mountain bikes: Test: Marin Rift Zone 7 – Powerful all-rounder

Marin Rift Zone 7: frame and geometry

Test: For the past three years, the Rift Zone has been part of the Marin Bikes portfolio as a short-travel trail bike with big feet. It was definitely a bit ahead of its time, because there are now some 29″ bikes with 120mm travel and geometry suitable for trails – that was completely different in 2014. In 2017 there are four model variants in the range, the top model Rift Zone Pro is made entirely of carbon, Rift Zone 8 and 7 have a rear triangle made of aluminium, the main frame of the €2.300 entry-level Rift Zone 6 is also made of the all-round metal.

With 110mm at the rear and 120mm at the front, the Rift Zone is rather "thin" here - but more than ever we know today that the spring travel is (almost) just a number and that it depends very much on the performance of the respective elements. Otherwise, the 29″ wheels fit well with the propulsion-oriented concept.

The geometry of the Marin clearly shows that the roots of the trail racer lie in the cross-country area. The steering angle is quite steep and the chainstays are quite long by today's standards. You're quite deliberately swimming against the trail bike current. With success? We'll find out on the trail.

Marin Rift Zone 7 features

The Marin Rift Zone 3.600 retails for almost €7. This means that it is no longer one of the cheap trail bike representatives, which was hardly to be expected given the carbon main frame. Nevertheless, at this price, you would expect the appropriate equipment, which the Rift Zone 7 also offers for the most part. With only 120mm at the front, the Marin has comparatively little spring travel - the chassis components are tuned according to this orientation. With the Reba RL from Rock Shox, one of the best cross-country forks is in the front, which is nice and light and still delivers trail-ready performance. The Monarch RL shock fits in well with it - given the very efficient rear end, you can do without platform damping.

The Shimano SLX drive with 11 gears is combined with an 11-42 cassette from Sunrace. The crank is exotic; a special model is used here, which makes a very valuable impression and also looks very good with the bike. The gear ratio is sporty: the Narrow Wide chainring has 32 teeth – the shortest gear ratio is 32-42, which definitely requires thick calves when things get a little steeper. Less fit drivers have to improve here. 2x fans can also look forward to the front derailleur mount.

Like the rest of the equipment, the Magura MT4 brakes with 180mm discs at the front and 160mm at the rear suit the light, XC-oriented orientation of the trail bike. The German two-piston stopper did surprisingly well during the test, but the brakes don't offer large reserves on longer descents. As befits an all-rounder, the Marin should not be without a retractable seat post. The Kind Shock Dropzone is a rather cheap model; This is not a problem at first, as the support works very well and can also be operated ergonomically thanks to the good remote. However, the external routing of the cable is visually unattractive, which is also not solved particularly elegantly.

The wheels are solid: the hubs come from Formula, the 29mm wide aluminum rims directly from Marin. Mounted on it are a pair of Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires - unfortunately in the cheap performance rubber compound.

Marin Rift Zone 7: On the trail

First of all, all testers agreed that the Marin Rift Zone 7 is a very beautiful and visually harmonious mountain bike in and of itself - or much more: could be. The successful frame shape is disturbed by the somewhat unfortunate cable routing of the dropper post and the color of the silver seat clamp doesn't really match the rest. After mounting, the enormous propulsion of the light carbon bike is particularly pleasing: Of course, the weight plays a role here, as does the successful construction and not Last but not least, the taut chassis and the propulsion-oriented geometry.

The Marin almost feels like an XC bike when going uphill – nevertheless, almost all of our testers found the chain ring a bit too large and the gear ratio too heavy on steep ramps. If the worst comes to the worst, this can be replaced quickly and inexpensively thanks to the 4-hole mount. Once you're on the trail, however, the Marin reveals a new and, for us, really unexpected side: if we honestly had the impression of a "jacked-up cross-country bike" before, it shows here that the Rift Zone deserves the title carries trail bike. The rear end works extremely well and feels like it has significantly more than the available 110mm. The geometry is successful, balanced and conveys a lot of security - it was quite surprising that the steep steering angle did not have a negative effect. The fork can't quite keep up, the damping of which is a bit overtaxed, especially in difficult terrain.

The MT4 brakes are easy to dose and perfectly adequate for short and medium descents, even with the chosen disc size. Only those who regularly descend hundreds of meters in one go or weigh a few grams more should think about larger discs. There is also a small point deduction for the tyres: While the performance rubber compound of the Nobby Nic still works quite well in the dry, it quickly reaches its limits in wet and greasy conditions.