News

Marin Bikes partner up with Paligap

Words: David Arthur

Marin Bikes have announced a change of UK distributor, with Bristol’s Paligap (who also look after Avanti and Ritchey) picking up the US brand. This signals the end of a 25-year relationship between Marin and previous distributor ATB Sales.

Last year Marin Bikes, founded in 1986, was bought by a European investment firm Minestone with a new CEO installed at the top. This has reinvigorated the brand, the new range of mountain bikes we saw at the recent Eurobike show looked really good, well designed with good build kits and competitive prices. It’s a good sign for the brand that has definitely slipped under the radar in recent years.

Here’s the Marin Mount Vision Carbon XM Pro.

Commenting on the news, Marin CEO Matt VanEnkevort said: “We greatly appreciate the efforts of ATB Sales in building the Marin brand in the UK over the years and wish them well for the future, but we have concluded however that our interests are best served by working with a new partner in the UK.

“This change in distribution partners does not represent a change in our distribution strategy. We are committed to the Independent Bicycle Dealer. Marin will not be sold by the online retailers or in non-IBD channels.”

Marin of course is a brand synonymous with increasing the popularity of full suspension mountain bikes during the mid-1990s in this country, at a time when such bikes were still very much in their infancy. Its Mount Vision did a lot to convince cross-country and marathon racers of the benefits of front and rear suspension. Most notably was Paul Lazenby’s winning of the cross-country national champs in 1996 on a Mount Vision. At the same time the B-17 was an astounding success, one of the first truly capable 6in full-sussers.

With this change of ownership and a fresh new distributor, we’ll hopefully see a few more out on the trail in the coming year. The transition process begins with immediate effect and shouldn’t in reality make a significant difference to availability, they’ll still be available from the same independent bike shops.

Check out Paligap’s website here.