Well, that’s different!
This bike is so fresh to Australia, it’s practically still warm from the carbon moulds. We’ve been looking forward to this review for some time, and our initial 30km ride confirmed it was worth the wait.
In an era when bikes are looking increasingly homogenous, the Mount Vision makes you take notice, with a huge, elevated carbon swingarm, and a bottom bracket junction so chunky it’s easily confused for an e-bike. The unique shape is a product of the bike’s utilisation of the Nailed React suspension system, one of the most unconventional approaches to suspension we’ve seen in years. If you’ve seen our review of the Polygon XqaurOne you’ll know that this system really altered our understanding of how mountain bike suspension can operate.
Built tough, not light
While this bike has only 150mm travel, it’s built tough, as attested by its hefty 15.1kg, excluding pedals. It could be a pig to climb aboard, but the React suspension makes this bike pedal uphill way better than its mass and travel should allow. More on that in our full review to come.
Going back down, this bike has the same feeling of levitating and carrying speed beautifully which we praised on the Polygon XquarOne. It feels distinctly different to most bikes, and that takes some getting used to, but it’s very quick.
What about that Wolf Ridge you had on test?
The keen readers out there will remember we’ve had another Marin on review recently, the Wolf Ridge, which uses essentially the same suspension system. Our initial plan was for a long-term test of that bike, but when it had to be returned for a demo day event, and we learned that the Mount Vision was on the way, we decided to switch our focus to this bike instead as it sounded more like our style. On the subject of the Wolf Ridge, there are some insanely good prices on that bike at the moment – take a look here.
In many ways, the Mount Vision builds upon the experiences garnered from feedback about the Wolf Ridge. For instance, the new bike can fit a water bottle, and the rear end stiffness has been given a big boost with the introduction of a swing link up top.
Any niggles so far?
We’re not sure how we feel about the WTB Trail Boss tyres. They’re pretty heavy (1197g each according to WTB’s site) and the tread pattern isn’t ideal for our test conditions, so we might be making a change there. Everything else is brilliant, especially the FOX 36 Elite fork, the Shimano XT four-piston brakes and the Eagle XO drivetrain.
