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Marin Wolf Ridge (08) | $3100
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Marin Wolf Ridge inspires you to explore the limits of your ability

BikeRadar verdict

45 out of 5 stars

"If you buy a Wolf Ridge, you’d better say goodbye to your riding friends, because you won’t be seeing them again…"

By Andrew Dodd

The middle bike of Marin's incredible Quad 140 range is great value for money and a fantastic all-rounder built to shred places like Glentress.

The design team behind the Quad linkage Marin bikes had their work cut out with the brief to build a 'new school' range for trail park hammering, but they succeeded brilliantly.

The £1,500 Rock Springs foots the range and the MBUK Bike Test winning Attack Trail heads the range at £2,299. The Wolf Ridge sits neatly in the middle at £1,899, and represents the best value for money with its great spec.

Ride & handling: rolling thunder

The Wolf Ridge is an odd bike – the 140mm (5.5in) travel and low slung feel could fool you into thinking it’s a trail bike like most others, but it’s far from it.

The Pike fork combined with the slack head angle and low bottom bracket instantly puts you in an attack position. This feels amazing through singletrack and downhill, but also works well on the climbs.

It’s not just the sorted geometry and ride position that make this rig batter through singletrack – it’s the incredibly active and plush Quad 140 suspension. I hate the term, but this bike really feels bottomless, and doesn't even bother to acknowledge square-edged hits.

The faster you ride this bike, the more it wants to go. You find yourself on the limit of your ability, but the Wolf always has a little extra reserved for you.

And when you dare to allow yourself to get in that reserve, your eyes will be watering, your elbows will be skimming trees and you’ll be surging along the trails like rolling thunder.

Frame: looks wrong, feels right

Made from 6061 aluminium, the Wolf Ridge has a hydroformed front triangle and rear swingarm. This, combined with excellent Maxle dropouts, keeps rigidity high and weight down.

Up front is a burly head tube with a reinforcing gusset joining top and down tubes, and a slack 67 degree head angle that makes high speed manoeuvring a cinch.

The low 13.6in bottom bracket height, slack head angle and fairly short 17.2in chainstays make the bike look low and aggressive – this looks a little wrong for cross-country use, but sit on the bike and it feels right.

Equipment: a lot of bike for the money

For £1,899 you get a lot of bike – RockShox Pike 426 U-Turn fork, Hayes Stroker Trail brakes, Hope Pro 2 hubs on Syncros rims and a custom Fox shock. The spec has been chosen to meet the bike’s target of being able to climb technical trails while descending and jumping like a freeride bike.

When developing the frame, the test riders used Maxxis Super Tacky tyres and found they could treat the bike like a small DH rig, but faster and lighter tyres made the bike fare better on the hills. Some people may turn their noses up at the wide 2.35 Kenda Nevegal tyres, but they roll fairly quickly and their soft compound shoulders are grippy enough.

Huge mud clearance on the frame shows that it’s meant to deliver the goods in foul UK weather, and the choice of quality hubs from Hope prove that every detail has been thought of.

User Reviews

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  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    Handles fantastically aggresively, perfect for GT etc

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    Just tested one today, then bought it :-)

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    My other bike is the awsome 03/04 Spesh Enduro Expert. This Marin however really is an all mountain weapon of mass distruction. 1st Class Mini DH/FR , true All mountain Bike.

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    I have one and love it! It does have clunking bearings though :( on the pivot points.

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    I bought one just before christmas and fitted an i900 remote seatpost to it...

    It is now very fast.. I have done the best climbing I have ever done on this bike in only 2 weeks and am really looking forward to taking it to the alps for the mega this year..

    I love the fact that you can sprint into a dh, drop the seat on the fly and then at the other end of the singletrack flick the seat up and ride off up the hill

    If you buy one of these bikes/forks make sure that you set up the forks correctly. Initially my LBS had set the bike up with no PSI in the negative air chamber and the fork felt stiff on the small bumps, but still blew through the travel on bigger hits. Now after reading the manual I have set up the +ve & -ve PSI at the the same pressure (130) and the fork is now super plush.

    you do bang your knees every so often though..

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    Ive got one of these and im very fond of it, it feels very stiff and strong and dispite being quite a big bike it is still nimble and climbs very well. It makes a very good aggresive XC bike and feels like it will barge through pretty much anything!

    I did swop the Nevegals for some lighter faster rolling Maxxis tyres, the Kendas felt a little sluggish and the white paint chips off the Syncros bars very easily, otherwise very very good allround.

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    yeah i got one last year...love it AAA+...my riding is much more aggressive.

    changes i've made to the Sled.

    Move your brakes as far in towards the stem as possible, intially i didn't like the Hayes Stroker Trails,but my FR buddy said to do this, and angle your levers so they are on a flatter angle ..this has been the biggest improvement to my riding..one finger braking is the shiz.

    you'll ride faster, have better contol(more fingers gripping the bars) and you'll be able to scrub off speed very lightly round corners...

    ditched the Syncros rims...good rim but to light for AM/FR Lite riding, also I'm 95kg all up ..i managed to dent,buckle and flatspot front and back. Upgraded to much stronger Atomlab Trailpimps..very solid and wider at 28mm.

    bike came with some Shimano pedals, had them swapped out before purchase for Crank Mallets..which are my trail pedals, also got some Shimano DX flats for FR/DH shuttle runs..

    Tyres.. came with Kenda Nevengals..great tyre,always loved them. run them on normal trail duties...if its shuttles I change them to Maxxis High Roller 2.5/Minion 2.35 combo.

    I busted the Syncros seatpost , my fault totally screwed up a jump/landing...basically rear wheel first,well back with ass on seat..bent it big time...replace it with an Easton Havoc...very strong.

    Ditched big ring...hardly use it, have E13 DRS guide plus MRP white Party Crasher Bash ring

    Future upgrades ..

    Fork upgrade...Pikes are awesome(this is the 2nd bike I've had with them)..but want longer travel...possibly Lyrics or Domains...or Totems..or Fox36s (should I win lotto..ha)

    For trail duties looking at i900 seatpost...will keep the Easton Havoc for FRing.

    Also intend to have a dedicated FR wheelset...will get some 32mm wide rims/hubs etc and keep the trailpimps for just trail (although they seem strong as)

    Issues..

    None really, except that after 6 months of hard trail riding, I noticed while riding flat asphalt a kinda loose feeling,intially i thought rim was really buckled but upon inspection seemed OK, so checked pivots...yep that was the problem..re-tightened to recommended torque settings..all good, heres the link to the servicing info..

    http://www.marin.co.uk/2009/2008_Marin_XC120_140FRS.pdf

    This is an awesome bike...i love it..i ride it hard...i'm not that light or graceful and its had some big hits...change the rims if your heavy or try to jump everything.

    HTH

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    8 months in, and 1000 miles done, this bike still feels fantasic,

    Took it to the Alps for the mega and came 64th in my Qualifier, it flew down the tracks as good as some guys on DH rigs, coming out of corners it felt so much quicker than other bikes. The i900 worked a treat - , I ride with it every week here in the UK but only rode the qualifier & the race with the seatpost as opposed to all week in the alps because I didnt want to knacker it like all other normal parts do in the alps.

    Tyres, - I use the Kendas in the UK, no issues whatsover, they just work... and when I do an uplift day or the alps I use maxxis high rollers st 2.5 fr and 2.35 rear

    The syncros rims in my opinion are the only downside, I ve dinged them quite a bit and have a dent on the weld which is a bit of a worrier. Not sure what to replace them with as IMHO the bike would look stupid with non white rims.... any suggestions?

    0.3
  • User review of Marin Wolf Ridge (08)

    Bought mine sept 08 first proper MTB rig (started late at 48). I thought motorbikes were the 'be all' and 'end all' never thought push bike could be such fun! I love this bike. Earned myself a grade 3 separation in Feb though and cartwheeled the bike down the track (Llandegla black run jumps). Took a month to even get back on. H/Bar a bit skew but nothing other than that, amazing. Had the op June 18th been back out since a month after that and going it's brilliant. Only thing I don't like is the squeal from the brakes when they get wet, change pads? Cos it's freakin' embarrassing! Also swapped the crank brother pedals for M520's love em' can get out of these in a hurry I run them at they're slackest. I do use the pro-pedal and flick the lever on the pikes depending what's ahead ie soft for that north shore section and I can ride it quicker than my mates. My experience level means I don't out perform the bike but if I can keep with my mate who's been riding for 20 or so years it tells you something about the bike, just feels easy (ish) and he's no slouch down hill. I can only compare to my mates 07marin mount vision which whilst feeling lighter felt really nervous down hill. No clunking bearings yet only other thing was a snapped chain in the lakes, mate had those magic links, another first for me. If I start doing anything more technical down hill I may go for the i900 as tomwarren said (BTW thanks for the report esp on the Mega ). So, ideas on those brakes?

    0.3

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Specification

Name:
Wolf Ridge (08)
Built by:
Marin
Price:
$3100.00

Available Colours:
Gloss Steel

Frame & Fork:

 
Frame Material:
6061 hydroformed aluminium
Fork Brand:
Rockshox
Fork Model:
Pike Coil 426 U-Turn
Rear Shock Brand:
Fox
Rear Shock Model:
RP23 with AVA sleeve

Geometry:

 
Head Angle:
67 Degrees

Brakes:

 
Brakes Brand:
Hayes
Brakes Model:
Stroker Trail

Transmission:

 
Cranks Brand:
FSA
Cranks Model:
Gap Mega-Exo
Bottom Bracket Brand:
FSA
Bottom Bracket Model:
Gap Mega-Exo
Rear Derailleur Brand:
Shimano
Rear Derailleur Model:
XT
Front Derailleur Brand:
Shimano
Front Derailleur Model:
LX
Chain Brand:
SRAM
Cassette:
SRAM

Wheels:

 
Rims Model:
DP25
Front Hub Brand:
Hope
Front Hub Model:
Pro 2
Rear Hub Brand:
Hope
Rear Hub Model:
Pro 2
Tyres Brand:
Kenda
Front Tyre Model:
Nevegal DTC
Front Tyre Size:
26x2.35
Rear Tyre Model:
Nevegal DTC
Rear Tyre Size:
26x2.35

Contact Points:

 
Saddle Brand:
WTB
Saddle Model:
Pure V Comp
Seatpost Model:
Derived
Stem Brand:
Syncros
Stem Model:
Bulk
Handlebar Brand:
Syncros
Handlebar Model:
AM

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