New Custom Marino, and Various Other New Bikes

In the bike nerd corners of my internet, there is sometimes discussion about Marino bikes, an extremely affordable custom frame builder out of Peru. For less than the cost of a generic Taiwanese frame, you can have a custom frame delivered to your door. Finally, on a bit of a whim, I plunked down my $100 deposit last December. I wanted something like a steel version of my Marley, but not quite so slack, with more stack, more mounting points for stuff, and a little bit longer chainstays. And built for 29" wheels, since they have mostly taken over the mainstream mountain bike market. 

I never really appreciated the thought that goes into designing a hardtail's geo. The big question is, what length fork do you design around? If you plan to run a suspension fork (as I did), do you design around a fork length at 25% sag, no sag, or something else? In the end, I took a bit of a pass on this, and designed it around a 485mm rigid fork (eg, Krampus style fork), knowing that the sus fork would slacken the angles and raise the bottom bracket. My geo ended up like this:

Not super long or super slack by today's standards. I wanted something a little more nimble for our Ohio trails, while not being nervous like old school 29ers.

Another custom choice was with the tubing. I'm firmly in the camp that likes some frame flex, and most XL frames are significantly overbuilt for my 175 pounds. So I used the smallest diameter top tube Marino offered, in the generic (but heat treated) 4130:

top tube: 28.6 9/6/9

down tube: 34.9 9/6/9 

(my old Soma Juice had this combo of a skinny top tube and a larger (+2 sizes) down tube, and rode really well)

seat stays: 16mm (the skinniest Marino has)

I initially wanted a 160mm head tube for a bit more stack, but Marino only offers fixed lengths of head tubes. I was between 150mm and 180mm, and chose the shorter option... but still a nice 20-30mm increase over a typical XL 29er frame. This is one of the cost saving measures they use.

I picked my color (green, no more black!) and proceeded to wait. Marino initially quoted 10-12 weeks of lead time, but some people on the net suggested doubling that lead time. In the meantime, I spent the winter collecting parts here and there as I found deals or available parts I liked:

Strangely for me, this was mostly new parts: custom wheels from Universal Cycles, Shimano twin piston hyrdo brakes, blue collar 10 speed Deore drivetrain, and a Ruby gold fork.

I was resolved to remain chill about waiting for this frame, not bugging Marino with status request emails.

Of course, the problem with this course is that I had a whole pile of parts in the garage, needing only a frame for a nice early spring project. I searched around for a while, getting a bit more intent, until I finally gave up and ordered a Chinese carbon frame off ebay. Literally the next day, I found a used Salsa Timberjack on ebay for a nice price. I grabbed that while I could. Could I cancel my Chinese order? No. So the lesson here, after you buy something, stop looking! A lesson I have yet to learn.

The Timberjack frame arrived before the Chinese frame, so I built it up and got in a few rides. It rode fine, a pretty neutral frame. This is where I would normally share a picture, but a computer crash has lost that for the ages. It was black.

Once the carbon frame arrived, I went ahead and sold off the TJ for a tiny profit, and built up the carbon:

The frame was light, and stiff, but didn't ride all that well. It didn't have any special carbon smoothness, and didn't feel especially responsive when I was pedaling. Even though I had mostly given up on the Marino by this point, I still sold off the carbon frame to look for something else. One thing I did find was an old Titus 29er frame on Pinkbike for sale. Dated, but cheap, it was titanium, and it was made in the US. Plus, I had a spare straight steerer fork and QR wheels to build it up with. Why not?

I "borrowed" the brakes and shifting from my Marino stash, but otherwise mostly built it up with old parts from the bin. It was a fun experiment, but not really a fun bike. That old school 29er geo just doesn't work as well for me after I got used to the newer, slacker bikes. I quickly sold this guy off for a healthy profit, and started the hunt again.

I was a bit surprised then a few weeks later when I got an email out of the blue from Marino: my frame was done!

Even at this point (early June), I still had another month of waiting while my frame slowly made its way through customs from Peru to the US. All in all, it was about six months from order to delivery, which is very reasonable for a custom mountain bike. In these pandemic times, that might actually be faster than waiting for the next batch of Surlys, etc. to arrive.

By the time we got home from our summer vacation, my frame was waiting for me and I got to work building:

With the short seat tube, I have room for a 170mm dropper, and still have decent standover clearance:

Since I sold off my Deore drivetrain with the Titus, I'm trying out the Advent X on this build. So far, I think I should have kept the Shimano stuff, I'm really struggling to get this Advent stuff to shift cleanly into the 48t cog.

The four piston brakes I initially ordered for this build ended up on the Marley, so I ordered some new Shimano M4 something something. I like them so far, a nice lever shape:

I initially tried a Jones bar on this bike, but a quick trip up and down the street told me that didn't work at all. I rode my Bike Friday to my LBS and grabbed this Spank Oozy, which fits just fine.

The Marino uses a nice chainstay brace to keep good clearance around the rear tire:

I spec'd clearance for 29x2.8" tires, but I don't think that's realistic: there's good clearance for this 2.4" tire, and a bit more, but I don't think a 2.8" would fit. Not a big deal for me, since I don't actually expect to use tires that big.

The only other questionable part of the frame build is the gusset on the top of the top tube, it's clearly off center:

Something to look at while I'm pedaling, but I don't mind it. It's part of being hand made.

I've had the Marino built up for some time now, and have taken it out several times. So far, it's a bit of a mixed bag. I'm really happy with the fit and handling. When climbing, it doesn't have the wheel flop of my Marley, but it feels equally confident going down. My disappointment is in ride quality, it doesn't feel especially lively or springy like I want in a steel frame.

I tried the 27.5 wheels from my Marley to see if the Bonty Race tires on them would spice things up:

It made the bike feel a bit different, but it didn't prove to be a big change. 

I was feeling a bit down on the Marino. Why carry around the weight of this heavy* steel frame, if it doesn't ride as well as my $200 Marley? (*no, I didn't weigh the frame, but it felt heavy when I pulled it out of the box. Built up, it's about two pounds heavier than the Ragley).

I've had a small change of heart after some back to back riding. I took both bikes to P2 and knocked off a lap each. On this day, the Marino definitely felt a bit smooth and easier to pedal. Due to the 29" wheels? Maybe. I need some more saddle time on the Marino on a variety of trails to get a better feel for it. But dark clouds are on the horizon: I've already ordered (and by now, ridden) yet another new mountain bike that had me grinning after each ride.