Re:
The cables are set up the 'Marin' factory way. The shorter travel frames runtime he cables under the rear shock, but the longer travel ones run above the shock. They almost touch the shock when stationary, but when you sit on the bike and apply sag, the cables lift and flex about in the void above. It may seem odd, but it actually works quite effectively, and they've never touched anything other than each other! On certain models, Marin incorporated a little rubber hoop under the top tube, which allowed you to run the cables above the shock, and through the guide hoop. The hoop was held in place with a push-fit stud into a proper factory made braze-on hole.
Anyway, I got a chance to test the bike out on the Evening of the Summer Soltice up in Gisburn forest. The bike has a brother called a Wildcat Trail, and it came along too; very similar bikes, just different gear ratios and the WT uses 2.4 Mountain Kings.
Although the weather was pretty dry and warm, it had been raining heavy over the last week, so the trails were still punctuated with deep puddles everywhere.
This bike is a few pounds heavier than the Mount Vision Pro I built recently, but the extra travel and grip on this makes the journey much easier. It accommodates far more terrain and mistakes than the MVpro ever could. Also, the BB is quite high, so it manages to climb over all the quarry rocks with ease - something that some bikes struggle with, as their BB is so low. Overall, the bike was all I'd hoped for. However, the saddle decided to de-leather itself towards the last sections, and I had to protect it from irreparable damage, so I stopped and walked back to the car park. A shame really, as I had to miss a couple of my favourite sections and I was really keen to see how it would compare on Strava.
I think I'll change the tyres to something a little bigger than the Verticals, and I still need to build the wheels up I want, as these are borrowed from another bike.
I fixed the saddle when I got home!