Marin Gestalt X10
£1,255 Mountain bike inspired off-roader
Weight 11.3kg Frame Aluminium Fork Carbon Gears Microshift 1x 10-Speed (11-51t, 42t) Brakes Tektro MD-C500 Dual Piston Road mechanical disc, 160mm rotors Wheels Marin Aluminium Double Wall Finishing kit 3D Forged Alloy stem, Butted Alloy Compact 16° Flared Drop bar, Alloy 27.2mm post and Beyond Road Concept saddle, all Marin; Vee Tires Rocket Man 45c tubeless-ready tyres
The Gestalt X10 takes its influences from Marin’s origins as mountain bike designers of some repute. That means there’s a longer-than-usual wheelbase, a very slack head angle and a low-slung frame. Tyre clearances are big enough for huge 54mm tyres and the cockpit pairs wide bars with a short stem.
The geometry wouldn’t look out of place on a modern hardtail mountain bike, with our Large test bike having a sporty 589.1mm stack and very long 440mm reach. The head-tube is slackened right down to 67.5° and the seat angle is steepened to 74°. The BB drop is lifted to 80mm to improve ground clearance and the wheelbase is stretched to 1,122.4mm. The standover height is just 708.6mm: that’s a massive 116.4mm lower than Merida’s Silex, and is a revelation when riding technical terrain.
Microshift groupset
The build reflects the bike’s budget price, with Microshift’s Advent X 10-speed drivetrain. The rear derailleur has a ratchet and pawl clutch that’s switchable so that you can greatly reduce chain bounce and slap when riding in the rough. The Microshift derailleur pairs with its drop-bar shifters and a wide Sunrace 11-51-tooth cassette. Upfront, an unbranded alloy chainset with a 42-tooth chainring and narrow-wide tooth pattern is designed to better grip the chain and prevent chain drops without the need for a chain-retention device.
Braking comes from Tektro’s twin piston MD-C500 mechanical disc brakes with large 160mm rotors. Up front, the Marin’s 48cm wide at the hoods but the compact drop and 16° flare of the gravel bar is held in place by a stubby 50mm stem.
The Gestalt X10 runs on Marin’s own double-wall alloy rims. The 24mm deep rim has a 19mm internal width which suits the 45mm wide Vee Rocket Man tyres. The rims are tubeless compatible to match the Vee tyres. A decent-quality alloy seatpost is topped by Marin’s swoopy Beyond Road concept saddle.
The X10’s low-slung frame and elongated front-centre look very different from your average drop-bar bike, but
I was pleasantly surprised by its on-road manners. The slack front end is offset very well by the teeny 50mm stem plus wide bar to make the bike feel reasonably nimble, and the head angle and long fork mute road chatter well too. All this helps to make the
X10 the most comfortable bike on test, with the Merida a close second.
Rough-stuff ready
The X10 is primarily designed for dirt and revels in it. I’ve no complaints with the Microshift drivetrain’s performance. The 1 x 10 set-up is ideal for off-road endeavours. The less than 1:1 bottom gear makes lowgrip steep climbs and thick mud much more manageable. The twin shifters are well designed. Downshifts are Shimano/ SRAM quick and while there’s a little more hesitation shifting up, that’s more to do with some wide gear spacing at the top of the range. The braking has enough power, though lacks the progressive feel of hydraulic brakes or the lighter feel of TRP’s Spyre Cs (on the Saracen).
On fast fire-road descents, the supersloping compact frame means you can lean and bank the bike with ease. I even enjoyed climbing with the X10 as you can swing on the wide handlebar and rock the bike with metronomic rhythm. On woodland singletrack, the Marin is in its element, with awesome handling. Ideally, I’d prefer a dropper post, but you’d only need it on more extreme drops and downhill slopes. The Vee Rocket Man tyres’ wide-spaced, chevron-shaped block tread cuts into loamy surfaces with ease. The tyres can block out in sloppy mud but clear quickly.
The bike’s very comfortable too: the front end minimises buzz and takes sharp hits in its stride. For longer rides I’d like thicker bar tape or double taping as the bar has quite a narrow diameter across the top.
The Marin is the best of the bunch for pure off-road riding. The front end feels stable and smooth yet is also nimble and quick to react. It put a smile on my face in technical terrain and was the bike I turned to first for a fast blast around the woods or long cross-country singletrack rides.
“The X10 is primarily designed for dirt and revels in it. On woodland singletrack, it’s in its element”