ED’S MARIN ALPINE TRAIL 7 £2,200

Our features editor’s made a shocking new addition to the Alpine Trail

Considering the Marin’s price tag, I feel it’s unfair to criticise its componentry too harshly. The Alpine Trail 7 costs less than half as much as many enduro bikes, so some savings on the spec side of things are inevitable. I jump between a lot of different bikes, and that’s helped highlight some shortfalls. But a lot of riders won’t even notice them.

I’ve spoken in previous monthly reports about the Alpine Trail’s stock Tektro Orion brakes and Vee Flow Snap rubber not quite performing to the level I’m after, but subsequent upgrades have helped to fully realise the frame’s potential. I’m now turning my attentions to the X-Fusion O2 PRO RCX air shock. I don’t want to appear overly critical so I’ll pre-empt any further comments by saying that the shock is more than adequate for most

applications. But as I’ve become more attuned to the bike, I’ve been bugged by the feeling that it’s overly damped, which can make the back end feel rather ‘dead’.

It takes a bit of force to get the shock to move into the initial part of its stroke, so I’ve been running the air pressure a little softer than I’d like to improve the off-the-top sensitivity. The trade-off is that this causes the shock to dive on bigger hits. Fancying a change, I’ve been trying out the new Marzocchi Bomber CR coil shock, courtesy of Fox UK. In Fox’s (now the parent brand of Marzocchi) 2020 range, the Bomber CR is replacing the popular and well-proven Fox Vanilla RC, and internally it’s pretty much identical. As it’s both affordable and not overly complicated in terms of adjustment or set-up, I feel it’s an upgrade that doesn’t stray too far from the Alpine Trail 7’s priceconscious origins.

I’m now a few rides deep on the new set-up and I’m definitely appreciating the suppler feel of the coil shock. Its more linear spring curve hasn’t proven to be a downside, so far at least. The lack of a pedal platform or lockout is likely to be something I’ll miss on longer outings in the hills though. Because I’ve switched from air to coil at the same time as swapping shocks, it’s impossible to be conclusive about whether the changes in feel are down to the spring or the damping – or both – but whatever it is that’s made the difference, I’m enjoying the fact that the Marin now looks and feels like a mini downhill rig! www.marinbikes.com