Marin Rocky Ridge Review - BikeRadar

Marin were one of the first brands to introduce a riot-ready trail hardtail and if you’ve got the power to pedal it, this much evolved version isn’t afraid of anything.

The Rocky Ridge guarantees big fun from its fast reacting, compact frame and the screw-through-axle Fox Vanilla fork provides outstanding smoothness and steering accuracy.

Ride & handling: Supple and muscular, with utter contempt for sketchy trail moments

This is a bike designed to deliver its full potential with gravity or serious grunt behind it. The massive bar, short stem and 67-degree head angle is six-inch full-suspension playbike territory. 

The smooth, controlled and accurate screw-through 15mm axle fork, plus sticky, low pressure-friendly tyres give the Marin utter contempt for sketchy trail moments.

This is a bike that begs you to lay off braking, hurl yourself off drops and hang cornering traction on the last millimetre of side grip. Drop the saddle and you’ll be astonished how fearlessly a hardtail can descend. The Rocky Ridge ploughs its way over wet root sprawls and jumbles of fallen logs without faltering. 

The rubber and Fox suspension mean the Marin is more comfortable than you’d expect, although staying seated through the big stuff will cause some eye-watering results.

It climbs and muscles its way through tight singletrack surprisingly well. At over 30lb with pedals it’s no sprinter and the relaxed head angle needs advance notice for repositioning, but it grunts over steppy, techy sections with low rev determination.

It still feels more ‘diesel’ than high revving ‘Type R’ racer but there’s definitely a muscular spring to its grunt. This really helps when you’re one pedal turn away from cleaning a climb. In fact, for a near-30lb hardtail it astonished us with what it managed to wrestle its way up. Not a first choice for long haul/low technicality riding, though.

Although the top tube is fairly short (22.5in on our medium test bike), the slack seat angle (70.5 degrees) lengthens the cockpit the more you raise the saddle. Add the super-wide bars for a bit more chest expansion and we never found breathing room to be a problem.

A relatively short wheelbase means a fast turn in on tight singletrack, while a low bottom bracket keeps it grounded at speed. The slack seat angle also makes it easy to lever the front wheel up and over obstacles.

Basically the Rocky Ridge is just begging to be worked, shaped and thrown around the trails better than you thought you ever could. It’s got a smooth and forgiving ride feel too, making it a perfectly viable day bike if you’re not in a hurry.

Frame: Proven performer with good attention to detail

Originally a hybrid of Marin’s lightweight cross-country bikes and its old hardcore Quake hardtails, the Rocky Ridge frame was one of the first mass-manufactured alternatives to classics like the Santa Cruz Chameleon and Cove Stiffee. Years of evolution have fine-tuned the chassis, and the current frame is largely unchanged from last year, but then if it ain’t broke…

The multi-sided, double-butted, hydroformed Edge XL main tubes are seamed together behind the externally reinforced head tube for maximum strength and stiffness, and an additional top gusset adds the braces to the belt.

The gusseted kite section top tube and octagonal down tube still look fresh, as do the custom-butted triangular rear stays. Though there’s probably no structural advantage, the tall CNC-machined dropouts look pretty too.

The forged braces and massive stays leave gaping mud clearance even around the chunky tyres. The seat slot faces forward too, although it’s missing Crud Catcher mudguard mounts.

While there’s no frame-only option, the same frame appears on the £799 Marin B-17. There are no extra small or extra large sizes though, which is a shame.

Equipment: Decent forks, tyres, brakes and bars add up to total control

The new fork and tyres make a big difference to the 09 bike and we reckon they’re well worth the price hike over the 2008 model. While the Marin is no lightweight, a lot of the heft is down to the kit spec.

The smooth Fox Vanilla R fork is light for a 140mm coil unit, but heavier than air-sprung equivalents. The 15mm screw-through axle version is noticeably keener to carve a tight or off-camber line than the quick-release version. We’d swear less lower leg deflection/ binding also makes it smoother.

While the WTB Prowler MX tyres are still heavy grip monsters, they roll a lot faster than last year’s Timberwolf rubber. They’re certainly not short of traction, even in the clartiest wet root infested situations either. Beefy WTB rims add even more supple float to the tyres, although lighter wheels would definitely inject some more acceleration.

Vast 28in riser bars in a squat Gravity stem don’t do overall weight any favours, but the control they add is outstanding. They may not fit through every gap so woods riders may want to trim them.

Hayes Stroker brakes are rapidly establishing themselves as the deservedly dominant technical trail anchors too. Considering the spec, the whole bike is excellent value.

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