TOM’S MARIN EL ROY £2,375
Marin categorise their aggro hardtail as an enduro bike – so Tom’s put that to the test
The El Roy is billed as an enduro/all-mountain hardtail, so it felt fitting that, before the year was out, I raced an enduro on it. The event in question was The EX, a three-day race on Exmoor, in South West England. I know the area fairly well, having ridden there a few times, but with access permitted to private land, the race gives participants the opportunity to ride some tracks never normally open to the public.
Over three days we pedalled over 100km and descended close to 5,000m, so there was plenty of time to get my groove on! With a mix of superfast flowy, steep and loose tracks, and plenty of sniper roots to contend with, it felt like a great test of bike and body. I was certainly feeling it by the time I dropped into the final eye-wateringly fast stage on Sunday! With all the food and drink (big-up Bristol Beer Factory!) provided, as well as some wicked tracks, this small, intimate event was an absolute blast.
With the race coming up, as well as an alpine holiday the week after, the El Roy did get treated to a few choice upgrades. First up was a SRAM AXS wireless groupset. The Shimano running gear the bike came with impressed this year, but with a bent mech, worn chainring and baggy chain, it wasn’t as crisp as I’d like for racing. Yes, SRAM’s AXS kit is pretty bling, and I’m fortunate to have access to it, but boy oh boy, is it good! Sharp, accurate, consistent shifting and perfect most of the time – it’s hard to argue with that.
The other upgrade was my rolling stock. In issue 400 I tested a dozen wheels and awarded the Hunt Enduro Wide V2s the win – they feel great and don’t cost the earth. However, the Zipp 3Zero Motos got the ‘Most Wanted’ award so it was these I slung on. Their ‘ankle flex’ spoke-and-rim interface makes a marginal difference to comfort, grip and puncture protection, which I thought I’d take advantage of.
I also wrapped the rims in some enduro-ready rubber. Up front was the original Maxxis Assegai 3C MaxxGrip tyre the bike came with, and I paired it with a Maxxis Aggressor, both with the DoubleDown casing and in a 29x2.5in width. This gave buckets of volume, a ton of grip and plenty of confidence that I had a super-reliable wheelset. To top it all off, I even nabbed the win in the hardtail category! www.marinbikes.com
Every year the same thing happens. I ride loads in spring and think summer’s going to be the same, but then the school holidays start and, between work and keeping the kids entertained, there’s barely a spare moment to go for a spin. My hardtail saw lots of action with the family, including a visit to Lanhydrock in Cornwall – a great place for beginners. I also had a blast putting our mutant commuter bike through its paces (see p114). But, save for the odd local ride and an enjoyable day at the Forest of Dean with some friends who’d hired e-bikes, the Whyte barely got a look-in.
That’s all changed now, though. With the little ones back at school and the mammoth task of putting our bumper 400th issue together behind us, lunchtime shredding is back on the menu! The beauty of the E-160 is that I can get to my local woods in doublequick time, session the enduro runs that have been dug in over lockdown and get back in time for a quick shower before reopening my laptop. There’s no way I’d be able to do that on a regular bike, and the Whyte’s lowslung weight, slack 65-degree head angle and lowish BB height (330mm) mean I have no compunction about tackling the steepest, most nadgery lines despite being clipped into 25kg of pointy-in-places metal.
One thing that has been holding me back slightly is the WTB Verdict front tyre. I don’t find the grip on harder terrain and over roots quite as consistent as with my preferred
Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR II combo, perhaps because of the big gap between the centre tread and the side knobs. They are good on softer ground, though, and tough too – so I haven’t yet had a chance to try out the neat, frame-mounted Topeak Tubi tubeless repair kit I got my hands on after a puncture debacle at the start of the summer.
While I’m talking about negatives, for me, the E-160 doesn’t inspire quite so much confidence on high-speed tracks as it does on steep, techy stuff. It’s got a decent reach and wheelbase (505mm and 1,289.1mm, respectively, on my XL), so I reckon this is just a result of the 650b wheels, which don’t feel quite as planted as the 29in hoops I’m more accustomed to riding. https://whyte.bike
At the time of writing, I’ve already been off the bike for a couple of weeks. I was just preparing to overhaul it and get it race-ready for some Enduro World Series action when a crash took me out for the rest of the season.
The odd creak had been noticeable from the rear end so I’d bought a new set of 14 linkage bearings. Although the Shimano bottom bracket was still running OK, I’d also got hold of a replacement BB, to get the bike running as smoothly as possible. In addition, I wanted to fit new tyres, because I’d ridden my Michelin Enduros to death and they were no longer so grippy. Plus, I’d got a puncture on the rough tracks of Morgins, Switzerland, and sliced the rear tyre, so it definitely wasn’t going to inflate tubeless again. The RockShox Lyrik Ultimate fork could have done with a service, too, and the clutch of the Shimano XT mech had loosened, although I’d managed to tighten that back up. On the driveside, I’d noticed a fair bit of paint chip from the chain and was planning to do something about that, too.
Having to undergo surgery meant that fixing up the Vitus wasn’t a priority, but once I’m off crutches I’ll give it some TLC. I’m gutted, to say the least, because the plan after doing a couple of races was to head to Italy. I’d had a good amount of time on the bike and had been getting really comfortable with my set-up, with the Sommet working particularly well for me on steep tech trails. I can’t wait to be back on two wheels! www.vitusbikes.com
Last time, I mentioned that my plans for outthere rides on the eZesty keep getting foiled and I always seem to end up riding on Exmoor instead. And a pretty sweet alternative it is, too – check out our Dirty Weekender on p118. Being in the privileged position of getting early access to Max’s routes, I loaded the hard ride onto the OS Maps app and gave it a shot. One section was a whiteknuckle ride that demanded complete focus. The twisting, fern-choked singletrack high up on sea cliffs pushed me to my limits and was just scary enough to give me a huge buzz.
This is my first e-bike, and one thing I’ve found hard to get to grips with is slamming it around turns at speed, so I thought I’d practise my cornering technique. Well, it turns out that the issue wasn’t with the weight of the bike or the grip from the tyres but with my technique – who’d have guessed?!
With their triple-compound 3C MaxxTerra rubber and chunky tread pattern, the Maxxis High Roller II tyres had never left me wanting grip when climbing, but my reluctance to put faith in them on the downhills had held me back. The pronounced shoulder knobs have grip for days, but I’d been too hesitant to lean the bike over enough to find this out. By the end of this ride, I’d found my stride and was leaning it over so far that I felt the end of the bar might scrape the ground! My cornering probably wasn’t that impressive in reality, but I’m keen to hit up some properly-sculpted berms regardless. www.lapierrebikes.com