Is It Just Me....or Is This Thing Fugly???

mtnbikej

mtnbikej

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Marin-Wolf-Ridge-mountain-bike-naild-r3act-2play-suspensionMarin_WolfRidge_Pro_Profile.jpg


New Marin Wolf Ridge. Uses the same suspension as the new Polygon Bike.

The bottom of the downtube looks like it is just waiting to smash into something.

And it can be yours for $8599
 
SnakeCharmer said:
Pretty fork, though.

Do I see an attempt on those two fugly bikes to further tuck the rear wheel under the rider? The chain ring extends beyond the forward edge of the rear tire on each of them.
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chainless-bike-1.jpg

This bike wins when it comes to tucking in the rear wheel under the rider. It also wins in the rear steering department and all around stupidest bike idea of 2017.
 
......I'll demo one.


According to pink bike:
Saving the best for last, there is no question that the R3act-equipped Wolf Ridge has something special going on in the pedaling department. Hey, it's a massively huge 29er, which automatically qualifies it for lackluster acceleration and those three leg-sapping pedal strokes that follow each time you bog down in a G-out or are forced to push over a steep roller in a taller-than-anticipated gear selection. In spite of its big-wheel genetics, however, it is an efficient pedaling machine. My times were four to six seconds faster on my two-mile test climb, and I bettered most of my popular test loops. It defies reason that those events occurred on a thirty pound, softly sprung, 160-millimeter-travel bike with the fork and shock set wide open.

Is the Wolf Ridge the perfect trail bike? It's delightfully good, but thirty pounds is the borderline for a do-it-all trail bike, and the mono-stay swingarm occupies the full width of the crank arms, so if your heels drift inward, you will be scraping it often. Caveats aside, there is much more to love about the product of Marin's partnership with Naild. I'll have to admit that the damn thing works as advertised. So, what's next? A trip to B.C., where we will hopefully get a chance to put the Wolf Ridge Pro and its R3act 2 play suspension to task in an entirely different and perhaps, more hostile environment for a comprehensive review.
 
You know, just when Marin had finally started making mountain bikes that riders were interested in they go back to their whacky rear triangle bit. I remember looking for new a frame around 2010 and the guy at Adreneline cycles was really pushing a Marin frame with that weird old rear triangle they used to use. I kept being evasive and polite , he kept dropping the price. I wanted to tell him, "Dude, you'd have to pay me to take that ungodly f*cking frame."

It was something like this:
upload_2017-4-21_8-8-57.jpeg
 
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Gotta hand it to Marin. They have shown that they are willing to step outside the box and promote suspension ideas that work-regardless of the perception of ugliness.
While nothing can compare to the beauty of a rigid hardtail, ahem, I will take function over form-especially when it come to suspension products. Make it work or take it home!
 
mtnbikej said:
View attachment 27527



The bottom of the downtube looks like it is just waiting to smash into something.
Click to expand...

Apparently it does. This is quoted from the pinkbike review.

"That said, however, it was under braking, while descending some chunky steeps, where I discovered a chink in the Wolf Ridge's armor. As the fork compresses, the lower section of the frame that cradles the R3act's sliding element can drop low enough to slam rocks and roots. It is not a regular occurrence, but there is no mistaking it. Ba-boom! I added a couple of clicks of low-speed compression to the Fox 36 and another ten psi to encourage the front end to ride higher, which helped."
 
Ricekrispyota said:
Apparently it does. This is quoted from the pinkbike review.

"That said, however, it was under braking, while descending some chunky steeps, where I discovered a chink in the Wolf Ridge's armor. As the fork compresses, the lower section of the frame that cradles the R3act's sliding element can drop low enough to slam rocks and roots. It is not a regular occurrence, but there is no mistaking it. Ba-boom! I added a couple of clicks of low-speed compression to the Fox 36 and another ten psi to encourage the front end to ride higher, which helped."
Click to expand...


Still I would prefer to bend a $50-70 chainring instead of destroying the front triangle on my $8500 carbon bike.
 
rossage said:
Gotta hand it to Marin. They have shown that they are willing to step outside the box and promote suspension ideas that work-regardless of the perception of ugliness.
While nothing can compare to the beauty of a rigid hardtail, ahem, I will take function over form-especially when it come to suspension products. Make it work or take it home!
Click to expand...

AMC (Pacer, Gremlin, etc.) thought outside the box, too. Look where they ended up. :eek:
 
rossage said:
Gotta hand it to Marin. They have shown that they are willing to step outside the box and promote suspension ideas that work-regardless of the perception of ugliness.
While nothing can compare to the beauty of a rigid hardtail, ahem, I will take function over form-especially when it come to suspension products. Make it work or take it home!
Click to expand...

I'll hand them everything except cash. :D
 
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