Pine Mountain first impressions

We recently received our Marin Pine Mountain singlespeed 29ers. The main portion of mountain bike season is pretty much over, so it's kind of a little late, but there was an, um, unofficial race in one of the local parks last week, so I figured it would be a good chance to give the bike a try.


In the spirit of preparation, I got my hands on the bike for the first time ever at roughly
5:50 for a race that was supposed to start at 6. I threw on my Candys, got the seat pretty much right, and called it ready to go.

And waited around for half an hour or so.

Once the race got started, I paid for my (lack of) preparation. I managed to end the Le Mans start in the top third of riders, only to have the bars come loose within the first two minutes of hard riding. Once I fixed that problem (being extra careful not to over tighten the carbon bars), I spent the rest of the race riding around, picking off the stragglers and trying to get a feel for the bike.

Let me say that at 5'5", I think even the smallest Pine Mountain may be too big for me. Once I am on it and going, it rides pretty well (although it's maybe a bit horsey), but getting started on a bike with basically no standover clearance and a highish bottom bracket takes some doing.

The bike will ride over anything, though. I rode with the shock half locked out, and pretty much just rode over things. Big logs, steep banks, large steps: none of that fazed the bike much.

The jury, for me, is still pretty much out. I am excited, though, to do some more testing.