Scott Baste is a local rider from Franklin, NC. He and I have ridden a couple of times, and he was in the market for a new 29er geared bike. He researched the Marin Nail Trail along with a few others, like the Gary Fisher, and decided to buy from us. Here is his review:

well i got to take the nail tail 29er out for it’s first trail ride today. now i’m not a writer or professional bike reviewer but i have owned 15 or so mountain bikes going all the way back to 1982 fully rigid models. after having a few dual suspension bikes, i decided to go back to hard tail for the light weight and more responsive feel.

today we took the bikes out for a good shake down run. the ride started with a steep grunt uphill and at first i was getting used to the bike and it felt a little light in the front end. since it was a wall from the start i didn’t worry too much. the bike did feel a bit twitchy at first. that i think is due to the much steeper head angle than my other 29er (a single speed from a different company one that rhymes with wisher). after cresting the first hill, we started on a rough ridge ride with lots of ups and downs as well as a lot of eroded areas as this is not a true trail but some dirt roads that 4 wheelers use. the bike was starting to feel better at that point. it likes to go fast. down hills were very good too. it feels like it tracks really well and despite anything the trail served up, the bike felt like part of me. then we got to the single track. this is a trail that i have been riding since the early 80’s with all types of configurations. the set up on the bike was just right. i was able to climb the big logs and drop the big drops. in the air the bike handled predictably. not too many switchbacks on the trail we were riding today but the 2 or 3 we encountered were fine with the bike very capable of handling the sharp turns. as a tall rider, my bikes always tend to have long wheelbases and that contributes to tougher time making switchbacks. it seemed like i was able to ride a tighter line than usual on these tight places. after the first 3 hours, i had the bike dialed in and it didn’t feel twitchy any more. i dialed down the fork one notch and that seemed to help the front end stay where i wanted it better. the climbing got better too. since i have been riding single speed so much, i am used to standing and pedaling which worked fine but it took a couple of big climbs to reaquaint myself with seated pedaling. by the end of the ride it was working great.

the only nit i had with the bike which isn’t the fault of anyone was that the stock tires are not what i would have chosen and i will be replacing them soon. where i ride we tend to have a lot of leaf matter on the trails which never seems to clear off. mud is usually not a problem but i think that is what the tires i have would be great for (mud and maybe hard pack). personally, i prefer a more agressive lug pattern like on the bontrager jones tires.

other than that the bike worked great. no bolts came loose and no on trail adjustments needed. something i can’t say for the last few bikes i have bought from other dealers.

once again i would like to thank BCB for the great service and support you have shown thus far. feel free to share this review if you think that it will be helpful to anyone.

Come join the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew, the members of the SORBA Board of Directors and the IMBA Regional Advisory Council for a weekend of learning, riding, sharing, and fun at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.
The weekend offers participants the opportunity to learn about maintaining trail in the classroom and on the Tsali Trail. Share your experiences in mountain bike advocacy and learn about exciting mountain bike projects in the Southeast. Then ride and enjoy the spectacular trails of western North Carolina.

Registration fees include cover admission to IMBA Trail Care Crew events, lunch and dinner on Saturday, group rides, on-site transportation, and the Saturday night social.

For further information about the event schedule, contact Tom Sauret at tom@sorba.org

Click here to register at the IMBA site.

We can’t say thank you enough for helping make Bryson City Bicycles a success in its first year. If this year- in a bad economy, in a down year, with all the rain- can be this good, let’s hurry up and get out of the damp recession so we can see what a good year looks like!

Hasn’t been above 32 degrees for 5 days now. While we are getting used to the cold, I’m ready for spring. People have been renting bikes and going out on the trails. I am still busy getting rid of this chest cold, but I’ll be out riding in a few days. Training for the Icycle race at Fontana Dam Village.

I’m sure that by now everyone has heard about my encounter with the bear that tumbled down the hill and landed on the trail near me, right? Awesome encounter.

Looking forward to the creation of the Tsali Area Mountain Biking Association. Mark it on your calender, the weekend of March 19th through the 21st. That weekend we’ll have the IMBA trail crew here, and the rest of the fun festivities that got postponed last year. More to come on this really great way to protect and improve Tsali trails.

Getting ready to order the new rental bikes for the fleet. 29ers, here we come!

Beautiful day here in BC. The sun finally burned through the clouds around noon. Should hit 52 degrees, and be good for a ride.

Gonna start to train for the Icycle race at Fontana Dam Village at the end of January. I’m looking forward to doing more winter riding. I really liked riding with my new tights on the other day. Warm and dry rocks!

I’ve only been out on the new frame once, but it was really nice. Duro tires sent up some tires for me to try out. Since I have been looking for a new rear tire, this is a huge help. Can’t wait to put it to the test.

Weather report looks good for the next bunch of days, should be good riding between now and the end of the year.

Turning 39 next Monday. Not sure how that’s gonna go…

I have been riding the Nail Trail 29er for the last 5 months, and want to offer my opinion of the bike. I know that for some, the allure of riding the big wheeled bike has been amazing. There are many, however, that have not taken the plunge. I would like to remedy that by offering what I hope is an interesting review of Marin’s flagship 29 inch wheeled bike.

After riding a 26 inch wheeled bike for so many years, the 29er seems strange. How can bigger wheels really make a difference? Why does the bike ride so very differently? And lastly, can I get a tube that size?

We all know the reasons for NOT riding a 29er, but let’s list them anyway. 1. Big wheels must be slower. 2. Must handle slowly, or turn sluggishly. 3. Gotta be a fad, no one’s gonna ride these in two years, then I’ll be stuck with this thing, like the betamax or a palm pilot.

At first, I am sure that 29ers were just regular 26 inch bikes with extra clearance, so people stuck the 29 inch wheels in the drops and, viola, there was a 29er. Then, manufacturers just enlarged a frame so that they could fit 29 inch wheels into any bike. Now, 29ers are built and engineered from the ground up to take advantage of the benefits of the big wheels. Today, there are many companies that have a fleet of 29ers and many companies just built around the big bikes. Marin offers four different 29 variations, with more to come. I ride the Nail Trail 29er, which is their best spec’ed offering.

Looking at the bike, you can see the differences, but you have to look closely. If I put the Nail Trail in a stand near the window, with no other bikes around it, you can’t tell visually that the bike is different from a 26. It all looks proportional, even though I ride a 20.5″ model. The wheels don’t look like they are on a jacked up 76 Chevy truck, or 20’s on a Camaro. The bike has a visual distinction, but it isn’t out of place. The bike flows very well, and the top tube curves gracefully away from the handlebars and joins the seat tube for a comfortable stand over height. The seat stays and chain stays are attractive as well, they are built of tubing, but squared up, something that Marin calls E4 antiflex chain and seat stays. The downtube is huge where it butts up against the head tube and amazingly wide at the bottom bracket junction. Read more about this here: frame technology

One great thing about the bike is that you feel like you are in the bike, not on it. You really have the ride one to understand this. The axles are higher than the bottom bracket, so your center of gravity is lower on the bike, but you still have incredible ground clearance. You kind of sit down in the bike, not on top of it. Next, the wheels are taller, so you increase you angle of attack. Liken it to this, which would have more momentum? Rolling a tennis ball over a speed bump, or rolling a basketball over the same speed bump? The basketball hits the bump higher up, so it continues to roll, keeping the momentum as it goes over the bump. No longer do you have to pick and choose your line as you rip down the trail, you can just go over things more easily. Stutter bumps and roots no longer stop you in your tracks, you just flow over them.

Another thing about these big wheels– with some simple math, a 26 inch wheel has a circumference of about 81 inches. The circumference of a 29 inch wheel is 91 inches. Wow. That means for every pedal stroke, you gain 10 inches of travel on your smaller buddies. (You get the idea, you go further using the same energy.) So, now you get to go further and keep your momentum, which means you will be faster.

Let’s now talk about turning the big beast. The bigger wheel will indeed cause you to turn more slowly, since the larger tire will increase your turning radius. The Nail Trail 29er has a very fast 71.5 degree head tube angle. Now the rocket science. The steeper the head tube angle, the faster you can turn the bike. So, the bigger the number, the faster your bike turns. (Ceteris peribus. I love Latin.) It feels snappy in the turns. Out at Tsali, on the fast, banked turns, the bike carves! It really amazes me and other people at how quickly the bike changes direction. It doesn’t plow into the corners, you just point it, and it flows along. Like water in a chute. It just goes in the right direction. It never feels like you’ll slide out or go through the turn. That might also have something to do with the center of gravity thing, but mostly, the bike actually goes where you point it, and quickly.

Last wacky notion we have to dispel- That this is just a fad. I liked my palm pilot. Thought it was a cool idea. Just never liked having to put that much information into it so that I could use it to remind me of all the things I just put into it. I like my 29er. I like that it is different, and I like that it makes me a better rider. Could it be a fad? Well, my friend Mac Brown tells me that when he was adventure racing back in the late 70s and 80s, he and his buddies were cutting up road bike wheels and making them into 29er wheels, cause they knew they were faster. That nattily attired Gary Fisher has been making 29 inch bikes for how long? 20 years? Maybe more. Fad? I think NOT!

I suspect there are many places where the 29er won’t work so well. First, on steep climbs. The gearing isn’t right. If you use a gear calculator, you will find out that when you ride a 29 inch wheel with a 34 tooth cog, you are the same as riding a 26 inch wheel with a 32 tooth cog. You turn the extra circumference at the same speed. So, to fix this, you either need to get stronger, or you have to find Shimano’s newest invention, the 12-36 29er cassette. This will give you the same gearing speed as you had on your 26 inch bike. The second place there might be a problem is on tight switchbacks. Sorry, can’t help you there. Get better balance, or something. But, with the new cassette, you can accelerate out of the turns just as quickly.

The bike has been great to date. Marin has a lifetime warranty on the frame; if you break it, just send it back and they replace it. Which is good, since my first frame failed. No worries, Marin said I was the first to break one. I ride pretty tame, no more racing down boulder strewn mountains or 6 foot gaps. Just mostly cross country riding, a little of the all mountain up and down, but nothing too taxing. The components are worthly of a high priced steed. The cranks are Shimano Hollowtech II, the brakes are SLX, the rear derailleur is an XT. The front fork is a Fox R. Let me tell you, a Fox fork is worth every penny. Soaks up the bumps so well, it’s like they aren’t even there. The wheelset leaves me scratching my head, though. A rather unflattering set of WTB laserdisc 29s on Shimano hubs. I blew out the back wheels within 2 months. I actually downgraded to a lower priced WTB wheel while trying to decide on new wheels, and it works better. No truing, no floppy spokes. Maybe a bit heavier, but really, not much.

Marin added something pretty cool to the new 2010 version- an integrated headset. I like the thought of this, since it spreads the stress of all things turning related out over a larger area in the head tube. Should make the beast more sturdy. I don’t know about it, since I am still riding my 2009. I would love to ride this bike with a 20mm through axle or a Maxle, something else to reduce the wiggle in the front forks. But, I am a big dude, so I guess it might not bother a lighter weight rider.

I love my bike. It does make me a better rider. It handles great, it feels great, and it looks good doing it. It’s fast, it gets over bumps with less effort, and I feel very secure on it. Try one out at our shop. In the spring we’ll have a whole fleet of them for you to ride, or just trust me and buy one. You won’t regret it.