Marin Pine Mountain 1, Long term Review

"A bike you can throw anything at, but it's heavy"

The Marin Pine Mountain 1 in the mountains of Puerto Rico

I'm a big fan of this bike. In fact, I'm such a fan of the Marin Pine Mountain rigid plus bike that I own two of the exact model. This bike was sold at Performance Bike stores before they went out of business and liquidated their assets. I was able to purchase both bikes for well under store MSRP. 

Every once in a while, in an industry that is becoming ever more proprietary in their design, more prone to all sorts of recalls and bikes that break within a couple of years usage, manufacturers make something admirable and truly bulletproof. Case and point the 2018 Marin Pine Mountain 1 rigid mountain bike. This bike is the Jeep Commanche, the Suzuki Samurai, the Toyota 4runner of mountain bikes. It just keeps on going. Low geared, with a strong frame, wheelset and crankset, this bike is capable of anything that any other bike is capable of. Flat roads, mountain climbs, singletrack, jumps are no obstacle for this beast. Is this a race bike? By all means, no it isn't. This bike will have you finishing in the middle of the pack on XC endurance events. There are much better choices of mountain bikes for cross country racing. However, this is a bike you can stick in your travel case resting assured that nothing will break on it during travel and is foolproof enough to handle any TSA inspections. The bike is very stable on descents and eats up fireroads with ease. A front suspension might be desired on really technical rock gardens, however the bike performs well even though the ride might be jarring. 

The beauty of this bike is in it's simplicity. No suspension on the bike means less moving parts and less maintenance overall. The 1x10 drivetrain means that the user will only have to adjust a single rear derailleur. The clutch system on the Shimano Deore derailleur allows for less missed shifts or skipping gears. The low gear ratio on the bike compensates for the heft of the frame and rotational weight of the wheels, which weigh in at about 8-9 pounds each.

I recently took my Marin Pine Mountain 1 to Puerto Rico for a mountain bike race that I've had my eye on for years, Las 100 de la Parguera. I'll post another article detailing how I did on the race. While the bike performed well on sand pits, rocky pitches and descents both on pavement and dirt, it was slow going on long, sustained climbs. I was 3 minutes and 19 seconds slower a sustained climb I had done on a road bike a few years before. Manhandling the bike around in a racing situation was more tiring that if I had been on a lighter carbon or aluminum mountain bike. While I finished the race around the time I had anticipated, I felt I was punished more for my effort and speed. 

The thing is, I can't personally fault this bike for being heavy. It's weight plays a big role in this durability. Over time, I could get used to the heaviness of this bike, even in extreme mountain environments such as is the case riding in Puerto Rico. At 33 pounds for a size medium frame, this bike is in the same weight class as some entry level full suspension bikes. Tubeless tires, carbon wheels and a carbon or air suspension fork will make this bike a quiver killer. However, I'm of the belief that if it isn't broken you shouldn't fix it and if you don't need it then you shouldn't buy it. In the case of the Marin Pine Mountain, it might be a really long time before anything on this bike breaks. 

This is a great bike for rolling terrain, but it pays to pace yourself on it up those long climbs.