What Mountain Bike magazine’s testers have awarded the new Marin Mount Vision 5.8 a Gold shield in their 2009 guide to the best in the world of mountain bikes. Read the full review here on line or buy the November issue of the mag from your local newsagent.
Does Marin’s muscular monster still have the chops to cut it against this year’s contenders?
In its first year it won bike of the year in a US magazine and the 2008 version was our own Bike of the Year. The white wonder has been so popular that only a few wee left to buy even before we threw a laurel wreath around its head tube. Now it shares the Mount Vision name with the whole £1449 - £3499 120MM Quad XC family. Can this capable chassis pull off an unheard of hat trick?
The frame
You could certainly be forgiven for thinking nothing has changed on the chassis apat from the slightly repositioned stickers. Geometry-wise, a half degree slacker head angle kicks the front centre (distance from the font wheel axle centre to the bottom bracket) 5mm forwards from last year. The bottom bracket drops by a similar amount too.
Marin designers Andy Jeffries and Ian Alexander actually spent hours designing and trying more radical tweaks though.
“We played with different drop outs which were 5mm and 10mm longer as we always felt the bike had a tendency to lift at the front wheel on steep climbs. However, we actually found we lost the bike’s descending and agility. Adding a little in the front has improved the bike in all areas. Lowering the BB has improved the bike’s high speed handling too,” said Ian Alexander.
The rest is a classic case of ‘if it’s selling out before Summer – don’t change it!’ The long top tube gives plenty of breathing space when you are beasting yourself. Unlike some competitors you can drop the seat popst right down when descending too. Thinner 2.1 in tyres leave even more mudspace and lifetime warranted bearings mean replacements are free if you were them out.
Finally, the replaceable rear dropouts can be switched with the Maxle screw-thru versions to noticeably reduce rear wheel yaw. Despite obvious advantages and no real disadvantages, this concept has yet to catch on but we reckon it will be as big as screw through forks are becoming and Marin is one of the few brands to be well ahead and ready.
The Kit
While it hasn’t gone for the obvious Maxle Lite-equipped Rockshox reba 120 fork match, Marin has gone screw through with the Fox F120 fork. Add structural and damping changes for 2009 and you’re looking at significantly stiffer and smoother performance than the already excellent 2008 piece. The rear shock also gets noticeably improved damping.
Shimano XT still provides benchmark performance, while adaptable Hope hubs on Mavic rims are a great wheelset. Thinner maxis High roller tyres replace bigger, slower WTBs but still keep winter/wet grip levels high. Hayes Stroker brakes replace Avid Juicys; they’re impressively powerful and feel good through their pimpy carbon levers too Broad Easton bars give power steering leverage advantages, while bolt on grips with crashproof metal ends secure your grasp on control.
The Ride
The Mount Vision was already pushing the aggressive limits of the 120mm xc/trail category but the new version stretches them even further.
The Fox fork, with its noticeably stiffer, more instinctive reactions is the real big difference. Right from the first ride we were hitting radical lines and cleaning sections at speeds that were previously just out of our grasp. It also tracked and kept us online and rolling in switchback turns when a QR fork would have just twisted and jack-knifed.
Damping improvements at both ends also make it noticeably more settled and stuck to the ground despite the loss of tyre volume. How much the slightly slacker and lower angles contribute compared to the suspension is hard to tell but they don’t hinder its properly hardcore character on the descents.
The ease with which you can pick up and place the front end, plus the infectiously ballsy frame, will certainly see you hammering stuff you wouldn’t have even prodded before.
The upside is taut, pedal-eager muscularity that separates it from some of the (theoretically) more efficient and longer travel, slower-responding bikes around. Add the extra length in the frame and the Marin makes for an impressively determined climber.
Summary
There is no doubt that Marin has significantly boosted the Mount Vision’s already aggressive, category-stretching performance. The sniff of extra handling stability and the definite increased in composure and control from the new Fox shocks makes it faster in exactly the places other 120mm bikes falter. The same communicative suspension and sorted cockpit put you in a superb place for pushing your own limits too.
What’s more all the UK-friendly advantages of decent mud room , lifetime warranted bearings and a shielded shock will be more useful than ever as our weather gets even worse.
Verdict
More attitude than anything else of similar travel but more weight and more money too..
Guy Kesteven says: “I’ve lived with the 2008 Mount Vision for a year now and Marin has taken everything I love about it and added more edge. It’s definitely a bit heavy for racers whose blood runs cold on red runs but if your idea of a good weekend is to pot as many black runs as possible this is practically perfect.”
“The 09 Marin Mount Vision 5.8 is better than the version that won our Bike Of The Year Award in 2008″
“Marin has taken everything I love about the 2008 model and added more edge. If your idea of a perfect weekend is to pot as many black runs as possible, this is practically perfect.”
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