Marin Pine Mountain Review

Steel is real with the new Pine Mountain, designed around the monster truck 29 x 2.6 tyres the Pine Mountain has been given modern trail geometry making it fun and agile on the trail. Comfort has been engineered into the design for those all-day epic rides. Brazed into the frame is a plethora of attachment points making this bike is ideal for bikepackers. The measurements and configuration of the bolts are available on the Marin website, allowing custom frame bags to be made to perfectly suit your needs. The two models in the range have different frames so let's look at them separately.

The Pine Mountain 1 uses Series 2 4130 CrMo frame with boost QR 141 mm rear dropouts, the Pine Mountain 2 uses Series 3 tubing and cast boost 148x12 mm thru-axle dropouts. Both frames have threaded bottom brackets, full rack and mudguard mounts along with stealth dropper post routing. Geometry is a mix between agility for trail riding and all-day comfort. Short 430 mm chainstays keep a nimble feel in the corners, while a relatively slack 66.5° head angle aids confidence on the steep descents. The bike is available in 4 sizes, with a 410 mm reach on the small going to a 485 mm reach on the extra-large.

Both forks use boost 110mm spacing on a 15mm axle with 120mm of capable travel. The Pine Mountain 2 gets the all-new RockShox 35's, quietly released they are the dark horse of the new RockShox range, packed with features only seen on high-end RockShox forks of the past few years, the trickle-down effect sees these forks with strong 35mm stanchions and magnesium lower keeping weight low but strength high. The new 35 also uses the much-acclaimed Debonair air spring and Motion Control damper.

The Pine Mountain 1 has the RockShox Recon RL, the newest version sees some serious weight loss over previous generations. Now it comes with the Motion control damper featuring low-speed compression adjustment all the way to lockout.

Simple and easy to use, 1x drivetrains are now the norm on mountain bikes. The Pine Mountain 1 has a Shimano Deore 1x11 set up with 32t chainring spinning an 11-46 cassette. Brakes are a very powerful 4 piston front, 2 piston rear Shimano set up. No dropper post on this model but with internal routing and a 30.9 seatpost diameter the frame will suit a wide range of cost-effective droppers.

The Pine Mountain 2 has the all-new Shimano 1x12 SLX gearing with a huge 10 - 51 tooth cassette and a 32t chainring, all climbs will be easily tamed, even when loaded up with luggage. Again powerful brakes from Shimano. The Pine Mountain 2 comes with a dropper post from TransX.

Marin always finishes off the details very well with thought out components completing their builds, the stand out here is the new Bedroll handlebar, shown at the bottom of this review, the Bedroll is a wide and traditional riser bar with the added convenience of a top tube, anyone who has ever strapped a handlebar roll to bars will see the advantages given here, giving a new strap position to help with cable management and providing a mount for GPS and lights that are not obscured by the luggage.

The wheel and tyre sizes available now give more choice than ever, and while wheel size debate continues for fast trail, long-distance and bikepacking ability the consensus is now firmly on the side of the 29ers, they roll fast, cover ground easily and cope incredibly well with those unexpected obstacles on the trail. The wide rims on the Pine Mountain support the new breed of tires that support this wider rim, not squaring the profile off and providing great support. 2.6" width is a perfect balance between rolling speed and all-day comfort, making them a great choice for any given mountain bike situation.