Sussex-MTB

So while this is a bit of a bike test I only got about an hour on it as I had to wrestle it out of JP's hands!! There a few noticeable changes to Marin's previous designs, the front triangle has a bit less of the hydroforming now and somewhat straighter tubes as a result. The shock mounts have been slimmed down and the top one features the new design 'Y link', very neat looking. As this is a short travel machine the rear swingarm has been slimmed down too, all in all resulting in a neat looking package with very nice lines.

So how does it ride? Well in a word very nicely. If you didn't know the travel before you rode it you'd be suprised to find it's only 100mm travel front and rear! It whips through the singletrack and the light(ish) weight means it's a good climber too (although this prototype had plain gauge front tubes, not the butted ones the final bike will have so it was carrying a bit of extra metal). The front triangle is a bit longer than previous bikes and is fitted with a shorter stem resulting in a sweet handling machine.

Also worth mentioning is the fact this bike came with the new 10 speed SLX drivetrain on it. As usual Shimano's super light shifting action was present. The front chainrings differ from the usual ratios and are now 24/32/42 and we had a 12 to 36 on the back. The result is a lot less shifting around. You can stay in the middle ring more than you would with a 9 speed set up as you have a lower gear for those steeper hills, although to be honest in the dry conditions we spent most of the ride in the big ring! All in all it functioned beautifully, I can't wait to get some onto my bikes…

So we can't wait to get our mitts on the finished item now and give it a blast….