Marin Alloy El Roy Hardtail Mountain Bike Review,

Marin Alloy Hardtail Mountain Bike

Marin says the brand new and advanced El Roy Enduro / All-Mountain Hardtail is designed to deal with any path, which is an ambitious claim for a bike without a rear squish.  Is the Marin El Roy only a tease for people with enduro goals on a hardtail budget?  I desired to discover for myself.

Marin El Roy Frame and Specifications

Looking on the Marin El Roy geometry chart, it’s miles clean that that is a totally particular hardtail.  Starting on the front of the bike, the El Roy returns with a slack-for-any-tail 63° head tube perspective.  That’s paired with a steep 78° seat tube perspective that is even steeper with sag.

Test Pilot Profile Height:          Test Zone: Southeast, USA,       Weight: 72.5kg (160lb)       Height: 190cm (6’3″)

El Roy appears lengthy, and that is due to the fact.  There are the most effective sizes to be had – everyday and Grande – and the Grande I examined has an attainment of 510mm.  It’s now no longer the longest bike I’ve examined this year, even though it is first rate for the bike’s affordable standover peak and Marin riders five’10” and taller are healthy well. The front triangle is specifically elongated to house the short, 435mm chainstay duration.

Marin L Roy Geometry Chart

                            Regular Grande

Stock                        645        645

Reach                       480        510

Headtube Angle        63°         63°

Headtube duration    120      120

Seat Tube Angle         78°       78°

Seat tube duration     420      430

Top Tube Effective      617      647

BB Height                    318     318

BB Drop                        65        65

Chainstay                    435      435

Wheelbase                1252    1282

Standover Height        735      743

Fork Offset                    44       44

Seatpost diameter      30.9    30.9

Handlebar Width         800     800

Stem Length                 35       35

Crank duration            170      170

           All lengths are in mm.

More Stories

Wallke X2 Pro review: A full-suspension electric 26 Inch Fat Tire Mountain Bike that folds in half!

FLX Bike offers first study new Weapon X full-suspension electric powered mountain bike

New Mountain Bike Tech at Eurobike 2022: Best Bikes from the show.

The body is built using butted, chromoly metallic tubing with water bottle mounts at the downtube and an accent mount under the pinnacle tube.  The derailleur cable and rear brake hose are each externally routed for clean setup and maintenance, even as the seat tube has an inner routing port for the dropper put up.  There aren’t any bottle mounts at the seat tube, despite the fact that there may be room for them, which might possibly interfere with seatpost fitment.

Rounding out the body setup is a drop-in, included headset and threaded backside bracket.  Naturally the rear quit is boost-spaced and consists of a put up mount for the brakes.

Construction package

Only a construct package is to be had for the El Roy, despite the fact that Marin sells the body with the aid of using itself for $699.  In my opinion Marin did an exceptional task with this construct, spec’ing high-satisfactory components which you might typically locate on a greater conventional enduro body.  Well, besides for the fork.

Don’t get me wrong, the Marzocchi Z1 is clearly a bomber fork (see what I did there?) However, with the most effective 140mm of journey, it is now no longer a fork you would locate on an enduro race motor motorcycle.  The El Roy is a hardtail after all, and in my view the 160mm+ fork has a tendency to write down assessments that a stiff rear quit simply does not have.  The end result is that the Z1 is remarkably burly and may be installed to take a few huge hits without bottoming out too quickly.

Marin specifications 4-piston Shimano brakes the front and rear, and the brake at the fork is grabbing huge 203mm rotors, with a 180mm plate on the rear.  All that preventing electricity is transferred to DH-approved, 2.five-inch Maxxis Assegai tubeless tires.  Marin made certain to specify a double down model of the Assegai withinside the rear to lessen the risk of apartments.

There are masses of body clearance for 2.5 inch tires.

The El Roy 32T comes with a Shimano Deore 12-pace drivetrain mated to a FSA Comet crankset and a blended Marin/Shimano alloy wheelset presenting 29mm-extensive rims.  The cockpit is a combination of more often than not Marin-branded components, with 780mm-extensive handlebars with 28mm upward thrust and 35mm clamp diameter.  The length Grande version I examined has 170mm of journey with the X-Fusion dropper put up, even as the everyday length dropper put up has 150mm of journey.

All told, the Marin El Roy I examined weighed 15.6kg (34.4lb) with pedals.

On the path

All matters considered, the Marin El Roy is a quite bizarre bug… a normal bike, as a minimum primarily based totally at the specifications.  I imagined it’d be a laugh bike to trip on, however it felt awkward and bizarre to pedal, particularly uphill.  My first check trip was to confirm;  The guidance jogged my memory of riding a ship while dealing with tight corners.

By the second one trip, the bike changed into speedy and successful.  By the 0.33 trip, I changed into making plans to shop for a bike from Marin so I may want to maintain it forever.  Now, approximately months into my check and a dozen plus rides, I’m someplace among wondering the bike is bizarre and wondering it is a great bike.  A coloration that respects me.

Descending prowess

The Marin El Roy is simply optimised for descent, and it is tough to assume enhancing its downhill abilities without including a rear shock.  On steep trails the bike feels slack way to the top perspective, and isn’t always tippy at all.  The guidance stays fluid, nearly ski-like, slicing the path on command.

While capable of preserving speedy speeds on greater mild inclines, the El Roy feels firmly planted, particularly for a stiff tail.  I every now and then overlook that the suspension does not exist only for my consolation due to the fact I’m now no longer a runner;  It is likewise intended to manipulate and maintain the tires monitoring over rocks and roots at the path.  Hardtails just like the El Roy are at a mild drawback on the subject of rear wheel monitoring, however this bike makes up for it with a compliant metallic body, excessive-extent tires and a beefy – however now no longer too lengthy – the front fork.  .  Overall the El Roy does an excellent task dealing with speedy, technical trails, a lot in order that I forgot I changed into driving a hardtail.

The Marin El Roy is a reasonably lengthy bike overall, however maximum it reaches, leaving chainstay duration on the funky end of the scale.  Once I was given a sense for the bike I changed into capable of modifying my cornering stance to enhance dealing with tight trails and sharp-angled switchbacks.  The end result is that the bike truly corners regardless of its duration, and due to the fact it is stiffer, it is less difficult to fashion with wheels and nostril pivots.

Surprisingly I struggled with the Assegai tires.  Definitely an excellent traction tire, I in no way felt 100% assured going right into a nook and pedalling felt sluggish and draggy.  Well, I’m no longer amazed about the second one part – it is a gravity tire – and as for the first, I assume the hassle is probably with the rim’s Marin specifications.  Maxxis recommends a 35mm rim width for Assegai extensive path tires, even as Marin rims are 29mm extensive.  Through trying out many tires over the years, I’ve found that simply multiple millimetres of rim width could make a huge distinction withinside the form and width of a tire as soon as it is assembled.

At a few factor throughout trying out I broke a spoke at the rear wheel, simply above the nipple.  I do not know when or how that happened, and besides it is now no longer truly honest to study an excessive amount of right into a single damaged speech.  Hardtails and particularly Hardcores are hard at the rear wheels and luckily the rear Assegai tire with Maxxis double down casing withstood my abuse without a single burp or flat.

I recognise I sound like a damaged document on the subject of dropper put up journey however right here is going again: I like having an extended journey dropper put up than the protected 170mm X-Fusion.  To be honest, that is greater of a “me” hassle primarily based totally on my peak (I recognise tall people’s problems) however the El Roy nonetheless handles descents higher if I can get a decrease at the bike.  Luckily dropper posts are reasonably-priced in recent times and the protected far flung is respectable enough that I’ll maintain it to store a little cash on an upgrade.

Ascending power

When it involves enduro bikes, product designers regularly paint to make certain that the bike does not absolutely take in mountaineering.  I bet if a bike truly sucks mountaineering, it is a downhill bike.  I can expectantly say that Marin El Roy no longer sucks at mountaineering.  It’s honestly a quite respectable climber, and possibly works higher than maximum complete suspension enduro bikes.

How the El Roy treated tight trails took a few being used to, however the front quit in no way felt weightless or wobbly while mountaineering way to the steep seat perspective.  Seriously, I’m certain a number of complete suspension enduro riders are searching on the 78° (un-sagged!) seat tube perspective and getting jealous.  It goes without saying that the mountaineering platform is solid, despite the fact that at 34+ kilos it is a heavy bike for going uphill.

On technical climbs I located masses of traction thank you particularly to the excessive extent of tires.  The El Roy does not sense remarkable rebound-y on descents or climbs, simply planted like a race-tuned, complete-suspension enduro bike.

On the apartments the Marin El Roy rides slower than different hardtails I’ve examined and takes greater attempts to get and live rolling.  Obviously the tires are a contributing aspect in phrases of weight and resistance, possibly the heavier wheels.  I suspect the ahead geometry additionally performs a role, with the bike barely biassed in the direction of the front weight even on surprisingly flat terrain.

Pros and Cons of Chief El Roy

Pros:

Dirty sleep

Heavy to hardtail

Rims are very narrow

Slow pedalling

Cons:

A very successful descendant, particularly for a hardtail

Stylish body and construct package

Interpretation 

The Marin El Roy is a hardtail dialled in for immediate descents or steep descents or each.  The turn facet is that the El Roy does not climb much less competitive hardtails.  Aside from the wheels the construct package is spot on for its meant use and gives a ton of fee at this rate factor.  I provide El Roy fashion factors for its metallic body creation and sleek blue and crimson paint task.

Price: $2,499.

Sources The Marin El Roy