Have I just bought the best bikepacking bike in the world!!

[redefined_cycles]

Just got myself a Marin Mountain 1 from Rutlands for dirt cheap. 650b plus tires with steel forks and frame!!!

Pity about everything else though and the fact it wont take me brand X dropper!!!

[Bearbonesnorm]

No.

[firestarter]

No that would be my ramin plus

[ianfitz]

Surely that's a yes because you own it and can go bikepacking with it.

Best bikepacking bike is the one you are bikepacking on

[redefined_cycles]

Surely that's a yes because you own it and can go bikepacking with it.

Best bikepacking bike is the one you are bikepacking on

Thats what Bontrager said right... I think I'm also the proud owner of one of the best sleeping bags in thw world ever

[redefined_cycles]

No.

Lol. Very straight to the point. Eventually I will be getting a Sonder Transmitter Carb (once I can afford... maybe).

Stu, btw, which is the best bikepacking bicycle in thw world (in your opinion?!?)

[redefined_cycles]

No that would be my ramin plus

Whilst I was walking out of work, I spotted a Ramin and finally got what the fuss is all about. Flicked it a few times to hear the alu clunk and then went and sat to order my lovely bicycle (for £499 )...

Ramin= lovely btw...

[firestarter]

I actually really wanted a pine mountain as it took me back to my youth and almost ordered one but for a couple of reasons ended up with the ramin. Bargain price you got the marin for though has it had the fork recall done btw as I think they all needed the forks swapping I'm presuming it has from the shop
Enjoy

[voodoo_simon]

No.

Lol. Very straight to the point. Eventually I will be getting a Sonder Transmitter Carb (once I can afford... maybe).

Stu, btw, which is the best bikepacking bicycle in thw world (in your opinion?!?)

I bet my mortgage he'll say a fat bike...

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm sure it's a cracking bike ... it's just hard to love summat with an orange stem and forks

Eventually I will be getting a Sonder Transmitter Carb

Never ridden one but I hear good things.

I'm not sure that the best bikepacking bike is the one you're riding - I reckon it's the one you think you should be riding, while riding the one you're on

[Teetosugars]

it's just hard to love summat with an orange stem and forks

I dunno, the original ones back in the very early 90s were vaguely exciting.

I had a Muirwoods that had Yellow stem and forks.

Loved it.

[psling]

Funny thing is, the bike I mostly use for bikepacking is 14 years old and does the job for me perfectly; I can't actually see how a new or different bike would improve my enjoyment of bikepacking (of course, there is always the pleasure of choosing and buying something new though!)

[w00dster]

Funnily enough I have the same bike. As a relatively new bikepacker I noticed the deal on Rutland and pulled the trigger earlier in the year. I was contemplating the Marin and the Sonder.
It does have some positives, but the negatives are the difficulty to perform wheel upgrades, the Marin uses a 141x9mm standard. I also got mine dirt cheap so can't complain - but after 4 months I'm now thinking I want something more sprightly and with wheels that are easily changeable.
I've also found that while the bike is fine on easier trails, I miss not having any suspension. Its also not that manoeuvrable, so decided I'm going to get a lighter 29er hardtail. If you want a bike that you can also take to trail centres and throw it around, then the Marin isn't the one.

I actually like the colour scheme but it seems it puts bike thieves off. 4 months of commuting to the train station and the bike has never been touched (I leave it in a specific position to check if it gets moved).

The gearing and brakes are pretty good for a £500 bike though. I had a quick look at trying to get a front rack but had no luck getting anything to fit the fork. I'm also not sure if Salsa Anything Cages would fit either. Might be a case of making your own.

I probably sound really negative about the bike. Its a fun bike and will make a decent bikepacking setup. I'm only allowed the one mountain bike so I'm trying to find the nirvana - a bikepacking bike that can be used for fast trail rides. I'm taking the Trek Roscoe out for a test ride soon, hoping this meets both of my needs. (I'm a roadie with quite a few road/CX bikes hence being allowed just the one MTB)

The biggest ride I did on the Marin was the South Downs Way. The bike itself handled the route really well. This is good terrain for it as its not overly technical and is nice rolling terrain, however I did find the weight of the bike plus my very shoddy packing to be a bit on the heavy side. I did approx. 110 miles with about 12000 feet of climbing, the gearing was great, the odd technical climb ended up with me having to get off and push, but I think there was only a couple of hills where the gradient got the better of me and the bike. I've also taken it around North Wales, following some of the routes on this website - again it handled those really well. Over at Penmachno though it didn't like some of the wet rocky downhill sections, this is probably the downside to + tyres and no suspension though. I got down fine, but it felt more sketchy than when I've done it on a full sus. That being said, it probably isn't really designed for fast rocky descents.

Hope you enjoy the bike, be good to hear about some of your rides you have planned.

[redefined_cycles]

Just a quick update... So for similar reasons to what Woodster describes above, I cancelled the order and went back to original plan of putting all my miney into a carbon Transmitter.

Still waiting to make payment but am having some thoughts regarding stregth of their carb against trail hits and endovers (hopefully I wont have any) and thought that maybe I shoukd reorder the Teansmittrr Alu instead?!?

[redefined_cycles]

I actually really wanted a pine mountain as it took me back to my youth and almost ordered one but for a couple of reasons ended up with the ramin. Bargain price you got the marin for though has it had the fork recall done btw as I think they all needed the forks swapping I'm presuming it has from the shop
Enjoy

Not that it matters cos got a refund. But yeah seems to have had recall cos it had the fork with 3 stripe on lower legs...

[redefined_cycles]

No.

Lol. Very straight to the point. Eventually I will be getting a Sonder Transmitter Carb (once I can afford... maybe).

Stu, btw, which is the best bikepacking bicycle in thw world (in your opinion?!?)

I bet my mortgage he'll say a fat bike...

Lol. U owe someone alot of money