The Marin Hawk Hill Is Everything We Love About Mountain Biking
Mountain biking is a simple sport.
It’s a simple sport because it’s about friends. Always has been. Go back to what’s popularly considered to be the birth of the sport: Marin County, 1970s. Look at the photos, watch the grainy videos. Scruffy riders with big grins, always together, because mountain biking is best when friends are there to cheer when you push yourself, and to pick you up when you fall.
It’s exhilarating to flow down a serpentine descent, pumping rollers, jumping obstacles, feeling the bike load up in a turn, then uncoil and pop out. Your whole body buzzes, it becomes a capacitor charged by thrill, and it needs to discharge. You need your friends to high-five, to swear, to relive those moments, to talk about how big you went, how close you came to eating it. You and your friends, you make and share that energy, that stoke, that fun. It’s not the same to ride by yourself.
Whether it’s the early 1980s and the top of Pearl Pass outside Crested Butte, Colorado, or the bottom of the latest Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, Utah, there is always a group, and there are always smiles, high-fives, stoke.
Because mountain biking is fun. It’s as simple as that.
Mountain bikes used to always be simple. Jalopies cobbled together from paperboy bikes and motorcycle parts. Klunkers, they called them. “Let’s go for a klunk,” Tom and Gary and Joe would say to their friends. And dressed in jeans and flannel, they went to where the roads weren’t and kept riding.
But as time went on, things changed. Mountain biking evolved. The equipment got better, no doubt. It also got more expensive and more complex. Now, a Santa Cruz Megatower can cost more than $10,000; seat posts, derailleurs, shifters now have batteries that need recharging. But the sport never lost its soul. Fun, and friends. Getting together, skidding, jumping, bleeding, suffering, smiling.
There is no shortage of high-end mountain bikes, and no shortage of people buying them-we’re among them. It’s simple to talk yourself into spending midlife-crisis levels of cash on a ride because mountain biking is what you love to do.
And while the old heads who went klunking certainly had fun on the bikes they had, technology has come a long way. Today’s bikes have gotten so much better, and on the best of them, you can climb and descend and rail rocks and never feel like you’re on the wrong bike.
Other Great Budget MTB Gear
1 / Bell Spark MIPS / $70
With its concussion-reducing MIPS tech, this helmet is designed to be affordable while still offering big protection. Buy Now
2 / Ballast Point Passing Haze / $10 / six pack
There’s nothing quite like a trailhead beer with friends after a ride. Ballast Point’s Passing Haze is a citrusy, tropical IPA that’s not too boozy-a great choice for postride refreshment.
3 / Dakine Syncline Glove / $25
Grip your bars with confidence, thanks to the Syncline’s synthetic suede palm. A moisture-wicking back keeps your hands dry and comfy. Buy Now
4 / CamelBak Repack LRHydration belt / $75
Carry water-and keep your back cool-with this waist pack. The Magnetic Tube Trap keeps the drinking tube securely in place while riding. Buy Now
5 / Sombrio Chaos Jersey |$65
Super-soft, silky fabric wicks away sweat, keeping you cool on hot days. And the pattern is rad. Buy Now
6 / ZOIC Ether Shorts / $65
These mountain shorts give you plenty of space to move without hanging up on the saddle. Buy Now
7 / Five Ten Freerider Shoes / $100
The über-grippy Stealth S1 sole is the best of any flat-pedal shoe we’ve tested. Plus, these are comfy AF: The leather upper fits like a sneaker. Buy Now
Which means, of course, that the defects of a bad mountain bike can seem even more glaring when you’re riding with friends on great ones. And that’s a bummer-that sense of fun, and soul, and giddy sweat should be something almost everyone can access.
That’s why the best mountain bike is the Marin Hawk Hill, a full-suspension bike that costs $1,600. It is a pure mountain bike that would make our sport’s founders smile, and you can shred it, hard.
There are many decent, inexpensive mountain bikes that work for new riders as their skills are building. But those bikes have a ceiling that prevents you from riding harder-a bouncy suspension, or a flexy frame, or clunky shifting. The Hawk Hill’s limit is much higher than any other affordable bike we’ve tested.
You can be a new rider or an expert, and this bike’s handling, suspension performance, and parts let you charge lines, hit jumps, and take risks. This is a righteous full-suspension trail bike, and we couldn’t be happier that it exists, even though we’re pissed that it took so long. It’s a unique blend of performance and price; a bike that you can get rowdy on, without draining your life savings. A bike that’s truly eye-opening and inspiring. A bike that we can recommend so easily to people who want a truly great bike that’s not too expensive.
But it’s more than that, too. It’s the best combination of features, geometry, performance, and price available today. And because bikes today are the best they’ve ever been, the Hawk Hill is the best mountain bike. It’s that simple.
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