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Marin Mount Vision 5.8

The Mount Vision is the shortest travel and the most XC-biased bike in the Marin line up, and uses the now well established and proven Quad-Link 2.0 design launched in 2007. On the face of things the Mount Vision looks largely unchanged, bar some slightly louder paint jobs and decals. But look a little closer and you'll see that the Mount Vision hasn't simply been redressed and repainted for 2010.  

There are changes evident all over the frame but these serve to enhance rather than reinvent the Mount Vision. The most notable change in terms of ride is the whole degree that's been lopped off the head angle and another whole degree put into the seat tube, making them 68.5 and 72.6 degrees respectively (quoted figures, size L frame). The head angle gives the Marin more stability and control going downhill, while the seat angle makes getting off the back of the bike easier, and props you up/forward for the climbs. The bottom bracket height is still fairly lofty though, giving good clearance on technical sections, but at the price of flat out speed and stability.

the frame could be mistaken for being carbon from 20 paces...

There are big changes at the back of the bike: the one good thing to come out of the Alchemist project was the slimmer and lighter swingarm which has made its way onto the Mount Vision. Weight has been trimmed, there's bags more heel clearance and neither has come at the expense of stiffness around the shock linkages and rear wheel. And from an aesthetic point of view it looks better too! Other changes to the frame include a hugely oversized headtube, very tidy braze welding (the frame could be mistaken for being carbon from 20 paces) and optional cable routing for a lever operated gravity post.

Opinion was split on the Marin visually, with some liking the hydroformed swoops and dips, others not so keen. The pretty, gold-anodised, modular dropouts, colour-coded to the gold detailing on the Avid Elixir brakes, were universally popular - a nice, if superficial touch. These modular dropouts have been carried over from previous years and are a brilliant idea in terms of future proofing your investment, allowing an easy change to a Maxle rear end. We assumed these would be quite pricey to replace, but the dropouts are a fairly standard £15 each and you're not forced to buy a pair if you do thump the mech and need a new hanger (switching to Maxle will thus cost you £30 for the pair).

The DNA of its bigger Quad-linked brothers, the Wolf Ridge and the Quake, is apparent here in spades...

Climb onto the Marin and the riding position feels instantly comfortable - the slightly kinked top tube allowing a little extra clearance on a not particularly generous standover height. Into the first climb and the Marin really surprises. At 28.6lb (with pedals) it's at the heavy end of the 120mm market, and for this amount of money, right in there among a lot of 140mm bikes! But in spite of this the Marin feels pretty light and sprightly in the climbs. The suspension tracks well over small bumps, yet has a tautness about it that encourages strong, confident pedalling. Rear wheel traction is about as good as it gets and in technical climbs quite often brute force was actually the best way up. The rear end rarely, if ever, spits out which is an achievement given the wet, slick-rock conditions it was being ridden in. While the new swingarm offers greater access than previous models to the ProPedal switch on the RP2 shock, we certainly never felt the need to use it.

On undulating, pedally singletrack, the Mount Vision carries its speed very well, though it seemed to prefer a lower cadence, less frantic, and more measured pedalling style. Turn the big ring more often and let the Marin flow and it barrels along quite nicely! 

We'd even go as far to say it's stiff by All-Mountain/6" bike standards!

As things get steeper and faster, the reason for the 28lb+ girth of the Mount Vision becomes apparent. This is one tough bike. Stiffness across the frame is high - class leading in fact! We'd even go as far to say it's stiff by All-Mountain/6" bike standards! The Marin encourages you to go off-line for the sheer fun of it and it's totally rock solid. The DNA of its bigger Quad-Link brothers - the Wolf Ridge and the Quake - is apparent here in spades. And like the Orange ST4 we tested and loved, this bike is built for bigger things than its travel suggests. These burly but shorter travel bikes make sense on a lot of UK trails and it's best to think of the Mount Vision as a short-travel All-Mountain bike, rather than a long-travel XC one (as if we need more niches confusing things!). That said, when it comes to threading the bike through fast and technical sections, the high centre of gravity (caused by the arc of the swingarm and chunky linkages) begins to hamper it slightly, making the bike feel a touch ponderous when riding on the absolute limit. Make sure you take time to set-up the shock. We found getting the balance between good small-bump response and big-hit performance a fine act to balance.

a well thought-out, barbarically tough, crud-proofed frame that'll pretty much ride anything the UK has to offer...

Spec wise the Mount Vision represents reasonable value. You can find better specced bikes at this price, but with the Marin, you're getting a well thought-out, barbarically tough, UK-proofed frame that'll pretty much ride anything the UK has to offer. Then there's the lifetime bearing warranty and who can argue with that considering our recent summers have been as tough on our bikes as the winter! The Fox F120 RL fork has the 15QR lowers creating a front end as tough as the rest of the bike and it's amazing what this fork will put up with in terms of punishment!

The wheelset is fine at this price with the XT hubs laced to Mavic XM317s although the Hope Pro II hubs from previous year's Mount Visions were missed. The buoyant and bubbly character of the bike might lead some riders to look at chunkier tyres to play to the bullish character of the bike. The 2.1 Maxxis High Rollers are fast and very light though, and certainly give it some of its spring going uphill. 

Moving on, the Avid Elixir brakes were faultless in performance and extremely powerful even with the 6" rotor up front. In fact lighter riders might even find the Avids a little 'grabby'. Watch pad life though if you ride wet gritty trails. The very dirt-resistant SRAM X.9 gearset (SLX front mech) with full outer housing to the rear, makes for precise shifting ride after ride and only further adds to the Marin's claim as a proper year round full-susser. The Truvativ Stylo crankset looks smart and does the job - just keep an eye on the bottom bracket life. The finishing kit features a stylish but not universally popular fitting WTB Silverado saddle, and a mixture of entry level FSA and own-brand parts. Flashier finishing kit is always nice to have but rarely adds much to the overall ride. Thought we suspect many will want to fit a shorter stem than the 100mm item supplied.    

There's a lot to like about the Marin and it will suit a lot of riders - from protecting nervous beginners, to sucking up the use and abuse of hardcore riders - it's a cracking all-day package. With surprising climbing performance and bags of attitude coming back down, it's arguably all the bike you'll ever need. The only area where it doesn't totally shine is for riders who crave all out speed. It never quite feels like it's going completely flat-out, and those adrenaline junky riders who crave nothing short of terminal velocity and total precision might want to look elsewhere.

Short-travel hooligan, class-leading stiffness and surprising climbing.

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