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With elements of a BMX, Mountain, and fat tire bike all in one Marin has crafted an absolute masterpiece.

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/8660058974

February 21, 2021, 08:06 AM
stickman428
With elements of a BMX, Mountain, and fat tire bike all in one Marin has crafted an absolute masterpiece.
I’ve often wondered what a bike would look like if someone intentionally tried to meld the frame geometry and stout 4130 chromoly tubing of a BMX bike with the gears and wide flat bars of a mountain bike. Take the best elements of both bikes to create a strong, simplistic, badass bike that would require minimal maintenance. Marin’s Pine Mountain checks all those boxes.

With no suspension front or back you would think it’s just terrible on trails but it’s not. Enter plus size 2.8 x 27.5 tires. Aired down to around 18-21 psi the tires soak up bumps better than the entry level fork on my Polygon and provide a hell of a lot more grip on damp trails compared to the Polygon’s 2.25 inch wide tires. The newest Pine Mountain bikes now have a front suspension but I like that my older version has a steel fork. I was able to get this one used but in excellent shape for less than 1/2 the cost of the new version.

I’ll be adding a dropper seat post (one is inbound) mud fenders and eventually increasing the tires to 3 inches when these wear out but I doubt if I’ll change much else on it.

What a FUN bike.








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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
February 21, 2021, 08:11 AM
Orguss
I've always wondered about fat tire bikes. How much increased weight do these add?



"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"
February 21, 2021, 08:19 AM
stickman428
On this bike it’s hard to say...the steel frame and fork already make for a heavy bike.

My local bike store had a pair of very fat tires for sale. They looked like they were taken off a dirt bike or something they were that wide. When I picked them up I was actually surprised by how light they were.


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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
February 21, 2021, 11:32 AM
roberth
I had a Trek Full Stache, 29x3.0, heavy tires, tubeless helps a little. The effort to get started, change direction, speed up, slow down, is very evident.
February 21, 2021, 11:32 AM
pedropcola
That’s a great color.
February 21, 2021, 01:16 PM
stickman428
I think a 27.5er lends itself to being more manageable at speed when using plus size tires. I’d really like to build a 29er Kona or Soma hardtail with modular dropouts and 2.8-3.0 +tires.


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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
February 21, 2021, 06:11 PM
sasquatch28
Ive been contemplating a Surly Krampus or Salsa Timberjack myself. Very similar thougbt process of design. I need a bike to ride some double track and mild single track.
February 22, 2021, 07:37 AM
stickman428
The Surly Krampus is a bike I’ve been tempted by too. I picked the absolute worst time to fall back in love with cycling.

How much should one expect to spend for a decent 140mm travel front fork? Can a good fork be had for $400-550? The fork is not for this Marin but for another project I have in the works.


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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
February 22, 2021, 05:54 PM
ridja75
quote:
Originally posted by Orguss:
I've always wondered about fat tire bikes. How much increased weight do these add?


My fat bike comes in at 27lbs total. Carbon wheels with Cake Eater 26x4.6in tires, set-up tubeless, are just about 4.25lbs EACH.
February 22, 2021, 06:57 PM
vthoky
quote:
Originally posted by stickman428:
On this bike it’s hard to say...the steel frame and fork already make for a heavy bike.


I was wondering about the weight on this when I saw your pic.

When I swapped my Specialized Rockhopper (front suspension only) off for a full-suspension K2, I got a big surprise with respect to weight. I totally didn't think beforehand about how much weight the additional suspension bits added to the bike! Eek

For the first few trips out, it felt like my ride was twice the workout!




God bless America.
February 27, 2021, 07:22 AM
stickman428
So I must have been living under a rock. I just discovered slope style bikes. Basically they are a BMX / dirt jumper bike but with a full suspension that is capable of flying higher and landing MUCH harder than a BMX bike.

Where the hell were these bikes when I was younger!? I F$&&ng love this bike concept!

Both Canyon and Polygon make an incredible slope style bike that looks quite a bit like a BMX bike but has 200mm of travel. Eek They also have some geometry tweaks to increase high speed stability. The Canyon actually kinda hides the rear shock and at first glance looks exactly like your typical BMX bike with a front suspension.

Canyon Stitched 720






This is a female rider showing what a slope style bike is all about. Very cool!



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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
February 27, 2021, 09:51 AM
stickman428
If they had slope style bikes back when I was doing this I might not have had two surgeries and wrecked my back quite as much.

This is me sometime around 1999. Those pants... Big Grin



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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
February 27, 2021, 04:37 PM
CQB60
Marin has been making very nice bikes for a long time. Yes, that is a nice color scheme too...


______________________________________________
Life is short. It’s shorter with the wrong gun…
February 27, 2021, 05:29 PM
stickman428
Thanks CQB60. Marin calls this color Forest Ranger Truck Green. Cool The new Marin Pine Mountain comes in a metallic blue or flat desert tan color and both colors look equally as good as mine but they now have 29 inch wheels and thinner tires along with a front suspension. To me this older version with smaller 27.5 inch wheels but wider tires is closer to the somewhat basic BMX / dirt jumper bikes that I loved racing and riding.


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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
February 27, 2021, 07:53 PM
Ox190
I picked up a used Mongoose Dolomite a while back just because it was cheap. Need to take it into a bike shop and have them go through it, and I need to drop some more weight. If I enjoy riding it I'll be looking to upgrade.
March 01, 2021, 02:34 PM
NapoleonSolo
I have looked on the Marin website and I cannot find the bike that the OP is talking about. Everything I see has front suspension forks and I am looking for the bike the OP has purchased. I am not sure what I am missing but the Pine Mountain 1 and 2 are all I see and they have the front suspension. Any help on this?


“Our actions may be impeded...
But there can be no impeding our intentions or our dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.

The impeding to action advances action.

What stands in the way becomes the way.”

― Marcus Aurelius
March 01, 2021, 04:10 PM
Phred
quote:
Originally posted by NapoleonSolo:
I have looked on the Marin website and I cannot find the bike that the OP is talking about. Everything I see has front suspension forks and I am looking for the bike the OP has purchased. I am not sure what I am missing but the Pine Mountain 1 and 2 are all I see and they have the front suspension. Any help on this?

The bike that Stickman purchased and posted the picture of is an older model, not the current model. I believe Stickman bought it locally, second-hand.
March 01, 2021, 05:25 PM
NapoleonSolo
Thanks very much. I thought so as he mentioned it was about half of new but I guess its a bit older than I thought. Very nice bike. I have had a few Santa Cruz bikes and an Orbea Orca,


“Our actions may be impeded...
But there can be no impeding our intentions or our dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.

The impeding to action advances action.

What stands in the way becomes the way.”

― Marcus Aurelius
March 02, 2021, 06:33 AM
stickman428
Yes, it is an older version. It’s a 2019 model year. Marin has made some changes to the newer Pine Mountain and some are for the better while some well I’ll just say that some of those changes might not be improvements.

For example Marin cut a hole in the meaty chain stay on the newer bikes to make the bike “flex” more. Mine does not have the hole. Well going by the videos I’ve seen of the newest Pine Mountain 2 it flexes quite a bit.

Ultimately the 2.8 tubeless tires and 27.5 tire size is what sold me. Well that and the sweet Forest Ranger Truck Green paint job & rigid fork. The new bikes are 2.6 inches wide and have 29 inch tires and a suspension fork.

Looking at the fork on this version I believe it might even be able to accept wider tires than the current Pine Mountain with the front suspension. The rear can go a bit wider too.






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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
March 02, 2021, 01:10 PM
stickman428
I made it a little heavier today. I think it’s worth it though.

100mm of seat movement at my fingertips and no stupid internal cables to have to fiddle with for hours. Now it’ll be MUCH more comfortable to ride to my local trails. Cool

I just grab that lever like it’s an office chair, down the seat goes. If you stand up and pull the lever it rises and it will lock in place so you can lift the bike by the seat with out the seat post moving. Some of the older versions don’t do this and it’s annoying to encounter. I might put one of my gravel bike....it’s a heavy steel beast too. Big Grin



Slammed for the trails. Big Grin



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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance