Marin San-Anselmo review
Flat-barred, hub-geared city transport
GBP £879.97 RRP | USD $1,310.00 Skip to view deals
The sub-£1,000 city bike market is a crowded and highly competitive one, helped in the UK by the Government’s Cycle to Work scheme. Specialized has its Sirrus models, we recently tried out Trek’s 7.6 and now we’re testing another urban machine with a high spec and components that have been chosen for their comfort.
The US-designed, Taiwanese-made San Anselmo sits at the top of Marin’s six-bike City range, and there was a time when a machine like this would have been all aluminium. Not now though.
The San Anselmo does have a 6061 aluminium frame with very chunky welds, but it comes with a carbon fork. It’s good to see that this has eyelets for mudguards, and there’s plenty of clearance front and rear even with the 28mm Continental Contact tyres that come as standard.
A suspension seatpost provides an inch or so of damping, successfully taking the sting out of those lovely broken road surfaces that seem to be universally popular in urban Britain.
But because of the slight fore and aft flexing of the seatpost in the seat tube, if your weight is too far forward – or more likely too far back – on the saddle, there’s no damping effect at all. This really does make it one to try before you buy to make sure that you’ll be getting the most out of it.
The Marin comes with a hub gear rather than derailleurs, and its eight-speed Shimano Alfine is the highlight of the componentry package. Shifts are smooth and quiet, and the 32-97 inch gear range should be suitable for virtually all but the hilliest cities.
And for more casual, less hardcore bike riders it makes a great deal of sense. It’s not only neater than a derailleur but you can also change gear while you’re standing still, which is handy in stop-start city cycling.

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Product Specifications
Product
Name | San Anselmo (09) |
Brand | Marin |
Available Colours | Polished |
Handlebar | Double Butted 6061 Alloy, OS-31.8mm, 25.4mm Rise |
Stem | FSA Varius, Threadless with Alloy Face Plate and 31.8mm Bar Clamp, Adjustable with -20° to 40° Rise |
Shifters | Shimano Alfine |
Seatpost | Suspension Post, 27.2mm x 300mm |
Saddle | WTB Speed V Street Smart XL with Love Channel and Comfort Zone |
Rims | Shimano Alfine Wheelset |
Rear Hub | Shimano Alfine Wheelse |
Pedals | Composite with Alloy Cage |
Front Tyre Size | 700x28C |
Available Sizes | 17 Inches 19 Inches 20.5 Inches 22 Inches |
Front Tyre | Contact |
Front Hub | Shimano Alfine Wheelset |
Frame Material | # 6061 Aluminum with XL City Cross Top Tube and Hydro Road Downtube, # E4 Anti-Flex Seat and Chain Stays and Horizontal Dropouts |
Fork | Carbon |
Cranks | Shimano Alfine, 45T x 170mm with HollowTech II Arms and Chain Guard |
Cassette | Shimano Alfine, 20T Cog |
Brakes | Shimano Deore with Front Power Modulator |
Bottom Bracket | Shimano with HollowTech II Arms Big Pipe Billet Integrated with Crankset |
Year | 2009 |