Marin Alpine Trail E1/2 thread

[Pezzar]

Right all, let's talk mudgers .

My E2 came with a nice Fox front mudguard but has nothing on the back (where it's much more important, imo) on a couple of wet rides the linkages and general rear end were a mess, even in the recent dry it's caked in dust .
Anyone found anything that fits the rear and works well?

 

[pete-E1]

Got the 190mm post in the bike today. lowered the seat when dropped by about 30mm which is really noticeable and a bit more length when extended. i got the KS i-RAGE dropper and it seems to work fine. Gets good reviews too as well as being cheap.

 

[joeincardiff]

I've had my E1 now for two months. Made some unsurprising changes pretty much from day one.

• Maxxis Assegai/DHR 2
• 400 lb spring
• Marzocchi Z1 forks
• XT brake levers
• 170mm Brand X dropper

And I'm really happy. Came from a Transition Sentinel and this feels similar but the mullet makes a bit more nimble in the corners and the coil works well with the back end.

In terms of water bottles - I've found a company called Cyclesolvers who make 3d printed adaptors for water bottles. I've got one of those with a specialized zee cage and it means I can fit a 640ml camelbak bottle into a medium frame. Before that, I was limited to the smallest of the fidlock bottles and I wanted more. The adaptor was a bit on the steep side, but it does work.

 

[Rayburn13]

Yea fits a rear, I used a mud hugger front frx and a old guard I cut into a smaller piece to block the lower linkage and they slide between eachother perfectly

 

[joeincardiff]

So I've now got a question. I wanted to switch to galfer discs, and so I picked up one of these -

Which seems like an elegant enough solution to the 'how to use a non-shimano disc'.

But the magnet is in a different place and doesn't pass the sensor. Does anyone know if it's possible to move the sensor back/forward?

(I've stuck a magnet to the disc for now and that seems to work)

 

[Baron Rouge]

Hi all, Alpine Trail E1 owner here, delighted so far. Replaced stock 35 Gold RL with a Domain RC, excellent upgrade for anyone considering it. Also about to fit a set of SLX brakes which should help with stopping such a mighty rig.

Question for you guys: anyone had any experience of routing new cables or hoses? What's the word with those rubber grommets? Do I need to pull them out or will the new hose go with them in place? If I get them out will they go back in? Will they break?

OK, if it’s any help to anyone, here’s the word on brake changing: no, you don’t need to remove the rubber grommets. Buy the Park internal routing tool and pull that through with the old rear brake hose. Then spend the next three hours trying to get the new hose through, slowly discovering that the Park tool has a long stiff bit that won’t go wound the bend above the motor. Eventually run out of other ideas/patience and undo the motor bolts enough to drop it a couple of inches. Use your new found space to put the Park tool through the other way and use it to pull a bit of old brake hose through. Finally use the little red Rockshox barb tool screwed into the end of your old hose to pull the new hose through in about 5 seconds flat. Chop Park tool into small pieces and consign it to the bin, sent on its way with some colourful language.

TLDR: keep grommets in place, use red Rockshox barb tool, very easy.

 

[urastus]

Finally use the little red Rockshox barb tool screwed into the end of your old hose to pull the new hose through in about 5 seconds flat

Thank you for sharing. Are you saying that this is all you need to do? Awesome if it is.

 

[Baron Rouge]

Thank you for sharing. Are you saying that this is all you need to do? Awesome if it is.

Yeah maybe I wasn’t entirely clear in amongst my rambling. Procedure would be:

Front brake - unbolt and swap over. Easy.

Rear brake - find/salvage/buy a couple of metres of old brake hose, plus your new brake. Use hose cutter to cut existing brake hose close to lever. Use barb tool (linked below) to screw freshly cut end to bit of old hose you got. Now unbolt Caliper and pull old brake out of frame, drawing scrap hose into frame as you go.Bit of push/pull helps here. You now have the old scrap hose through the frame.

Now you need to cut last few cm of new brake hose off at lever end to get rid of insert (if already installed, I replaced with Shimano so it was). Now screw freshly cut end to the lower end of the hose that’s in the frame at the Caliper end, and push/pull the new brake up through the frame and through all the relevant grommets.

Once done, fit new insert (bought cheap hose insert tool off Amazon, made this a breeze), swap levers and do a little bleed to get rid of the air from the hose at the lever end. The precise details here will vary according to manufacturer but with my new SLX I didn’t need to do a full bleed, just used the little pot screwed to the lever to add a little oil and get the air out.

Bit of a ramble but hopefully it makes sense, shout me if not. Here’s the magic tool:

Barb tool

 

[Pezzar]

Yeah maybe I wasn’t entirely clear in amongst my rambling. Procedure would be:

Front brake - unbolt and swap over. Easy.

Rear brake - find/salvage/buy a couple of metres of old brake hose, plus your new brake. Use hose cutter to cut existing brake hose close to lever. Use barb tool (linked below) to screw freshly cut end to bit of old hose you got. Now unbolt Caliper and pull old brake out of frame, drawing scrap hose into frame as you go.Bit of push/pull helps here. You now have the old scrap hose through the frame.

Now you need to cut last few cm of new brake hose off at lever end to get rid of insert (if already installed, I replaced with Shimano so it was). Now screw freshly cut end to the lower end of the hose that’s in the frame at the Caliper end, and push/pull the new brake up through the frame and through all the relevant grommets.

Once done, fit new insert (bought cheap hose insert tool off Amazon, made this a breeze), swap levers and do a little bleed to get rid of the air from the hose at the lever end. The precise details here will vary according to manufacturer but with my new SLX I didn’t need to do a full bleed, just used the little pot screwed to the lever to add a little oil and get the air out.

Bit of a ramble but hopefully it makes sense, shout me if not. Here’s the magic tool:

Barb tool

Great Hack mate - thanks for that. I've got the SLX and they are top brakes.

 

[Pezzar]

Right all, let's talk mudgers .

My E2 came with a nice Fox front mudguard but has nothing on the back (where it's much more important, imo) on a couple of wet rides the linkages and general rear end were a mess, even in the recent dry it's caked in dust .
Anyone found anything that fits the rear and works well?

Found something that looks ok and on a horrible, wet and cruddy ride protected the upper linkages fairly well, quite happy. May look at extending it down somehow if I can do it without it looking like a 12 year olds science class project

 

[Baron Rouge]

Yeah I’ve gone for the Proguard too, just fitted, doesn’t look too bad, we’ll see if it makes a difference next time it’s wet. Don’t imagine it will keep my back dry but might keep the worst off the bike’s sensitive underparts

 

[joeincardiff]

Do you not get tyre buzz on the tube back there?

Also - for those who've changed the rear caliper on the e1 - worth it? Changed the levers and brakes feel good but wondering if there's a win to changing the caliper too...

 

[Baron Rouge]

The tube is just about out of the way, it might touch on big compressions but I don’t notice and I figure something will wear down until it doesn’t.

It’s funny you should ask but i was just thinking today I’m not sure I notice a massive improvement with the SLX calliper. The levers are undoubtedly much better than the stock ones but I wouldn’t say the calipers are night and day. Maybe the finned metal pads that came with them stay cooler longer? TBH I’ve ridden different trails with the new calliper so hard to tell.

I would have liked to try Zee but couldn’t find any. Remember when you could just buy stuff that you wanted?

 

[Pezzar]

Yeah I’ve gone for the Proguard too, just fitted, doesn’t look too bad, we’ll see if it makes a difference next time it’s wet. Don’t imagine it will keep my back dry but might keep the worst off the bike’s sensitive underparts View attachment 93504

Don't expect it to protect you too, my back was wringing, it's all about the bike

 

[Rayburn13]

Yeah I’ve gone for the Proguard too, just fitted, doesn’t look too bad, we’ll see if it makes a difference next time it’s wet. Don’t imagine it will keep my back dry but might keep the worst off the bike’s sensitive underparts View attachment 93504

I had to take the shock off for service on my e 2 and tested full travel to see what I can place in which position and that upper tube placment is gonna rub the fender into the wheel and will prevent the bike from using full rear wheel travel, losing probably 1-2 inches of 6.. also I found anything connected to the rear of the seat when the seat is in the lowest position will touch the tire on full compression even when the seat is all the way forward on the rails... lower tube shouldnt touch but will be super close and if it ever did shift enough and touch the tire it would probably get sucked inbetween the wheel and frame then lock up the rear tire which would suck through roots or in rock garden or compressing into a jump...

 

[Baron Rouge]

Hmm, maybe I need to have a rethink. Perhaps my desperation to ride without a pack has blinded me to possible adverse consequences. I need to swap the spring (again) so that would be a good time to test full travel and see where my tubes end up.

 

[Rayburn13]

Hmm, maybe I need to have a rethink. Perhaps my desperation to ride without a pack has blinded me to possible adverse consequences. I need to swap the spring (again) so that would be a good time to test full travel and see where my tubes end up.

If you have the fidlock 450 you can squeeze a tube into the front triangle infront of the bottle.. or if your tubeless just get some automotive tire plugs and shove them in the oneup storage compartment and ditch the tubes.. they are usually black and much thicker than the brown bacon strips at bike shops and way cheaper.. you can rip them in half if you don't need a big chunk but i found bigger is better for sealing a puncture, the ones at bike shops are way to skinny

 

[Pezzar]

Hmm, maybe I need to have a rethink. Perhaps my desperation to ride without a pack has blinded me to possible adverse consequences. I need to swap the spring (again) so that would be a good time to test full travel and see where my tubes end up.

Yeah tbf I can see that innertube is going to cause issues, strongly recommend converting to tubeless mate, I'll never go back, as for a back pack I use an Osprey hip bag, much better than a full back pack.

 

[Baron Rouge]

I do run tubeless but can’t quite bring myself to head off into the boondocks without some tubey backup. Reckon I’m being over cautious?

Yeah for local rides it’s bottle and whatever’s strapped to the bike, for bigger days I picked up an Evoc hip pack with hydration thingy, used twice, love it.

I know they are calling it a hip pack but let’s be honest, it’s a bum bag/fanny pack depending where you’re from. At least it’s always behind me so I can’t see how uncool I look.

So what’s the word, how many of you run tubeless and don’t bother carrying tubes?

 

[Baron Rouge]

If you have the fidlock 450 you can squeeze a tube into the front triangle infront of the bottle.. or if your tubeless just get some automotive tire plugs and shove them in the oneup storage compartment and ditch the tubes.. they are usually black and much thicker than the brown bacon strips at bike shops and way cheaper.. you can rip them in half if you don't need a big chunk but i found bigger is better for sealing a puncture, the ones at bike shops are way to skinny

Good shout on those, hadn’t heard of them. Can you stuff them in with a standard MTB reamer/fork tool?

 

[pete-E1]

Managed to get out for a ride today. My battery fell out of the frame 3 times on large hits/cases. I had this issue early on when I bought the bike and adjusted the battery catch to make it more secure but still rode with a strap to make sure the battery didn't fall out. Today, I forgot to bring my strap with me. Has anybody else had issues with their battery falling out of the frame?

The plastic Shimano surrounding my power button also just fell off today. Bike rides great....quality control on its components isn't great though. I've got duct tape on the crank bolts to stop them coming loose and falling out again, duct tape on the rubber bump stops to stop them from falling off and now duct tapearound the power button to hold the plastic surround in place.

 

[Alex Ebiker]

Well fatso started her diet today. When the new wheel set arrives in the next few days, she will drop a bit more weight. The kashima looks really good with the black and grey.
View attachment 69612

How light does your bike weigh now?

 

[Rayburn13]

I do run tubeless but can’t quite bring myself to head off into the boondocks without some tubey backup. Reckon I’m being over cautious?

Yeah for local rides it’s bottle and whatever’s strapped to the bike, for bigger days I picked up an Evoc hip pack with hydration thingy, used twice, love it.

I know they are calling it a hip pack but let’s be honest, it’s a bum bag/fanny pack depending where you’re from. At least it’s always behind me so I can’t see how uncool I look.

So what’s the word, how many of you run tubeless and don’t bother carrying tubes?

Yea I stopped carrying tubes a few years ago, I found if I have strong tires I don't need them and them also started running inserts as well on the E2..
I ride alot of rocky trails in the Pacific north west so I did switch out the stock maxxis tires for Michelin ewids cause I found the casing a bit flimsy on exo casing for ebike usage.. I use a hip bag too mainly for keys, phone and snacks..
also to the other guy about the tire plugs, yea the regular insert tool works with the thicker plugs

 

[Pezzar]

I do run tubeless but can’t quite bring myself to head off into the boondocks without some tubey backup. Reckon I’m being over cautious?

Yeah for local rides it’s bottle and whatever’s strapped to the bike, for bigger days I picked up an Evoc hip pack with hydration thingy, used twice, love it.

I know they are calling it a hip pack but let’s be honest, it’s a bum bag/fanny pack depending where you’re from. At least it’s always behind me so I can’t see how uncool I look.

So what’s the word, how many of you run tubeless and don’t bother carrying tubes?

Me for one, never felt the need or had to walk the bike home tbh. I do have the plugs but have even stopped taking them out with me now.

 

[Baron Rouge]

Yeah the bike doesn’t seem to be holding you back Pete! Bad luck with the various niggles, none of that here, although maybe I’ve not been riding it hard enough. Only thing I’ve got is a rattle which I’m hoping is coming from the internally routed hoses.

 

[Baron Rouge]

Thanks for the info chaps, maybe I need to get over my fear and ditch the spare tubes.

 

[pete-E1]

Yeah the bike doesn’t seem to be holding you back Pete! Bad luck with the various niggles, none of that here, although maybe I’ve not been riding it hard enough. Only thing I’ve got is a rattle which I’m hoping is coming from the internally routed hoses.

Yeah, its literally all the small things that are failing, falling off that you wouldn't expect from a decent bike. Not to mention the Shimano battery range dropping every 10 charges, but thats a Shimano problem.

Maybe I just got a bad one.

 

[SamirRifai]

Hey @pete-E1 how’s it going?
Can you tell me where to buy a progressive spring 450lbs?

 

[pete-E1]

Hey @pete-E1 how’s it going?
Can you tell me where to buy a progressive spring 450lbs?

I'm in Australia and when I went looking for one, I tried NSDynamics.

This is my email;

Hi,

I've got a Rockshox Super Deluxe Coil R shock (205x65) that came with a 300lb spring as standard which is too light for me. I've put in a spare 450lb spring but it is a bit stiff for me. I'm looking to get a 400lb progressive spring to fit but unsure what adapters I would need for it to fit the shock.

I've looked at this one on your site Cane Creek VALT Progressive Spring
and believe it should fit, but unsure what adapters I would need. Any advice for my purchase would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete.

And their response was this;

Thanks for the email.

Unfortunately in this case the VALT Progressive spring will be a no-go. The Rockshox dampers have a larger diameter than pretty much all of the other main brand manufacturers (Ohlins, DVO, Fox, Cane Creek etc.) so springs from those manufacturers won’t comfortably fit the shock body. In this case you’re limited to springs will larger diameters, either from Rockshox themselves, or we also have the Sprindex lightweight adjustable rate coil springs available which will suit, and they also come with adapters to suit the other brands if you ever change shock in the future.

In this case I might recommend the 390-430lb option which you can find here - Sprindex Adjustable Rate Lightweight Coil Spring

The only other option would be a standard Rockshox steel spring in either a 400lb or 450lb rating, but they don’t do any progressive springs that we’re aware of. We don’t stock these in the shop here but we can special order them if needed.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[SamirRifai]

I'm in Australia and when I went looking for one, I tried NSDynamics.

This is my email;

Hi,

I've got a Rockshox Super Deluxe Coil R shock (205x65) that came with a 300lb spring as standard which is too light for me. I've put in a spare 450lb spring but it is a bit stiff for me. I'm looking to get a 400lb progressive spring to fit but unsure what adapters I would need for it to fit the shock.

I've looked at this one on your site Cane Creek VALT Progressive Spring
and believe it should fit, but unsure what adapters I would need. Any advice for my purchase would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete.

View attachment 93740

And their response was this;

Thanks for the email.

Unfortunately in this case the VALT Progressive spring will be a no-go. The Rockshox dampers have a larger diameter than pretty much all of the other main brand manufacturers (Ohlins, DVO, Fox, Cane Creek etc.) so springs from those manufacturers won’t comfortably fit the shock body. In this case you’re limited to springs will larger diameters, either from Rockshox themselves, or we also have the Sprindex lightweight adjustable rate coil springs available which will suit, and they also come with adapters to suit the other brands if you ever change shock in the future.

In this case I might recommend the 390-430lb option which you can find here - Sprindex Adjustable Rate Lightweight Coil Spring

The only other option would be a standard Rockshox steel spring in either a 400lb or 450lb rating, but they don’t do any progressive springs that we’re aware of. We don’t stock these in the shop here but we can special order them if needed.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Many thanks, I’ll look into them. I’m based in Peru, so I’ll also look into similar company in the US. It’s easier to get from there.