Marin Gestalt X11

The Marin Gestalt X11 is not just a little left of field for us to review here at AMB, it is a bike that is a bit left of centre for most people. It’s not a road bike, it’s not a mountain bike, it’s not a cyclocross bike either. It’s an adventure bike. Adventure bikes are a growing niche in the cycling world, but their remit is easy to understand. They are bikes that are capable of riding on a variety of surfaces, equipped to take their owner from road to dirt road to trails and beyond. Maybe for an hour or two, and maybe for a few days. That just depends on what your definition of adventure is.

Marin are based out of California and they are not short on mountains, beautiful dirt roads, long and open trails and some sweet routes that vary from dense forests, craggy coastline and of course big mountain ranges. Not surprisingly Marin’s range of bikes suits their backyard. The Alpine Trail 8 we tested earlier this year showed that Marin is right on point with high-value and high-performance big wheeled all-mountain bikes. The Marin Gestalt X11 shows that Marin have their finger on the pulse adventure pulse as well.

Gestalt means something that has greater worth than the sum of its parts. Applying that to the bike world, it means that Marin feels that this bike is going to deliver a lot more than what you might expect just by reading the spec sheet and geometry chart.

With a price of $2699, the Marin Gestalt X11 brings a whole lot of features to the adventure bike market, including some that are usually only found on boutique builds. While Marin has another Gestalt in the range, it lacks the dedicated 1x11 group set with a clutch derailleur, a dropper post and hydraulic brakes among a few other features. The Gestalt 2 is therefore a great mixed surface bike, it will find its limits when the dirt turns to trail much faster than the Gestalt X11.

Marin claim that the Gestalt X11 has a forward geometry to keep the front wheel loaded, something we all know is the key to traction when riding off road. It also helps keep the bike tracking when loaded, and with mounts on the fork and frame for racks, a long off road tour is something well within the Gestalt X11’s capability. Having the dropper post as a stock item actuated by the left hand SRAM shifter is unique. And if you’re used to dropping your seat on the trails it really makes sense to do it on an adventure bike too, where you tend to have less traction and of course no suspension. Does it let you take the bike further and find more ‘adventure’? That’s the $2699 question.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

Marin bikes come from Bicycles Online in Australia, which means they ship direct to your place in a cardboard box from the Bicycles Online HQ in Sydney. Having spent long enough build anything from a balance bike through to long travel bikes and frustratingly complex time trial bikes in bike stores through my teens and twenties, I can assure you that bikes in boxes from Bicycles Online don’t come how a bike in a box comes to your local bike shop. Just about all the hard work is done for you. Like other direct to consumer brands Marin and Bicycles Online do everything to the bike to make sure it is set to go, before disassembling it just enough to go into the box for delivery to your house. This means the shifting tends to be spot on and brakes run drag free.

When the delivery driver dropped off the Bicycles Online box with the Marin Gestalt X11 inside, it was a very similar process to building the Alpine Trail 8 earlier this year. The front wheel was off, as were the handlebars, and the seat and post were also waiting to be fitted. The front rotor is on the front wheel with a huge protection cover to prevent any damage to it or the frame. The reusable straps and pads between the items are a nice touch, and surprisingly useful to have around in the

garage.

I did need to attach the dropper post, and it did take some fiddling with the cable housing in the frame, to feed to back through so the post could slide into the frame. I also don’t bother riding off road with tubes. The rims are tubeless compatible as are the tyres. But you will need to take off the stock rim tape to fit tubeless tape, and bring your own valves. After that it sealed up pretty easily with some trusty Orange Seal sealant.

All built, the bike looks pretty cool. The colour scheme really pops, although on some angles the fork looks to be a bit disproportionate to the frame tubes. I can see why Marin have a dropped top tube, but the little frame bridge looks a bitt naff. The full-carbon fork is nice, although I did need to glue the threaded insert for the through-axle into place. The fork could take bigger rubber than the stock 37c tyres but I’m not sure the back end could handle anything over a 40mm, which might be on the small side for some people looking at adventure bikes. I personally have a hardtail in my shed as an adventure bike. A flat bar does not offer the riding positions and long-distance comfort of a drop bar, and I think the definition of an adventure bike depends on your definition of adventure. My only concern before tackling some routes was tyre size and gearing. With a 42t stock chain ring the Marin comes stock with a reasonably tall gear range, especially if it was going to be loaded up.

ON THE TRAIL

With a 170mm headtube the 565mm effective top tube doesn’t feel as stretched out as you might think a drop bar bike would feel. With the stock stem slammed, the Marin Gestalt is still quite upright. Which is perfect, it’s not a road bike or even a cyclocross bike – you need to be a little more upright. Thanks to a reasonably steep seat angle you do stay centred on the bike when riding, keeping weight on the front wheel. In this way it behaves not unlike modern mountain bike geometry. The steeper seat angle keeps you comfortable when on the flat and with weight forward when climbing, but it helps to keep the seat out of the way when standing up for descents. With the dropper down, it gives you plenty of room to really move the bike around like you would riding your mountain bike – there’s just less margin for error without suspension, wide bars, or a wide tyre footprint.

Heading out of my driveway the Marin was easy to get along with right away. It’s quick to accelerate, and really easy to settle into a

rhythm. The position is one that suits sitting up and taking it all in, and I had barely ridden for two minutes before I took a selfie. The Marin Gestalt X11 sets you up to just go and ride. It was hard not to smile, and appreciate what was around.

Of course, much of this easy riding was thanks to 37mm wide tyres with tiny knobs. And that is probably what you notice the most when riding the Marin Gestalt X11 on anything rougher than dirt roads. Your margin for error is highly reduced. While I had the wheels set up tubeless, a square edged rock jammed in clay or a protruding tree root hit at speed was not pleasant. I got away with it more often than I thought I would. When the going gets a lot rougher, you just have to slow down. This is nothing to do with the bike, more the general genre of bikes like the Gestalt.

I really thought the first undoing of the Marin Gestalt X11 would be the gearing. I applaud Marin for speccing the SRAM 10-42 cassette, but I did think the 42t chain ring would be too tall, at least for where I live. Even on climbs with grades close to 20%, it was actually ok. I think I got lucky, as while it is really dry in Queensland at the moment, all the steep things I was riding up had very good hardpack underneath, so traction wasn’t an issue. Still, if this bike was to stay in my shed for longer, I’d put a 38t on because of the mountain range behind my house, which is exactly the direction I would be heading with the Gestalt.

Steep descents will be the undoing of this bike, I was certain of it. And it wasn’t like riding a hardtail or XC full-suspension bike, but it was far better than I thought, and even better than riding a cyclocross bike. Much of this is because of the geometry. This is no flyweight road bike, and the forks, frame and wheels weren’t squirming around. The bike isn’t super long, so it is easy to stay centred on the bike, with plenty of weight on the front wheel when required thanks to the reach provided by drop bars when riding on the hoods or in the drops. It’s a sure fire way of keeping that front wheel loaded for traction, which is pretty important when you’re on a 37mm tyre. There were still limits to be found, and a steeper trail that has been really dry, and seen a fair bit of use from motorbikes did see me come unstuck.

On terrain that isn’t really rocky, and wasn’t deep sand or dry and blown out, the Marin Gestalt X11 was heaps of fun. Along rolling dirt roads and firetrails, and smooth singletrack, the Marin was a rocket. It made short work of plain trails and added a different element of fun to them. While this can be felt on a hardtail, there really is a sense of speed an acceleration with skinnier tyres, a fully rigid bike, short chain stays and drop bars. Despite what some YouTube videos might show, this isn’t the type of bike to take into a bike park. But that should be obvious for an adventure bike. When I took it on the paths and trails around greater Brisbane, the Gestalt X11 put wind in my hair.

OUR TAKE

So that leaves the question – is it an adventure bike?

That all depends on what your definition of adventure is. I’m a firm believer that you can find adventure just about wherever you want when you’re on a bicycle. So almost any bike is an adventure bike. But fitting closer to the norms of the marketing machines of the bike industry, an adventure bike is something that can tackle mixed terrain, and go further than a gravel bike, and even be used for overnighters. Given how balanced the handling is on the Gestalt, and the fact it can take proper racks, and not just bikepacking luggage, I think it ticks a lot of boxes.

If your needs are for a bike that can crush dirt roads and some overnighters, shrug off a hilly commute, and handle some buff trails now and then, the Marin Gestalt X11 might be for you. At first I thought that it was just another adventure bike or off road tourer with a dropper post and a snazzy colour scheme. But I think Marin nailed it with the Gestalt name. It really delivered a lot more than I expected from the spec sheet.