At some point just about everyone I know has owned a Marin, in fact at one point we all seemed to be riding Marins too (now of course it’s Orange Fives!). Never call a mole herd-like, no sir!

So Marin has a certain warm spot in our hearts. For 2009 they’ve launched a frankly terrific looking range of bikes that seems to cover the whole gamut of biking flavas.

Highlights include several 29ers (Dave?, Colin?…), Womens specific bikes, an urban singlespeed with cute retro looks, cromoly frame and a flip flop hub, plus a new 100mm travel XC race oriented platform called the Alchemist.

Oh and did I mention the new Racelight hardtail range that includes the Team CXR, a full carbon framed hardtail with a fair bit of Shimano SLX componentry and a bolt through Reba 100mm fork. Sounds thrashably fast…

Unfortunately the Marin website appears to be a work in progress. Are both the Nail Trail and Pine Mountain 29ers supposed to be £1299? And I can’t seem to get the specification pages to scroll in either IE or Firefox. Ho hum!

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.