I have been looking at something with wide tires too -- very similar rig overall, just can't seem to pull the trigger. Hope you enjoy it!


--K

I am LOVING it! The WTB Horizon tires feel fast! They also feel good on a variety of terrain. I have them at 60 psi because I’m riding mostly street, paved trails and smooth gravel roads. It’s wild how much faster this bike is compared to my mountain bikes and how much less effort it takes to maintain that faster pace.

Last night it was unusually warm so I got in an amazing ride under a cloudless sky and full moon. This Marin Nicasio + rapidly becoming my favorite bike to ride. The front brake is breaking in nicely but the rear brake is screeching a horrific noise and not really doing much of anything to help the bike slow down. Since it’s a new bike and I don’t feel like fiddling with it I’m going to have the LBS look it over again. I’m beginning to wonder if the damn rear brake is defective or just that awful. It probably just needs fine tuning, I’ve read this kind of value level brake can be difficult to get dialed in perfectly.

The Nicasio + has a rather low bottom bracket so it’s not suited for gnarly adventures off-road, Marin has other bikes better suited for that, but what it does exceptionally well is it feels fast, controllable, comfortable and efficient on the surfaces that I ride most of the time. Even though it’s heavier than alloy & carbon I love the ride this steel frame bike provides.

Little bit of an update. The brakes are not total garbage. They just needed to break in and then they needed a little adjustment and fine tuning. Mechanical disc brakes are fricking easy to adjust. I didn’t want to fiddle with it so I had my local bike shop adjustthe rear brake. Then after about an hour or so it began to do the same damn thing.

I decided to watch a YouTube video and take a crack at adjusting the rear brake myself. It took 3 or 4 times adjusting it but I have the rear brake dialed in just about perfect. No, it isn’t the most powerful brake but it’s workable. I then adjusted the front a little even though it was pretty good and managed to improve it even more.

I’m now MUCH more happy with the brakes on this Nicasio +.

I picked up a “used” but never installed carbon fork for my Marin. This fork uses a 15mm x 100mm thru axel. I went with a 15mm thru axel because this makes upgrading the wheel later on down the road much easier. I can also run 12mm wheels with an inexpensive axel adapter.



I have a few other bikes I could swap the Nicasio’s old 9mm quick release 650b wheel onto. I am still looking at options to convert it to either 12mm or 15mm which would be ideal. Hopefully someone makes an adapter or something.



I hope to have the fork installed next week. I am waiting for a disc brake adapter to be delivered as well as a 15-12mm conversion axel and star nut instillation tool.

I added an 800 lumen USB rechargeable bicycle light that I just love as well as a KS 100mm dropper seat post and seat bag. I’m already at 21 miles ridden this week.