TESTED
rhythm. The position is one that suits sitting up
and taking it all in, and I had barely ridden for
two minutes before I took a selfie. The Marin
Gestalt X11 sets you up to just go and ride. It
was hard not to smile, and appreciate what
was around.
Of course, much of this easy riding was
thanks to 37mm wide tyres with tiny knobs.
And that is probably what you notice the most
when riding the Marin Gestalt X11 on anything
rougher than dirt roads. Your margin for error
is highly reduced. While I had the wheels set
up tubeless, a square edged rock jammed in
clay or a protruding tree root hit at speed was
not pleasant. I got away with it more often than
I thought I would. When the going gets a lot
rougher, you just have to slow down. This is
nothing to do with the bike, more the general
genre of bikes like the Gestalt.
I really thought the first undoing of the
Marin Gestalt X11 would be the gearing. I
applaud Marin for speccing the SRAM 10-42
cassette, but I did think the 42t chain ring
would be too tall, at least for where I live.
Even on climbs with grades close to 20%, it
was actually ok. I think I got lucky, as while
it is really dry in Queensland at the moment,
all the steep things I was riding up had very
good hardpack underneath, so traction wasn’t
an issue. Still, if this bike was to stay in my
shed for longer, I’d put a 38t on because of the
mountain range behind my house, which is
exactly the direction I would be heading with
the Gestalt.Steep descents will be the undoing of this
bike, I was certain of it. And it wasn’t like riding
a hardtail or XC full-suspension bike, but it
was far better than I thought, and even better
than riding a cyclocross bike. Much of this is
because of the geometry. This is no flyweight
road bike, and the forks, frame and wheels
weren’t squirming around. The bike isn’t super
long, so it is easy to stay centred on the bike,
with plenty of weight on the front wheel when
required thanks to the reach provided by drop
bars when riding on the hoods or in the drops.
It’s a sure fire way of keeping that front wheel
loaded for traction, which is pretty important
when you’re on a 37mm tyre. There were still
limits to be found, and a steeper trail that has
been really dry, and seen a fair bit of use from
motorbikes did see me come unstuck.
On terrain that isn’t really rocky, and wasn’t
deep sand or dry and blown out, the Marin
Gestalt X11 was heaps of fun. Along rolling dirt
roads and firetrails, and smooth singletrack,
the Marin was a rocket. It made short work
of plain trails and added a different element
of fun to them. While this can be felt on a
hardtail, there really is a sense of speed an
acceleration with skinnier tyres, a fully rigid
bike, short chain stays and drop bars. Despite
what some YouTube videos might show, this
isn’t the type of bike to take into a bike park.
But that should be obvious for an adventure
bike. When I took it on the paths and trails
around greater Brisbane, the Gestalt X11 put
wind in my hair.