frame/geometry/fit: good. i'm five ten and a half with long legs and arms. the bike is set up with three 5mm spacers below the stem and one above which combined with the slight rise of the bar, places me in a nicely upright but not too upright riding position. large size fits me well. the steel frame makes me want to ride just a little bit further...
shifters and derailleurs: no problems after almost five hundred miles of riding since 01.14.12.
brakes and wheels: wheels have stayed true since i rode it out of the shop, the avid elixir brakes are another story. the shop tells me it's normal for rotors to almost constantly rub the pads. the avids also howl and gobble a fair amount, something the shop also tells me is normal. i went through a set of stock pads in less than five hundred miles of fairly hard riding in mostly dry conditions.
suspension fork: it's a run of the mill rock shox with 100mm travel and steel stanchions. i love the lockout. i've not ridden rock shox forks since the late nineties judy so i really don't know what to say here. all i know is that i blast over stuff on the marin that i wouldn't think of hitting that hard aboard a 26'er.
bars/grips/seatpost: i deep sixed the stock grips and replaced them with oury grips before the bike left the shop. the same went for the stock WTB saddle which i replaced with a WTB speed vee. the riser bars and seatpost seem to be OK but i did replace the stock seatpost quick release with a nut and bolt.
tires: the stock conti race king 2.2's roll REALLY fast and have acceptable traction but when the front tire slipped sideways on a gravelly surface and nearly sent me over the high side, i replaced it with a 2.35 panaracer with a tread pattern that's a bit more aggressive.
overall the bike is awesome. i feel like i can climb faster, descend faster and roll over just about anything. granted, it's the first suspended, geared niner i've owned (i have a fully rigid KHS singlespeed) but i feel there's no way that i could return to riding my twenty six inch wheeled ibis alibi hardtail full time after owning this bike.
i would heartily recommend the marin pine mountain 29'er to somebody who is looking for a high performance 29 inch wheeled hardtail to the cross country rider who does a lot of all day rides with long, grinding climbs. at thirty pounds, it's a bit heavy for a race bike but i don't think that will stop me from racing at the boggs mountain bike race in august if i get the itch again.
There is no "large", there are 17, 19, 20.5 and 22" versions. I'm exactly your size an ride a 19". For me, the top tube could be a little longer. I use a Misfit seatpost that has a 16mm setback. That helps. I'll try to get a picture and a review up soon....
"I love being on a bike. It helps me feel free. I get it from my dad", by Guillaume Blanchet
Just picked this up on 5/20/12 while on a trip to Madison, WI.
So far I've only had enough time to get it set up to my liking and swap out a few parts, then my left ankle went out and I can't ride for at least the next few days. Sometimes getting old sucks!
I plan to swap out the 10 speed cassette and shifters for 9 speed 'cuz I prefer Grip Shift and am not about to spends hundreds of dollars (even if I could afford it, which I can't) on the new 10 speed Grip Shifters, no matter how nice they may be. I'm also gonna dump the Avid rotors for some Alligator Serrated rotors to get rid of the front brake squeal. I took off the 44 ring 'cuz I never use 'em where I ride and I swapped out the cheap seatpost for a Thompson that I had sitting around. I guess it's a work in progress.
If you turn the light on fast enough,
you can see what the dark looks like.
Just picked this up on 5/20/12 while on a trip to Madison, WI.
So far I've only had enough time to get it set up to my liking and swap out a few parts, then my left ankle went out and I can't ride for at least the next few days. Sometimes getting old sucks!
I plan to swap out the 10 speed cassette and shifters for 9 speed 'cuz I prefer Grip Shift and am not about to spends hundreds of dollars (even if I could afford it, which I can't) on the new 10 speed Grip Shifters, no matter how nice they may be. I'm also gonna dump the Avid rotors for some Alligator Serrated rotors to get rid of the front brake squeal. I took off the 44 ring 'cuz I never use 'em where I ride and I swapped out the cheap seatpost for a Thompson that I had sitting around. I guess it's a work in progress.
Just picked this up on 5/20/12 while on a trip to Madison, WI.
So far I've only had enough time to get it set up to my liking and swap out a few parts, then my left ankle went out and I can't ride for at least the next few days. Sometimes getting old sucks!
I plan to swap out the 10 speed cassette and shifters for 9 speed 'cuz I prefer Grip Shift and am not about to spends hundreds of dollars (even if I could afford it, which I can't) on the new 10 speed Grip Shifters, no matter how nice they may be. I'm also gonna dump the Avid rotors for some Alligator Serrated rotors to get rid of the front brake squeal. I took off the 44 ring 'cuz I never use 'em where I ride and I swapped out the cheap seatpost for a Thompson that I had sitting around. I guess it's a work in progress.
Yeah, it just felt right as soon as I climbed on for a test ride. I almost bought one last year, but wound up with a FS 29er. There are times though when I don't want to deal with FS, so I like the simplicity of the Pine Mountain. I'd even consider SS, but my knees and ankles aren't up to it anymore.
If you turn the light on fast enough,
you can see what the dark looks like.
Here my 2010 SS. 9 mos of SSing and I'm still loving it. This bike has taught me a lot about what I like in a bike. One of the best bike purchases I've made.
Just picked this up on 5/20/12 while on a trip to Madison, WI.
So far I've only had enough time to get it set up to my liking and swap out a few parts, then my left ankle went out and I can't ride for at least the next few days. Sometimes getting old sucks!
I plan to swap out the 10 speed cassette and shifters for 9 speed 'cuz I prefer Grip Shift and am not about to spends hundreds of dollars (even if I could afford it, which I can't) on the new 10 speed Grip Shifters, no matter how nice they may be. I'm also gonna dump the Avid rotors for some Alligator Serrated rotors to get rid of the front brake squeal. I took off the 44 ring 'cuz I never use 'em where I ride and I swapped out the cheap seatpost for a Thompson that I had sitting around. I guess it's a work in progress.
i want a 46 ring. lots of long, fast descents around here...
Not exactly. Pine Mountains were singlespeed until the 2010 version,the 2011 25th Anniversary Edition (the Cyan and Neon Yellow version) are geared.
The first model had a replaceble dropout to fit the rear derailleur.
Not exactly. Pine Mountains were singlespeed until the 2010 version,the 2011 25th Anniversary Edition (the Cyan and Neon Yellow version) are geared.
The first model had a replaceble dropout to fit the rear derailleur.
thanks for schooling me on this. i had no idea my bike was a 25th anniversary special edition...
What's the largest rear tire you've tried without it rubbing on the inside of the left chainstay?
I'm currently running a Maxxis Ikon 29x2.2 and have just a few millimeters of clearance on the left side. I was thinking of putting a 29x2.25 Nobby Nic on there, but I hear the 2.25 is actually several mm's wider than the 2.2 Ikon and I'm concerned that I may run into some rubbing issues. Anyone tried a NN 2.25 on their Pine Mountain?
FWIW, it looks like the left chainstay isn't crimped as much as the right chainstay just behind the BB so there's less clearance on that side. I've verified that the rear wheel is properly dished too.
If you turn the light on fast enough,
you can see what the dark looks like.
Here's mine...with a fresh new set of Stan's ZTR Arch EX wheels.....
Definitely feels like a new bike.
Tubeless rocks.
I put the same wheels on mine a few weeks ago and you're right. It's like a whole new bike, even better than before. Best upgrade I've made on a bike. Second best was finally giving up on the noisy Elixir brakes and replacing them with Shimano M666 SLX brakes.
If you turn the light on fast enough,
you can see what the dark looks like.
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Originally Posted by go-pirates
Love the color. Should be pretty hard to get one of these if it is a limited model...
