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Enable Youtube videosThe Marin Rift Zone XR is the most powerful full-suspension trail bike without an electric motor in the Rift Zone family and proudly carries the tag "Extra Ride". It is built around a Series 3 frame made of 6061 aluminium with the proven MultiTrac rear suspension platform, here with 130 mm of travel. Up front, a high-quality RockShox Lyrik Select+ with 150 mm of travel steers the bike, while a shock tuned for the bike, the RockShox Super Deluxe Select+ with custom tune, handles the damping settings at the rear. Shifting is done by the proven mechanical SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed chain drivetrain, whose XG-1275 cassette ranges from 10 to 52 teeth and thus holds the right gear ratio ready for almost every situation. Braking is handled by SRAM DB8 hydraulic disc brakes with four pistons and large 200-mm rotors up front and 180 mm at the rear. As on all Rift Zones, there is no lighting installed, and the bike is not prepared for bikepacking either: it remains a focused trail machine without a rack. As standard, Marin includes a TranzX dropper post with size-dependent travel, tubeless-compatible wheels and wide 2.5-inch Maxxis Assegai tyres.
The model name divides into two building blocks. "Rift Zone" comes from geology: a rift or graben zone arises where tectonic plates drift apart. For Marin, the term symbolises the zone where the riding fun begins – which is why the line is affectionately known as the "Rifty". The abbreviation "XR", finally, literally means "Extra Ride" at Marin: it marks the most lavishly equipped models of the respective series and promises above-average components and eagerness to be used. Unlike the electric top models, no number or group of letters follows a drive unit here – it remains the purist, unpowered flagship of the series.
Within the non-electric Rift Zone range, the XR forms the absolute pinnacle: where the Rift Zone 1 works with an X-Fusion suspension and a Microshift drivetrain and the Rift Zone 2 with a Marzocchi Bomber setup and Shimano Deore, the XR uses a high-quality RockShox suspension with a Lyrik Select+ fork and Super Deluxe Select+ shock plus the SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed group. Powerful SRAM DB8 four-piston brakes with a 200-mm rotor up front are added to this. Compared with the Rift Zone XR AXS, the model presented here does without the wireless AXS drivetrain and instead relies on the classic mechanical shifting route – anyone who likes to pull their own lever rides noticeably cheaper this way. As expected, it differs from the EV variants of the EL series through the complete omission of motor and battery; depending on the frame size, the wheel size can be chosen between agile 27.5 and stable 29 inches.
The intended use of the Rift Zone XR is clearly defined: it is the bike for trail riders who are looking for a particularly high-quality specification without electric assistance – for long all-mountain loops, technical singletracks and quick laps at the trail centre, in short for everything that makes trail riding what it is. With a 150-mm fork up front and 130 mm at the rear, it offers more suspension comfort than the weaker models of the series while at the same time setting itself apart from the even longer, enduro-oriented Alpine Trail models, which are designed for complex enduro terrain.
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