New Marin Wolf Ridge 2017
Fri 21st Apr, 2017 @ 3:30 pm
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Do you believe that there can be one bike to rule them all, to let you take on pretty much any kind of terrain head on and come out the other side still smiling? Do you think a 160mm travel bike can really climb as well as it descends? Marin do, and they’ve put almost 5 years of testing and tech development into the new Wolf Ridge. So read on and take a look for yourself, what do you think?
Marin Mountain Bikes Inc. has announced the debut of the all-new 2018 Wolf Ridge, a bike rooted in the birth of mountain biking, when one bicycle did it all and there were no category-specific machines. Trail riding has evolved since those early days of bombing down Mt. Tam, and your mountain bike experience will never be the same. Welcome to the new way of thinking about the ride, the Marin Wolf Ridge.
In development for nearly five years, the Wolf Ridge was designed using biometric data for the perfect rider fit, applied physics for ideal kinematics based on a rider’s center of gravity, and the desire to create a bike that addresses the holy grail of mountain biking: a full suspension rig that doesn’t make you miss your hardtail on the climbs, and one that you can confidently point towards technical singletrack for the descent.
The Wolf Ridge defines a paradigm shift in thinking that will force the rest of the market to take notice:
– Where travel does not define category
– Where a bike can climb and descend equally well
– Where a bike can be at home in any terrain, with any rider – through the fast and flowy, or the rough and tumble
– Where the mountain bike experience is mind-blowing
Marin has teamed up with Naild® to design, craft and build the Wolf Ridge around their revolutionary R3ACT – 2 Play® system, bringing a mountain bike to market that out-performs all expectations of performance, providing the rider with the best mountain biking experience that is available today.
Naild’s R3ACT – 2 Play system has unique core kinematics which manage the inertia of acceleration loads. The system does not require platform/lockouts from external devices on any travel applications, even the 160mm travel of the Wolf Ridge. A custom kinematic was developed with Naild to ensure that the Wolf Ridge would have the pedaling prowess previously unattainable in a long travel bike.
“I’ve been riding mountain bikes since my first rigid bike in 1983, while the folks at Naild have been in the sport since before aluminum became a frame choice,” says Matt VanEnkevort, CEO of Marin Bikes. “Those of us that have been around this long have watched the evolution from rigid, to front suspension, to full suspension. If you could have more travel, without a lot of extra weight, or negative pedaling effect, why wouldn’t you? Marin and Naild have combined forces, so that you can have it all – without tricky damping, lockout levers and such. All it takes is superior kinematics and vision. I believe the Naild system will forever change the way we look at travel, and the Wolf Ridge is about to become your new favorite bike. With the Wolf Ridge and the Naild system, a 160mm travel 29er bike can be your everyday ride, and I predict you are going to love it.”
“Naild is honored to be working with a legendary brand like Marin,” says Darrell Voss, founder of Naild. “Marin has literally been at the forefront from the onset of the new age of mountain bikes. The technology that Naild is bringing to market after a decade of solitude development has many symbiotic aspects that are in harmony with the passion of Marin’s core values. It’s with much gratitude that Naild was able to work so closely with Marin as we brought the R3ACT – 2 Play technology to life within Marin’s flagship line of bikes.”
“It’s amazing having a bike that can climb so well, yet rip downhill better than any bike that I have ever ridden. It’s simply mind-blowing, you have to ride it to fully understand the performance.”
– Matthew Cipes, Mountain Bike Product Manager, Marin.
Reigning three-time North American Enduro Tour series champion Kyle Warner is looking forward to racing a Wolf Ridge this season. “For me one of the most exciting things about the new Wolf Ridge is how much it will simplify my race weekends from a tuning and bike set up standpoint. For the first time ever, I will be able to focus on setting my bike up to descend as well as possible at a race, without having to make a compromise if there is a significant amount of pedaling involved in some of the stages. The bike is so efficient when pedaling that you can get away with running more of a downhill bias and still know that any energy you put into the pedals is going 100 percent into moving you forward. No more switches, lockouts, or stiff setups for the pedally stages. It’s just set and forget and enjoy every moment of the trails!”
Kyle Warner
Key Frame Highlights:
– Full carbon fiber frame, developed with biometric data to localize weight on each size
– Naild patent-pending R3ACT – 2 Play rear frame member
– Trail geometry with a low BB height, 66.5° head tube angle, 435mm chainstays
– 29” wheels, 160mm front and rear travel
– Exclusively 1x drivetrains
Wolf Ridge Pro
SRAM XX-1 Eagle drivetrain
Fox 36 Performance Elite & Float X2 suspension
E*thirteen TRS Race Carbon wheelset
US MSRP $8599
Wolf Ridge 9
SRAM X0-1 Eagle drivetrain
RockShox Lyric RCT3 & Monarch Debonair R suspension
Stan’s NoTubes Flow MK3 wheelset
US MSRP $6799
The Wolf Ridge Pro and Wolf Ridge 9 models will be available worldwide summer 2017. Learn more about the Wolf Ridge at marinwolfridge.com.
Marin Bikes founded in 1986, believes that life is better with bikes. We are dedicated to improving the lives of our customers with fun, high caliber bicycles, which provide years of enjoyment. We operate a business based on passion, fueled by hard work, and fulfilled by the satifaction of bringing the joy of cycling to our riders. Learn more about Marin’s critically-acclaimed models at marinbikes.com.
