Video: Matt Jones Learns the History of Marin Bikes

Jan 23, 2020
by MarinBikes  
Views: 6,666    Faves: 11    Comments: 0


We wanted to give you a little bit of insight into the faces and names behind our downtube sticker.

RedBull sent our co-sponsored rider Matt Jones over to the office to find out a little bit more of what we are about.

Enjoy!

photo


Author Info:
MarinBikes avatar

Member since Jul 29, 2012
38 articles

72 Comments
  • 16 0
 I just picked up a '93 Eldridge Grade like the one in the photo. It was mostly original, the grips had been changed and bar ends taken off. Still had the OE Marin tires. I put new brake pads on it, swapped the tires, cleaned and greased the headset and took it out on Monday. www.pinkbike.com/photo/18203089
  • 3 0
 Sweet bike, and nice and stock!
  • 1 0
 @MarinBikes: my first ever mtb was a ‘94 Marin Bobcat trail. Silver frame with matching green bars, stem, forks and QR. Cost £389 new in 1994. So many happy memories, even won a local XC race on it in the ‘youth’ category... haha bikes have changed a bit since then!!
  • 6 0
 I was around 1999 that I went along to by LBS and said I wanted a full sus XC bike. I left the shop with a B-17 which had a double crown fork. The test ride consisted of riding up curbs just outside. Having always had fully rigid bike, it was AMAZING. I look back and laugh now at what I bought, but then I was a strutting peacock/cat that got the cream. Have very fond memories. Thx Marin PS glad we cleared up how to pronounce the name!!
  • 8 3
 mahRIN out here in the namesake county, and MAYrin in the UK. Yet another instance of us Americans mastering the English language. Smile
  • 5 5
 @MarinBikes: a word that is not English at root - congratulations.
  • 4 0
 @Chilliwacker: There is a lot of Latin (Romance based language) in English. English is just an alloy anyway.
  • 1 1
 @endlessblockades: Alloy? I prefer carbon fibre.
  • 2 1
 @endlessblockades: yeah half of English is French.
  • 2 0
 @ddmonkey: Au contraire!........oh, bollocks
  • 1 0
 @ddmonkey: but many of those french words are loans from old norse
  • 3 0
 I've never heard anyone mispronounce Marin, but hearing people tackle Mt Tamalpais is always a good one
  • 7 0
 Marin should release a special edition San Quentin in the iconic late eighties/early nineties sandpaper paint.
  • 1 0
 me definitely buying that..san quentin currently sitting top in my 2020 to buy list..
  • 1 0
 What about the PTFE paint dirt used to just slide off, but if you landed on the top tube you would slide off too!
  • 5 1
 I’ve owned a bunch of Marins and have loved every one of them...I have an Aluminum FRS I bought because it was cool and needed some garage art, literally 100% original down to the tubes and a solid 8 out of 10 condition wise, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen in person and is Serial Number 4 so first production run bike. Obviously bought by someone new and ended up sitting in a garage for 20+ years unused.
  • 2 1
 Wow, what a fantastic find!
  • 2 1
 You are lucky man! I remember when this bike came out and how badly I wanted one, but no tengo dinero at that time. This was a really great video. I feel my roots again!
  • 3 0
 my first real mtb was the 95 indian fire trail which looked like the manitou ht with its square rearend tubes. came with white industries cranks and front hub...loved that bike and when i had money it was upgraded with mag21, answer dh bar and atac stem, critical racing brakes, mavic 121 sup ceramic rims etc...damn that was a nice bike. the team marin was also a great ride. old marins will always have a special place in my heart.
  • 4 1
 All I've ever heard about Marin County is how completely f*cked it is for mountain biking. How most single track is now closed to bikes, how bikers and hikers have gotten into literal fistfights trail-side, how nails and barbed wire have sabotaged trails and how police are enforcing trail speed limits with radar guns and handing out speeding tickets.

It's difficult to reconcile that bleak image I've had with this video and its bubbly message of the birthplace of mtb...
  • 6 0
 Eh, it's contentious but not quite that bad. Lots of people fighting the good fight and there is plenty to ride that is full on legal, and plenty more to ride that is full on "social." Overall I give the situation a D.

For some additional perspective on this video:
1) Marin Bikes is headquartered in Petaluma, which is in Sonoma County
2) Their full sus bike names are hilarious. Wolf Ridge is a shitty fire road. Alpine trail is a short go-no-where hiking trail. Mt Vision does not have any legal biking trails, and the trails it has don't really warrant a full suspension bike. Rift Zone trail is a flat, I think even paved, fire road. Hawk Hill is a nice road ride. Their hardtail names are at least pretty reasonable except Nail Trail, which while fun on a hardtail, is way gnarlier than all their full suspension trail names. It makes me feel like their marketing team doesn't actually even ride in Marin.And based on the video, I don't think they do.
3) Oh yeah, their Friday company rides are also up in Sonoma county.
  • 2 2
 @bentplate:

I WANT TO GO CALIFORNIA AND RIDE ALL THE FAMOUS ZONES. BRING A FEW HUNDRED EXTRA DOLLARS FOR BAIL. MAYBE A MUY THAI CLASS AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER BEFOREHAND SOS I CAN KARATE CHOP ANY CONFRONTATIONAL HORSEPEOPLE. OR WHATEVER.
TIMES CHANGE I GUESS. OR DO THEY? THE ENTIRETY OF CALIFORNIA SEEMS A BUST, ACCESS WISE. WORLD CUP CHAMPS WITH NOTHING TO RIDE, PUTTING OUT PRODUCT TEASERS ON ILLEGAL TRAILS.
I HAVE A NOMAD, CANNOT SEE HOW THEY MADE THAT BIKE FOR THE TRAILS IVE SEEN IN SANTA CRUZ.
I WENT TO FRUITA A COUPLE YEARS AGO. FELL ASLEEP ON ONE OF THOSE UR-FLOWTRAILS AT ROAD WHATEVER. ANCIENT HISTORY.
MARIN IS A COOL COMPANY. THAT NAILD SUSPENSION IS TRULY FASTER ON TRAIL. WEIRDLY. MATT JONES DESERVES TO BE THE ONLY MTB YOUTUBER, THEYRE STOKED TO HAVE HIM.
THE ALAMO WOULD FIT IN A DRIVE-UP PHOTOMAT. AND THERE HASNT BEEN A PHOTOMAT IN 20 YEARS.
I HUNG OUT IN SLO OVER CRIMBO AND ID LIKE TO MOVE THERE. 72 DEGREES AND MELLOW COFFEESHOP LIFE, BUT I WOULD SHIFT TO BEING A GRAVEL BIKER FOR SURE. AND ID BE HOMELESS CUZ.
JAMES DEAN WAS ONLY IN THREE MOVIES.
  • 3 0
 I walked into my LBS in '93 with cash for that anthracite Pine Mountain in the image... and left with the a front-suspension Stumpjumper FS. I never figured out how to set up Specialized's 'FutureShock' for and to this day, have some lingering regrets for not getting the Marin. (Of course, the '92 purple-neon-green 'Team Marin' was what I really, really wanted.)
  • 5 0
 Abrams and Cipes are killing it! Matt Jones is the sickest rider. These bikes look sick, on my list to try soon.
  • 4 0
 Aaron and Cip are pretty okay. Smile
  • 2 0
 @Marinbikes Having lived in Marin and worked in the bike industry in the 90's and early 21st century it is great to see how you guys are bouncing back, finding your niche. Well done indeed. The video made me miss Marin. And please say hello to Gravy from Philippe. Seems like we both don't have ponytails anymore, but it's great that you still have the great energy going. Legend.
  • 7 0
 Shaums March!!
  • 1 0
 Bagged a World Championship aboard a Quake.
  • 1 0
 First Mt. bike was '92 or '93 Marin Pine Mountain (DX components), looks just like the green/yellow/orange Deer Valley in the video, except there was no orange. I think the orange was the next price point up (XT?).

I put that bike through the ringer including lots of stair case jumping and ended up replacing just about everything on the bike, except the frame. Don't remember what happened to that frame, but it took everything I through at it!
  • 1 0
 Bought the FRS Aluminum new, still have it and ride it in the summer for fun. She's still a buitifull piece of old school technology. Recently bought the Team Marin hard tail for a commuter bike. Love them both! Thanks to all you folks from the west coast that forged the trail.
  • 2 0
 Great Experience in 2009 with my Mountain Vision 5.8 in Sea Otter I still have this amazing bike here with Me brought to Brazil it´s my toy I´ll Never sell it , Hope one day back to USA and have a brand new to me !!!
  • 5 0
 Also, just realised I've been pronouncing Mar-in wrong for 30 odd years..
  • 3 0
 You're not the only one, especially in GB. Smile
  • 3 0
 Steve Gravenites!! Hung out with him a couple times in the nineties when he wrenched for Yeti and Cannondale.. Super nice dude!!
  • 4 0
 Gravy! Man that guy is such a legend. All Soul. "We're in it for the fun and the experience and the fun along the way."
  • 3 1
 if you have the right kind of eyes, you can look out from a vantage point in Marin county, and you can see the line: the Tide is Turning, and antis are dying off or being changed, one by one.
  • 3 0
 Best decision I’ve made in a decade is picking up a Hawk Hill. Hard not to love a bike with “made for fun” painted on the seattube.
  • 1 0
 RIDE OR DIE!!!
  • 1 0
 The Hawk Hill was my first full Suspension bike. I am on a 2020 Rift Zone now. I love the modern Geo at affordable pricing.
  • 5 1
 Can´t help it... Still want that Titanium FRS more than the other ones.
  • 2 0
 the marin and manitou frs were a wet dream as a teenager back in the day. gt lts was also a dream but so out of reach, they were so expensive. for us it was all about hardtails in the mid 90ies.
  • 4 0
 Arguably the coolest bike in our little archive. We also have an incomplete Team FRS, which had the aluminum frame. Now we need to find a Pine FRS, the CroMo version.
  • 1 0
 Had a connection to Marin in the mid-90's and ended up with a Ti FRS. I suppose for the time it was a good idea, but after going through SO MANY elastomers and having some down time waiting for a new batch to arrive I picked up an AMP with a coil. Not sure if I ever road the FRS again.
  • 2 0
 Props to @MarinBikes for a childhood of bedroom wall poster bikes (I wish i could have afforded a B-17) and thanks for the English lesson!
  • 5 0
 Rick James!
  • 2 0
 Deserves many up votes. That was quite an Interbike.
  • 3 0
 Bring back the Zolatone textured paint and contrast forks from the late 80's/early 90's!
  • 1 0
 I love The old Marin Quake frame that I bought nos and built up as a park bike. The thing plows through pretty much any rock garden I put it through. It even pedals really well too, even though it weighs 42 pounds, haha.
  • 1 0
 Marin make great bikes, hears my 2007 Marin with modifyed linkage forks called linkie!
Will need to get out on it soon, bonded on non standard disk mount, D'oh!
www.pinkbike.com/photo/17994253
  • 2 0
 Still have a Mount Vision Pro frame, been meaning to rebuild it with more up-to-date components...
  • 2 0
 Super rad to see my home bike park in a video on pinkbike! Stafford Lake Bike Park - Novato, CA.
  • 3 0
 Good on ya Matt and Marin, keep doing what you're doing.
  • 2 0
 I had a 1997 Rift Zone full sus in blk and thought it was the dogs danglies ! I was the king of the curbs to !
  • 2 0
 My first XC race was on a Indian Fire Trail..1993 i believe.. loved that bike!
  • 2 0
 Ah, Marin. I lusted after these back in the day. Good to see that they are back at making awesome bikes again.
  • 2 0
 It's so good to see Marin bikes back in great form again.
  • 3 0
 Thanks, and we are having fun making great bikes.
  • 1 0
 @MarinBikes: I know you probably have heard this a thousand times or more but sell the San Quentin as a frame only option please!
  • 2 0
 @MarinBikes: thanks! Wish I saw that earlier.
  • 1 0
 @brncr6: It was a relatively late addition to the lineup.
  • 2 0
 Nice gravel bikes!

(Still dig my father's Scott Super America)
  • 1 0
 Have you seen the new Headlands collection yet?
  • 2 0
 9:45 in and I just realized that's not an e-bike......
  • 1 3
 ALSO NO HATCH ON IT, SO YOULL HAVE TO STRAP THAT JOKE TO YOUR FRAME ACTUALLY PUT IT IN UR BACKPACK CUZ ITS FOUR YEARS OLD
  • 2 0
 My 1995 Team Titanium with Judy FSX fork was a game changer bike for me!
  • 2 1
 Marin - Former home of mtn biking.
  • 1 0
 Bring back John Whyte Quad link!
  • 1 1
 Last soundtrack anyone?
  • 1 4
 Marin should come out with a bike called the liberal hypocrite ....that would be sweet Smile
Below threshold threads are hidden







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.039916
Mobile Version of Website