Marin QUAD East Peak

The reviewed East Peak QUAD was bought in April 2003 and used exclusively up to February 2006. This can be classed as a long term review. The brakes were upgraded to Shimano discs on the day of purchase but apart form that the bike started as standard. Moving up from a hard-tail the bike seemed an improvement in every department; however limitations soon became apparent. The Stratos rear shock died after 9 months and was replaced with a coil version, the Pilot fork was flexi and significantly restricted the bikes rough ground ability, changing to a Fox float 100mm was an immediate and immense improvement. Prior to ditching the Pilot fork it had to be returned to the distributors after 4 months for re-building. The headset was a very cheap unit and only survived one brief clean and re-grease before it died completely. The bike also had a noticeable flexi rear end which provided sketchy handling on rough sections and a rapid ramp up over large bumps which could catch the unwary.

The main problem with the bike was incredibly high maintenance of the QUAD links and their associated bearings. Mud clearance is good however the position of the QUAD links means they act as mud collection points on a grand scale. The bearing problem is due to several factors: the sideways flex of the frame causing undue stress on the bearings, the grinding effect of mud, the quality of both the supplied and refit bearings and finally the poor seals of the bearings. Further research revealed American QUAD bikes had suffered from excessive warranty repairs and the bearings were supposedly upgraded to Japanese units. The combination of mud and the previously mentioned sideways flex of the frame rear-end killed the bearings. The bearings were changed continuously either in pairs or in full sets of eight. Some lasted a few months others as little as a few weeks. In total 32 sets of bearings were used to keep the bike running, this is unacceptable no matter which way it is looked at. The original two piece QUAD links were upgraded to one piece links and this did help to reduce frame flex but did not noticeably increase bearing life. After approximately 3 months two of the through bolts snapped and were replaced under warranty. Bushes and washers have also all being changed although this should be expected with high mileage. The designer of the QUAD has stated that the external mounting of the links was an area he revisited before re-designing the 2006 range of bikes. The rear trail arm of the current models might help to increase the rigidity of the frame but that may not be a complete solution. The overall aftertaste is one of mediocre quality.

Other kit lasted well, the best component was the brakes which have been 100% reliable with no leaks, few squeaks and with excellent dry and wet stopping power although less than a more expensive system, e.g. Hope M4 or Avid Juicy.

The strength of the bike is as a long distance cross country cruiser, it is not a singletrack or play bike but it can be encouraged towards anything as several thousand miles from the South Downs Way to Wales can testify. Buy it again? Perhaps. Keep it as long? No. Buy it now? I would rather have a Nomad.