does anyone know when the 06 marins hit the streets.. i am keen to get a rocky ridge and 05's have sold out.. anyone heard what spec it will have ??

My local dealer said that he usually gets a fax from Marin bout the new range at the end of August and should hit the shops in september.

You might actually be better off with an '06 Rocky - they tweaked the geometry slightly for '05, which made it even quicker steering. I'm told that they're going back to the original '04 angles for '06, though don't quote me on that...

Oh btw, be aware that the UK Rocky Ridge is specced very differently from the US model, so if you do track down some specs make sure they're the right ones. The Stateside Rockys tend to be built up with more of a jump bike spec, whereas the UK ones have a more all-round friendly build.

thanks guys.. some dealers say november, some say september.. just have to wait i guess as all 05's have gone.. huge phone bill proves this !!! not sure about the return to the old geo's.. was looking forward to the sharper ride...

keep me posted and i will do same.. seems like such a sweet bike and nothing else like it out there,,

The '04 geometry is plenty sharp and it's not definitely the case anyway.

Allegedly what happened was that the '05 bikes were tweaked to US preferences, where the Rocky Ridge and other aggro hardtails were specced more as jump bikes, which meant that what was a very sharp handling bike anyway, felt a bit more like a shopping trolley with the front wheel tucked right under.

I rode this year's bike briefly and it was like the steering had gone from sharp to a bit too sharp. If they do go back to the 04 geometry, it's only a slight change anyway, and it's still very fast steering to the point, on singletrack, where it feels like the front is on the verge of tucking under, but never quite does, so I wouldn't worry too much.

what size 05 model are you after?

cheers juan, looking for a large.

jo