Marin Nicasio Plus- Long Term Review

 It's been three years. Time for a review

In it's current configuration with Shimano CUES mountain bike crankset and Thompson seat post

After I sold my Marin Four Corners a few years back, I thought I was done with this genre of cycling. The truth is I did not understand why this type of bike would actually be needed for the kind of riding I was doing. It took moving to a rural outburb to finally realize the practicality of owning one. As I'm currently surrounded by poorly maintained roads or roads under construction, it would be almost impossible to ride out of my home without one. Before I bought my Marin Nicasio, I would get flat tires on any tire smaller than a 25mm width. Some roads on my route look like the surface of the moon with potholes, others are hard packed dirt. Needless to say most of my vintage bikes with box rims are out of the question when it comes to riding the roads in my area. I'm sure that one day the dismal state of the roads where live will be addressed. I'm in a rural area that is slowly but surely becoming suburbia. In the meantime, I once again required a bike that was utilitarian and durable in nature. Hence, my decision to purchase the Marin Nicasio Plus.

The Marin Nicasio is Marin's entry level range of do it all bikes. Like the Four Corners, it is designed with on road and rugged off road use in mind. The regular Nicasio came with 700x40c tires for light gravel use. The Nicasio plus has 650b by 47c thick, bouncy tires for harsher roads as well as dirt road use. All Nicasio bikes have a chromoly steel frame. About 30 pounds in weight, these bikes are on the heavy side, as they are built with durability in mind. While not a performance gravel bike, that hasn't stopped me from participating in at least two gravel events. Granted, no podiums are likely to be won on the Nicasio. This bike rolls slow and munches down the miles while absorbing all the vibrations with it's heavy steel frame and soft tires. What it lacks in speed it greatly makes up for in comfort, especially on long, dirt rides. It is not even that slow to be honest. I average close to 17mph on paved routes and close to 15 mph on gravel ones. While it could be the rider that is the determining factor in this situation, there has only been a 1-2mph average speed difference on my gravel bike on paved roads versus when I ride my 18 pound Cannondale road bike with 25mm tires.

Exploring a stretch of shoreline along a receded lake

On the rail trail on the way to more gravel roads.

I purchased this bike for the modest sum of $1,100. Since then, I few brands have stepped up to provide similarly specced or slightly more specced offerings at this price point. I bought this bike at no discount during the height of COVID, I'm sure now it would cost closer to around $800-$900 on sale.  Like the Four Corners, the Nicasio Plus has been on the brand's lineup for the past few years, so it is very likely to stay available in the near future. 

It has been a fantastic bike for the money regardless of how much I paid when I purchased it. The Microshift Advent drivetrain has an agricultural, clunky feel but is very durable and hasn't needed adjustment. The wheels are still holding true after miles of off road terrain. I wish that Marin would of future proofed this bike with thru axles instead of 9mm quick release dropouts on the frame. However, this is just my personal nitpicking since the stock wheels should last years, granted they aren't being hucked off drops or dragged through rock gardens. The Breezer Doppler is a better specced 650b steel bike for the same price point, having both thru axles and front and rear lights powered by a dynamo generator. With some competition in the market, Marin would do well to improve on their next iteration of this bike, packing as much value per dollar in this post COVID,  competitive and volatile retail market.

I don't know what it was exactly about this bike-the weight, the geometry, I can't quite pinpoint it exactly, but for my personal comfort  I needed shorter cranks. The 175mm cranks seemed to take too long to accelerate and I had all sorts of physical pain after long rides. The 170mm cranks tremendously improved my riding experience, although the Q factor of the CUES crankset could be narrower for maximum comfort on the ride. I will eventually justify replacing the CUES crankset with a Sram Rival or Shimano GRX one. For now, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Another quibble about this bike was it's tendency to ride loose on the rear. High speeds on the bike would cause a drifting sensation in the back of the bicycle. I addressed this by replacing the stock seatpost with a Thompson one that had a lot more setback, putting my weight towards the rear of the bike. Since replacing the seatpost the bike rides more balanced and has better traction on the loose stuff. Marin purposely made this bike with shorter chainstays, which could be the reason for this handling issue. Having said that, the Nicasio is nimble where it counts on real rowdy gravel and singletrack trails.

Overall, I'm real pleased with how this bike has worked out during the last three years or so since I've owned it. It can be configured in a variety of ways to suit any riding style or terrain. It is a quiver killer, easily replacing a commuter bike, XC hardtail and entry level road bike. It easily manages to roll a few bikes into one. Something to consider for those looking to downsize their bike collection or trying to get one bike for a variety of situations. As a road bike, there is little to fault it for beyond it's weight. Weight wise, it weighs as much as a 1970s bike boom era Schwinn, which proves to be no obstacle as I rode the wheels off of my old Schwinns in the past. As a mountain bike, it can handle blue trails and natural wooded trails with ease. Where it shines is on gravel and dirt roads, as well as chip seal and neglected road infrastructure. Having said all that, the Marin Nicasio soars above it's pricepoint in terms of it's versatility and practicality. I would buy one again and would definitely miss the one I have if I sold it.

 

 

The Motobecane Boris X5 Review

Reviewing my first Fat Bike, A Motobecane Boris X5

The Motobecane Boris X5, a proven snow bike and a bargain fat bike

I'm excited, really excited about this bike. I honestly don't know where to begin. This is the first bike I buy brand new in a really long time. This is also the first bike that I buy from Bikes Direct. I have been hovering around their website for many years, checking out the cool bikes that they sell but had always been afraid to pull the trigger on purchasing one until now. From the time I purchased this bike until now it has been nothing but grins and giggles and this has been a fun bike to ride. The following is a review on this bike and the experiences I have had on it.

As readers of this blog already know, I have been following the Fat Bike trend for a while now, hoping to one day put enough money aside to buy one and get in on the action. I had my eye set on the Motobecane Lurch fat bike as it had the biggest tires, a tapered fork and boasted a rugged steel frame which I am a big fan of. The price, even at around 1K, is still prohibitive for a guy like me and I had a hard time convincing my wife to let me buy a bike at that price point. The Motobecane Boris, starting at $599.00, seemed like a more realistic option and after selling another bike that I owned, I was able to get into it for about $200.00. 

I ordered the bike over the weekend and it arrived at my doorstep the following Tuesday. Bikes Direct has super fast shipping and the product arrived well packaged and without defects. Don't let the negative reviews out there influence your buying decision on this bike or any other bike from Bikes Direct. They make quality bikes built to last. Their bikes are just as nice as bikes that sell for 4 to 5 times the price. Out of the box I had to install the handlebars, front wheel and seatpost as well as adjust the mechanical disc brakes. After that, the bike was ready to ride.

This bike is the perfect bike for off the beaten path trekking. 

So, how does it ride? I can tell you that it is different than anything that I have ever ridden. It doesn't perform like a cross country bike on singletrack the way a 29er or a 26 inch wheeled mountain bike would perform. As far as using this bike for XC racing, the traditional options are still better and handle quicker through twisty trails. On the other hand, this bike can still ride over anything a regular mountain bike can, albeit a bit slower. It has the additional benefit of being able to power through loose terrain where the wheels on a regular mountain bike would normally get stuck. Some people describe the ride like a "tractor" feel; slow and steady yet powerful and grounded. Like a tractor, tight and fast turns tend to cause the front wheel to oversteer to one side or the other. Some claim that replacing the tires with more studded tires will eliminate this, however fat bike tires can cost around $90.00 per tire so it's not a cheap fix. It's better simply to ride the bike knowing what it can and can't do. Riding a Fat bike over the course of a few hours is a great upper body workout because the rider is usually having to do more steering from side to side to prevent the bike from oversteering and sliding out.  Here are a couple of videos of the Boris riding through my local mountain bike trails.

  

Fat bikes were originally intended for use in snowy conditions. The original Fat bike movement started in places like Alaska, Canada and Michigan, as a way to solve the problem of inactivity and transportation during the winter time. So having said that, this bike really came alive during the past week of snowfall here in Texas. I was able to run errands to the store and ride my bike around town while most people couldn't even get out of their driveway. The bike handled superbly in the snow and even the oversteer was less pronounced riding through these conditions. Even with snow as deep as 2 feet in some places, this bike had a bunch of traction climbing the snowy and icy hills around town. The super low gearing made sitting while climbing possible, hence allowing me to put my weight on the back of the bike so that the rear wheel did not spin out. Check out some of my snow videos from the past week of riding.

This bike really shines in snowy conditions.

  

While researching fat bikes I read reviews claiming how a fat bike rides like a full suspension bike and how fat bikes can go anywhere and ride over anything. As good as this sounds and as much as I want to believe this, the truth is that this bike has it's limitations. This is not a bike that I would do downhill or freeride mountain biking on, for example. This is not a replacement for a full suspension bike just because of it's wide tires; this bike lacks the maneuverability of a traditional full susser and the speed of a traditional cross country mountain bike. What this bike can offer is a new dimension of riding and one that most people have not seen before. This bike doesn't require groomed trails or hard packed soil. In fact, it shines above the rest when the terrain is rocky, sandy, snowy or muddy. While these conditions might limit other types of bikes, it almost enables the Fat bike to be a stellar performer. It's the perfect beach bike, camping bike or snow bike to visit those Inuit friends of yours. The Fat bike is the ultimate trekking and exploration bike available at this time. The Motobecane Boris is one of the best bargains available at this time for those who wish to try this type of bike out. Still on the fence? Don't be, go get you one!

Cycling Home From Siberia: A Book Review of a Great Adventure

Photo courtesy of goodreads.com

With an Arctic cold front blasting through Texas right about now, what better time than now to do a book review about riding a bicycle through really cold places such as Siberia and Tibet. This book will motivate it's readers to grab their winter gear and harden up on their bicycles as they read the account of riding through sub-zero temperatures and rugged landscapes. This has to be one of my all time favorite reads, as it combines my love for cycling and travel into one ultimate adventure. In the following review I will do my best to summarize this book as objectively and accurately as I can.

The book begins in Magadan, a coastal town on the edge of Russia around September of 2004. Ten years the author's junior, at the time I had graduated high school that year and I was on my first fall semester in college. Rob Lilwall was already a college professor and an accomplished book salesman when he began his journey. What was originally planned as a one year journey through Siberia ended up in a three year tour of southeast Asia, the Pacific, Australia, India and the Middle East. The author goes into vivid detail describing the weather, majestic climbs and descending valleys as well as the hospitality of strangers, many of little means living in the developing world. What makes this book so great is the vivid imagery that the author uses to describe the people and landscapes. The author also makes us aware that although performing an incredible feat by cycling through most of the world, he is also human and at times struggles with inner conflicts. At the start of the journey his lack of confidence and insecurities glaringly show, but in the end his travels have made him a braver, experienced and more self-reliant person. The key to his success in his travels was that wherever he went, he made himself a likable guy. Every time he would go into a different country for example, he would translate a letter in the language of that country explaining why he was cycling around the world. Most people who read the letter were all too happy to give him a place to stay. 

The author also includes some short essays about religion in his book. He expresses his own views at times about his faith and has made an effort throughout his life to develop a moral compass, something that is severely lacking in today's society. Although he found a girlfriend throughout his journey, he strongly believed that relations before marriage were wrong and was able to keep the relationship going for the next two years until he returned to England and married her. That mirrors my own views that I personally have had about this subject throughout my life. The author also makes a distinction between those to practice the faith and those who give it a bad name. The author gives the example of how much of the debased entertainment made by hollywood is seen by foreigners to be coming from Christian people, under the assumption that all Westerners are religious and Christian and would practice what is on TV. Although a man of strong convictions, the author gives the impression that even he does not have a complete picture of everything involving his faith. Through his own account, he describes how rival churches in Papua New Guinea, although each professing to believe in the Bible, have intimidated and even killed each other seeing the other as competition for recruiting members. The bible defines Jesus's disciples as having love for one another (John 13:35). That means true Christians will not go to war against one another and will treat each other the same everywhere in the world.


Although the author credits and to some extent emphasizes the hospitality of Churches for giving him a place to stay, he was also taken in by many people who did not share his beliefs as many believed in Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or whatever the predominant religion of the region was. It may have been the regional customs of hospitality and a sense of doing the right thing or simply human decency that motivated many of the author's hosts to take him in for the night rather than a shared religious belief. The author also recurrently mentions the church-backed aid organization that he is raising funds for to help needy children throughout the world. Although  there is no doubt the author has a strong and sincere desire to help others, that is not the be all end all expression of the Christian faith. Jesus also gave us the commandment to preach the good news and to make disciples of people of all nations (Matthew 24:14, 28:19). Those who go from door to door the way Jesus did and observing this commandment can be considered among those who practice true Christianity. Rather than focusing on the door to door ministry, many mainstream religions that call themselves Christian think they can achieve this by converting members through aid in developing countries, hence coining the phrase "Rice Christians". However, those who study the Bible know that the desire to serve God comes from the heart and not for personal gain. Those would be the talking points that I would engage the author with if I were to meet him in person. The author's efforts to practice Christianity are laudable and are better than most, however I have to respectfully disagree on more than one of the subjects he brought up in his book. I will have to say he took an objective approach in expressing his views and I was neither offended nor uncomfortable in reading his book. The mention of his faith and beliefs were inconsequential to the rest of the story. However, as a man of faith myself, I have to clear the air about this subject since I am recommending this book by reviewing it and would like to share the discrepancies that I found with readers of my blog. In conclusion, the religious views expressed in the book should be looked at as reference material only.*

The author makes us aware that his journey by bicycle wasn't some idyllic, stroll around a bucolic world, rather there were some nitty gritty and dangerous aspects about it as well. He was robbed twice, once at gunpoint and had to dodge border crossings while crossing Tibet, a country that he couldn't get a Visa to travel in and was therefore in the country illegally. He was chased by a mob of machete wielding bandits in Papua New Guinea and contracted malaria after his stay there. For those of you who like an adventure story, this book has that as well. 

In conclusion, this is a well rounded account of a world travel by bicycle and the obstacles and challenges faced by such a journey. This book answered a lot of my questions about bikepacking, world travel and what gear to carry with me if I were to go on such an expedition. I don't think that this type of adventuring is for me. Not everyone has the time or the resources that Rob Lilwall had when he made this journey. In ten years the world has also changed, and some of the countries he rode through have become more dangerous to outsiders. I would like to plan a weekend trip to a state park on bicycle one day. That is the only type of bikepacking that I can see myself doing in the near future. Maybe when my son is older we can do a father son bike tour, but definitely not on the scale of Lilwall's journey.

This was a good read and a remedy for my cabin fever. If the cold weather is bringing you down and you need some motivation to ride, definitely pick up a copy at a book store near you. 

Stay tuned for more reviews and posts and subscribe to my blog for more updates.

*Ten years ago, when I was in school, it was very common to have student theologians (Southern Baptists, never any other type of religion) visit our campus and have discussions about religion with anyone who would listen to them. The nearby church would host events in the school auditorium, often times with religious rock music inviting people to their church parties and I had to excuse myself from going to such events on many occasions. Back then school districts blurred the line between separation of church and state, something that is no longer heard of these days.  It was 2004, it was the Bush Era, and it was a bible-thumping under the guise of piety kind of time to be living in. Rob Lilwall is from that generation of theologians, that's why it doesn't bother me as much.