• Marin Wolf Ridge
• £1,899
• www.marin.co.uk
• Old name, all-new bike
• Gung-ho attitude

Vital statistics

All dimensions based on Medium frame

Marin is something of a pioneer in the long-travel trail bike market, putting out 6in travel FS bikes for all-round applications at a time when most of the industry was tentatively pushing up to four. It really made its name with shorter-travel gear, though, and while its TARA 4-6in (moving to just 6in when they stopped being single pivot) have always been popular, they’ve never been the most focussed of designs.

For 2008, the TARA bikes are no more, replaced by the new Trail 140 platform. The repackaged Quad-Link 2.0 all-inside-the-frame suspension system puts in an appearance, meaning that all Marin’s FS bike ranges are singing from the same bouncy hymnsheet. The Wolf Ridge is the middle of the three-bike Trail 140 range.

Frame

The only thing the 2008 Wolf Ridge has in common with the 2007 model is the name. Everything else is completely new. Rather than the semi-monococque construction of the old bike, the new frame follows the lead of the Mount Vision with gently swoopy hydroformed tubes and a chunky, square-section swingarm. It’s a considerably beefier bit of kit than the MV, though, with bigger-diameter tubes, heftier swingarm and, most obviously, a sizable gusset briding the top of down tubes.

In the middle is the Quad-Link 2.0 suspension linkages, again along the lines of the MV but tweaked for a little more travel and a more linear spring curve. At the very back is the unusual but welcome addition of a pair of rear Maxle-specific “dropouts” (they’re not really dropouts because they don’t have slots). They’re removable both sides, and bolt-compatible with the Mount Vision ones, so if you want a stiffer MV back end (or you want to put a regular QR wheel in a Wolf Ridge) you can interchange them.

As well as looking entirely different, the new frame is an entirely different shape, too. The geometry of Marin’s longer-travel bikes has been in almost constant flux for several years but has never quite hit the spot for many riders. For 2008 the Wolf Ridge and its ilk are a lot more relaxed at the front and with lower BBs.

Components

We’ve commented in the past on the curious history of the RockShox Pike. It’s pretty much the oldest fork in the current range, and when launched it was something of an anomaly – certainly, most bike manufacturers couldn’t quite see what they needed a 140mm travel, single-crown, 20mm through-axle fork for. Riders, though, saw things differently, taking advantage of the Pike’s adjustable travel to beef up the front of all sorts of bikes. Even now, the Pike is pretty much in a category of its own, and suddenly the bike manufacturers have caught up and started to build bikes for it. The 140mm-both-ends Wolf Ridge, though, is still a somewhat unusual proposition.

The particular Pike found here is the coil-sprung 426, with RockShox’s U-Turn travel adjustment giving between 95 and 140mm of travel. It’s an unpretentious but nonetheless great fork, and the Maxle quick-release through-axle is still a work of genius. Using a rear Maxle too has perhaps limited Marin’s hub options, but few would argue with Hope Pro 2s. They’re laced to Syncros DP25 rims, shod with what seem to be the OE flavour of the month, Kenda Nevegals.

Transmission is something of a mix’n’match on paper but it all works fine together in the metal. FSA Gap MegaExo cranks drive a SRAM chain and cassette, while shifting is handled by Shimano Deore (front), XT (rear) and LX (shifters). Brakes are Hayes Strokers, which look pretty chunky but perform fine. Rotors are 8in at the front and 6in at the back. Bar, stem and post are all from Syncros. The final piece of the jigsaw is a pair of Crank Brothers Acid pedals, which are probably the only thing we’d change and which the test bike didn’t have anyway.

The whole bike comes in at 15kg (33lb), which is entirely acceptable given that it’s been specced in a deliberately burly manner. If you’re looking for a lighter package, the Alpine Trail shares the same frame but with a more “all-mountain” (and more expensive) spec.

Ride

If you own a few bikes, you may have noticed that it’s tricky to stop them all converging as you change and upgrade parts. You might like the idea of having a big, bouncy freeride bike, a mid-travel trail bike, a lightweight XC race hardtail, a long-forked hardtail and so on, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of lightening up the bike bike, toughening up the race bike and ending up with a bunch of bikes that all ride pretty much the same.

A similar trap can befall the unwary manufacturer, and there’s a distinct tendency for bikes with anywhere from 120 to 160mm of travel to be roughly the same shape. This would have been an easy snare for Marin to put its bike-designing leg into, particularly with the 120mm Mount Vision being a pretty capable bike. Thankfully, though, the designers saw that one coming, and while the jump from 120 to 140mm may not sound all that huge, the ride is vastly different. Marin has intentionally steered clear of making the Wolf Ridge and its 140mm brothers into Yet Another Trail Bike with a bit more travel.

To that end, it’s distinctly relaxed at the front and a good bit shorter than the MV in the top tube. BB height at rest is actually the same, but with the Wolf Ridge having more travel it’s a dash lower when riding along. It’s also got the same seat angle, which means a sensibly weight-forward balance when seated to help keep things going the right direction on climbs. It’s never going to be as nimble as the MV going up hills, but it’s not meant to be, and it’s perfectly satisfactory, aided in no small measure by the ever-impressive Quad-Link back end. It’ll happily winch up and over stepped, rocky climbs, with only pedal clearance to worry about occasionally.

We’ll take the odd nudge of pedal on rock on the way up in return for the awesome surefootedness that you get on the way down, though. Marin’s made a pretty brave geometry choice here, and it’s paid off in spades. The Wolf Ridge feels like it’ll take on anything, and really shows that if you want a bike to ride in a particular way, you should be looking at the geometry numbers, not the travel ones. A lot of the time it feels almost like a pocket downhill bike, but with great pedalling and a generally handier feel – big bike handling without the “bigness”, if that makes sense.

We’re definitely sold on the rear Maxle. It’s not as big a deal as going from a front QR to a 20mm through-axle, but having the rear dropouts tied together in a more robust manner makes the whole bike feel, well, sturdier. And it’s the sturdy feel that makes the Wolf Ridge a winner – it’s one of those bikes that fills you with confidence while still managing to be a competent climber. Result!

Ups and downs

Positives: Confidence-inspiring geometry, hard-hitting spec, fantastic suspension performance, acceptable weight

Negatives: White components not to everyone’s taste

Verdict

The Wolf Ridge (and its brothers that use the same frame) is almost in a class of its own – there aren’t actually all that many 140-both-ends bikes out there. It’s definitely a “Pike bike”, and that goes beyond the matched-travel thing – the Pike is a fork for riders who want great performance and a reassuringly stout feel without going completely mad, and the Wolf Ridge follows the same ethos. Full marks to Marin for clean-sheeting the Wolf Ridge’s geometry and going for a layout that isn’t at all what you’d expect from the brand – it works just great.

Ratings

Performance 5/5
Value 5/5
Overall 5/5