous although it is a bit steeper than what I’m used to with my Hummer. It whips through the singletrack nicely as well. So who is this bike for? Well I reckon if you’re looking for an all rounder, reasonably light weight, that is suitable for blasting around on the south or indeed the north downs it’s well worthing booking a test ride. The faster you make it go the more fun it is 
The funny thing is although we didn’t get on to well on our first outing together I can’t help but ask if it’s free whenever I’m nipping out now which obviously means something!
