Marin Bear Valley, horrible to ride?

[silverclaws]

How do you ride, is it a case or picking your route carefully or just barel the bike at the trail hoping it will bludgeon it's way ahead ? Rigid steel bikes to me say pick your route carefully as it is not comfortable otherwise and one runs the risk of damaging parts, so the name of the game for me is travel from A to B without wrecking myself or the bike. Technical sections, I am out the saddle and slow, skimming brakes for control, going up hills I am in the saddle but out going down.

The kiddies on their full suspension modern bikes I have noticed picking routes is alien to them, mind their bikes can soak it up, whereas my retro can't and I value my goolies.

What I remember of Marins early nineties that they lighter than my bike and the people that liked to hare off were generally Marin and Kona riders, as where I lived Marin was popular, but all that depends on what distributors are in the area and what they get the best deal on.

 

[bm0p700f]

I also have to pick my route more carefully on my rigid marin too. I tend to use for cross country use only, sometimes thetford but mostly on muddy local rides through bridleways e.t.c. There it excels.

I would avoid taking it somewhere where there is a lot of rocks and to a lesser extent roots, simply beacuse I have another bike that is more suited to that.

 

[spike3]

I always pick my routes, I haven't ridden with suspension since September and do around 30 miles offroad a week with usually a lap of the Monkey at Cannock Chase included

I really did find the ride harsh, it just didn't seem to flex and respond as well as my M-trax