Any recent experience with Marino bikes?

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Any recent experience with Marino bikes?
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flag rahrider
O+
Posted: Oct 7, 2021 at 19:35 Quote
Wondering if anyone else has bought a frame from Marino recently? I've put my order in, waited 2 weeks for a response. I responded with some changes and am still waiting for a response.....

When there is a two week lag between emails, it either means they are spending all their time welding, they are too busy to keep up or thos is just how they work.

Anyone had any recent experience? I just don't want to put in an order and wait two years for the finished product.
flag lookseasyfromhere
Posted: Oct 7, 2021 at 20:53 Quote
I heard lots of reports of people going months between communications. Enough to make the savings not worth it to me. I scratched them off my list for prospective frames pretty early on in my search.
flag justgoride
Posted: Oct 8, 2021 at 0:50 Quote
rahrider wrote:
Wondering if anyone else has bought a frame from Marino recently? I've put my order in, waited 2 weeks for a response. I responded with some changes and am still waiting for a response.....

When there is a two week lag between emails, it either means they are spending all their time welding, they are too busy to keep up or thos is just how they work.

Anyone had any recent experience? I just don't want to put in an order and wait two years for the finished product.

I have no experience but there are quite a few frames going around the forums right now which all look really good and they all seem satisfied.
flag JoeBristol
Posted: Oct 8, 2021 at 3:12 Quote
Don’t expect good or quick communications - certainly not within 2 weeks of ordering. I ordered last July and until the UK distributor got involved (he since seems to have ceased trading with Marino) there was almost no progress at all. Luke in the UK very quickly got onto the final design and into the build queue - but even then it was months and he seemed to struggle to get any control of the build in Peru.

I think their volumes have grown exponentially the last few years as their name has got more known / people have been sat at home in lockdowns ordering bikes. They just can’t keep up with it as you might hope.

Patience is the key here - if you can’t go a few months without getting frantic I’d knock the Marino idea on the head now. edit - actually Mine took 8 months from order to me having the finished / painted frame. Marino took about 6 months of that - then I trial built the bike to check the frame was all good - then it was a couple of months being painted locally.

In terms of the actual product I’m pleased with it - it rides exactly as I hoped it would / designed as a 140mm travel forked hardtail. Mine isn’t the usual really long / really slack thing that you tend to see - it’s modern but not wild. Going custom allowed me to spec a really short seat tube, short chainstays but with a decent reach for my height and a slack head angle.

The cable routing isn’t quite how I asked for it, but it works and looks very clean. Everything is internally routed.
flag JoeBristol
Posted: Oct 8, 2021 at 3:34 Quote
photo

This is how my Marino turned out - I got it painted in the UK rather than by Marino - they just sent the frame ‘oiled’ to me at my request.

Overall I’m happy with what I got - but it was frustrating through the process. I spoke to a few UK builders and none of them wanted to do full internal routing of all cables / all were obviously more expensive. The one I came closest to ordering with was Curtis - but it was £400 for the Marino or £1300 ish for the Curtis. That was the difference between getting a Pike Ultimate RC2 and nice light wheels - or having to go lower spec fork / 2nd hand and much cheaper wheels.

The Curtis would have been a beautiful thing - especially their raw / polished finish with clear lacquer - and it probably would have been lighter as they use 853 vs the 725 my frame is made of but I’d probably make the same choice again.
flag rahrider
O+
Posted: Oct 8, 2021 at 9:05 Quote
Thanks for the replies. Your marino looks great. So it sounds like if I am OK with slow response turn around, the bike eventually materializes. I was starting to wonder but if that's just the "process" I can deal with that.

Thanks again.
flag freeturns
Posted: Oct 8, 2021 at 10:29 Quote
I had a frame custom made with my geometry ideas. $450 shipped to my house, with internal routing and a rather crappy paint job. Was totally worth it. Built the bike up and rode it for a while and realized I didn't need a hardtail slayer. Communication was alright, shipping was quoted as being faster than actual. Just be patient, they're incredibly busy, but I was stoked on mine.
flag rahrider
O+
Posted: Oct 8, 2021 at 14:25 Quote
Out of curiosity, how much tire clearance did you guys order? I don't usually run anything bigger or smaller than 2.5 out back. I tend to flex frames a bit and definitely don't want to run into crank or tire rubbing issues. Any other quirks you would recommend avoiding?
flag gotohe11carolina
FL
Posted: Oct 8, 2021 at 19:34 Quote
I chronicled my experience in the steel is real thread. Took me 9 months start to finish. There was virtually no communication during the process. I paid in full at the outset. Once my design was finalized it was radio silence for 6ish months. When they began a production run I got a number of emails in a row and wound up with my bike about a month after they started building it.

As for your other question, I got 2.6 clearance out back for a 27.5 which actually has allowed me to run a 2.35 29er. No real problems with chainline. I have had an issue running a chain guide on mine because it interferes with the swingarm. I gave up and just run it without. As well my bottom bracket was ovalized in shipping. I managed to get one in, but it took much more force than is reasonable. Frame was twisted due to overheating while welding Shock hardware provided was substandard and was replaced. Overall you get what you pay for. I love the bike and it is fun to ride. Having ridden it for a few months now, I’d still buy it again. The geometry being exactly what I wanted is irreplaceable and they nailed that part dead on.
flag JoeBristol
Posted: Oct 12, 2021 at 7:56 Quote
I asked for 2.8” tyre clearance on my blue Marino above. I’m currently running a 2.6” Forekaster and there’s still quite a bit of mudroom and I’ve been through so proper slop with it. I think an actual genuine 2.8” tyre might be very close through what they class as a 2.8” back end.

No twisting / no issues at all with my frame that I’ve found at all. I think the full suss frames seem to have more issues from what I read - mainly around alignment.
flag rahrider
O+
Posted: Oct 12, 2021 at 14:11 Quote
JoeBristol wrote:
I asked for 2.8” tyre clearance on my blue Marino above. I’m currently running a 2.6” Forekaster and there’s still quite a bit of mudroom and I’ve been through so proper slop with it. I think an actual genuine 2.8” tyre might be very close through what they class as a 2.8” back end.

No twisting / no issues at all with my frame that I’ve found at all. I think the full suss frames seem to have more issues from what I read - mainly around alignment.

Thanks for the response. What type of bb did you go for. I am planning on a 73mm threaded. I was worried that if I went for a bigger clearance it may make things a bit too tight back there. How do you find everything fits? Chromag uses a pf92 bb shell for this reason, to give more room to weld everything.
flag JoeBristol
Posted: Oct 15, 2021 at 3:17 Quote
73mm bsa threaded bb shell. Can’t see any issues with room to weld - they use a solid bit of plate on the driveside which gives more room there. Probably contributes to the overall weight of the frame - as does the full length stainless steel inner cable routing pipes and the tapered headtube & post mount rear brake. Hence 3.1kg for the frame (with rear axle and seat clamp included).
flag 52Jeff
Posted: Oct 15, 2021 at 13:31 Quote
I ordered 2 over the last 18 months and it took 5 months for each. My friend ordered 2 at the same time in April and only 1 is done still waiting for the second to be made so they can ship them. Then you will see someone get theirs in 2 month
flag 52Jeff
Posted: Oct 15, 2021 at 13:35 Quote
rahrider wrote:
Out of curiosity, how much tire clearance did you guys order? I don't usually run anything bigger or smaller than 2.5 out back. I tend to flex frames a bit and definitely don't want to run into crank or tire rubbing issues. Any other quirks you would recommend avoiding?

One of mine was 2.5 and it fits a 2.8 just fine. The other was 2.8 and it measures the same as the 2.5. I think that measurement is mainly to check chain stay to seat post clearance and bottom bracket height.
flag rahrider
O+
Posted: Oct 15, 2021 at 19:43 Quote
52Jeff wrote:
rahrider wrote:
Out of curiosity, how much tire clearance did you guys order? I don't usually run anything bigger or smaller than 2.5 out back. I tend to flex frames a bit and definitely don't want to run into crank or tire rubbing issues. Any other quirks you would recommend avoiding?

One of mine was 2.5 and it fits a 2.8 just fine. The other was 2.8 and it measures the same as the 2.5. I think that measurement is mainly to check chain stay to seat post clearance and bottom bracket height.

That sounds good. I have sliding drop outs so I suspect if I want a bigger tire, I can just slide it back a bit. I doubt I will go bigger than 2.6, if that.

My design is done, just waiting on an invoice and then the wait ensues!!!
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