by Justin Housman | May 11, 2022 | All Things Bike | 24 comments

I’ll get right to it here: I haven’t had this much fun on a bike since I was six years old. That bike came from Santa (courtesy of auto supply chain Pep Boys, oddly enough) and was a blue Huffy BMX bike with blue checkerboard bar and top tube padding. I will remember it until the day I die because it was my first real (ish) bike and it opened an entire world to me.

That’s how the Marin Alpine Trail E1 feels too. This one I had to buy myself, no thanks to Santa, but because it comes from Marin it’s as close to a bargain as you’ll get in an e-bike. But I’ll come back to that in a moment.

I’ve ridden other e-mtbs from Specialized and Rocky Mountain and they put great big smiles on my face too. But the Alpine Trail E1 hits a sweet spot between performance, comfort and bliss-magnifying fun that I’ve not felt on any other bike, electric or otherwise. Sorry to gush, but it’s that good. Are the new Transition or Santa Cruz e-bikes just as fun? Yeah, probably, I don’t know, I haven’t ridden those. But they’re also probably at least $2,000 more.

The Alpine Trail E1 rings up at $4,899, MSRP. It’s been around for a season or two now, so you may be able to find a deal somewhere, but that’s already a bargain, relatively speaking. For that you get a robust aluminum frame with a RockShox 35 Gold RL fork (You’re gonna want to upgrade that) and a RockShox Super Deluxe Coil R, a solid bit of squish for a bike this freakin heavy; it weighs roughy 55 pounds, depending on size, how much mud is on it, your tire/wheel setup, etc.

The drivetrain is all Shimano Deore with a 10-speed, 11-46T cassette. Brakes are Shimano too, their budget house MT420s with massive 203mm rotors front and rear. The E1 uses the Shimano Steps E7000 motor with 250w and 60nM of torque power.

If all that spec-talk is gibberish to you, know this: the bike comes with perfectly good parts on it. Nothing that will fail you. There are much better forks, better drivetrains, and better e-motors out there, but you don’t need those things, they’re just available. You could buy this bike, take it on pretty much any trail in the world where e-bikes are allowed, and ride happy, right out of the bike shop.

Smartly, Marin mulletted this baby with a 29″ front wheel and a 27.5″ out the back. The smaller rear wheel is welcome on a bike this damn big. Wheelbase on the XL I have is 1288mm. And, yeah, I mentioned it weighs 55 pounds. But that smaller rear wheel makes the bike feel so much nimbler than you’d expect. Headtube angle is 63 degrees, while the sea tube is 78 degrees, both standard hi-perf numbers. You get 160mm travel up front and 150mm in back—this rig is meant for pointing it down some very steep stuff, pinning your ears back and saying a prayer or twelve.

And this is the whole benefit of a bike like this. All of the downhill fun with none of the climbing penalty. Actually, that’s wrong. Climbing is not only not a penalty, it’s fun for its own sake. My fave local trail is a buttkicker more geared for xc greyhounds than big-travel slayers, but when there’s nobody in sight, I love switching the Alpine into “trail” gear (one of three power settings, Eco which basically just compensates for the wight of the bike, Trail, which has always felt like plenty, and Boost, which is so powerful it feels uncontrollable over tricky sections and since the bike tops out at 20mph anyway, is only useful for the steepest flat climbs) and flying up hills I normally grunt and sweat over. Of course, the joys of e-bikes are that you can still grunt as much as you want, and burn just as much energy, you just go much, much faster.

Typically, on the above trail riding a standard bike, my heart rate maxes out around 170 for the climbing stretches and it takes me about an hour and half from my front door on a round trip. On the Alpine E1, my heart rate maxes out at the same 170 on the tough bits, but I do the same ride in 40 minutes. That’s the difference between squeezing in a full ride during lunch or not riding at all.

Plus, with a bike like this, you can spot a fire road that seems to climb vertically, wonder what’s on the other side of it, and then…just pedal up the thing without bonking and ruining the rest of your ride. Exploring otherwise unclimbable fire roads on a bike with a powerful motor is less a sufferfest and more a joyous recon.

Of course, that’s a feature of all e-bikes, not the Alpine Trail E1 in particular. I think what makes this bike so damn good are two things. First, it’s very comfortable. I’m about 6’1″ and I am nice and cozy on an XL. My wife is 6’3″ and she is nice and cozy. My neighbor is 5’9″ and he fits great on this bike. I don’t know enough about the geometric wizardry it takes to pull that off, but it just works. This is a great bike for all day adventures because of that comfort.

Second, the price. This is a burly enduro bike with beefy suspension that handles like a dream, can tackle black diamond runs, that has a freaking motor, and is less than $5k. The cheapest Specialized e-mtb is nearly a grand more and it isn’t specced as well nor half as capable. Same with Orbea. Trust me, you don’t wanna see the MSRP of the Santa Cruz or Transition e-bike.

Marin is simply kicking ass when it comes to value. The wheels on some of the mid-level Marins need upgrading and I’m definitely swapping out the cheap fork on this Alpine Trail E1 as soon as I can afford to, but I don’t have to, it’s perfectly fine as is. Their Rift Zone line of full suspension “down country” bikes are, for my money, the best all-rounder mtbs on the market right now for the price. They may have been asleep at the wheel for awhile there in the 90s and early-mid 00s, but no other brand, short of DTCs like Commencal, can touch them for value. But Commencal doesn’t remotely have the range, and has almost zero customer service.

The only thing that bothers me about this bike is the little flap that covers the charging port at the motor. It WILL NOT stay closed. I’m concerned mud or water will get in there and corrode the innards. Every ride I have to engineer a new fix to keep that little door closed. Also, my god the weight. You don’t notice it so much when up and riding, but muscling it around the garage is hilarious sometimes. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m going to tip this over on my shins at some point while putting it away vertically, I know it.

E-bikes aren’t yet for everybody. I know that, we at AJ know that, and you know that. And even though I’m pro-e-bike, I won’t ride this all the time. It stays in the garage for most rides unless I specifically need or want an e-bike. When it’s time to explore otherwise joyless climbs, to run laps on trails (with miserable climbs), or to squeeze in a quickie at lunch (on the bike, weirdos), it’s the go-to.

That would be a reverse mullet. Sort of like a reverse review is when u feel like u know less about the bike than when u began reading. At least I know it’s too heavy for a tweener.

Nope – a reverse mullet has the bigger wheel in back. A mullet is business in the front (29er, more stable), party in the back (27.5, quicker spin-up, easier to whip tail around).

Lol great response. Never could understand people thinking it’s a good use of time to shit on other peoples hard work. Personally I enjoyed the article – thanks!

$5k for a “budget” e-bike? E stands for elite Don’t let the marketers, trade groups and IMBA fool you, e-bikes aren’t the great equalizer, they’re simply another overpriced gadget for the increasingly lazy instant gratification set of society.

Actually, Greg, they’re incredibly fun bikes. You know, fun? The whole point of riding mountain bikes to begin with?

I have ridden for 25 years and my ebike is.the most fun I have ever had. Call me lazy, but you can’t take the smile off my face

Oh Greg I call BS on that. You can work just as hard and for longer on a e bike…and finally up hill climbs are fun and gratifying possible without feeling your going to have a heart attack.

Definitely Not overpriced. Maybe you’re still buying 10 year old mountain bikes, I stopped doing that in the 90s. I still ride my “regular” bikes, but with E-power I can now explore super steep and super long routes. And I help Coach a High School Team and my bike is a great tool. Good luck climbing with very fit 17 year old athletes!! Nice, courteous people are the same on regular or Ebikes, so that argument doesn’t fly for me either. Get On Board, you’ll wonder why you waited so long

Thanks for the review. Enough info to make we want to check it out in person! And stay away from it in the garage…lol

Missed in my opinion THE key spec of an e-bike. Battery size.

504 wH. The range is fine for me. Range is so subjective on e-bikes I find it kinda pointless to mention unless it’s egregiously bad or limitlessly good.

Nice review, very balanced and complete. Seems a solid bike. I had considered it but found a way better deal.

I have been shopping hard for over a year and found an electric 28mph full suspension on Bikesdirect.com. Better price way better parts, higher level fork than Marin. Hal eBoost M600. Been riding it for a month and a half and LOVE it. Friend who has a Trek electric says it rides about the same as his $7,000 bike LOL

I searched for over a year and could NOT find a better electric full suspension for anywhere near their sale price $3699! link – https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/ebikes-electric-bikes-at-near-wholesale.html#28mph-mtb

This review was a fun ride, much like what I imagine careening downhill on this lovely bike would be.

Lol budget 5k. There is literally no price the cyclist crowd will not pay after the marketing bs starts churning. What industry can claim more conflated prices in relation to true costs? There are electric motorcycles that can go 3 times faster with more wheel travel, stopping power at half the price… deeerrrrrr but Specialized! Lol

As I say in the article, budget is relative. Most good e-mtbs are at least $7k. I’m def curious about the e-motorcycles that can outperform this bike that cost only $2500 though. Which ones?

I am 67. I am not lazy. You all will find out that things like climbing, mountaineering and bikes get a lot tougher at some point. I rode a friends e-bike once and it is a blast. Of course I raced motorcycles in another life so maybe that’s why I think there is one in my future.

I’m interested in this bike please tell me where I can purchase.

For the less than $2000have a good long look at Bee Cool

Ebike haters are silly. Add $1500+ to any other nonebike and that’s the cost bassicly. Spec for spec. Add a motor and battery to your current bike. Like a bafang bbshd and thats around $1500. And fun as heck. Im a superhuman now. Making climbs i never dreamed of, actually i did dream of it. Now i do it. At 51.

Damn, i cant believe km 51, it looks so strange to see it typed. Like who? Me? Oh yeah i guess i am. Time flys!!

Wha what what…. somebody actually developed a full-sus electromechanical? Be still my beating heart! :drool: :thumbup:

the bike comes with perfectly good parts on it. Nothing that will fail you.

…Except, maybe, for that 10-speed Deore drivetrain which may be good for the first 40 miles or so, before it starts popping links, leaving you stranded alongside the highway miles from your garage, haplessly fumbling about with the chain breaker trying in agony to remove those couple of bad links, hoping it holds together without tensing out and not hitting the low gears when you need them most. Ask me how I know this. You can’t just slap a =>10-speed ultranarrow system on and go like you could with your old-skool 6/7/8-speed narrow. They have to, in effect, be babied along if you intend them to work properly for any length of time. This is why I ended up just saying “fuck it” and downgrading both bikes back to my ancient, conservative 8-speed Deore. Old and inefficient tech, but reliable and fairly low-maintenance. </rant>

10+-speed drives are great when they work, but by god, they’re a futhermocker when they fail. But that’s why parts are interchangeable innit?

Sounds like you’ve been around the block longer than me so I don’t at all doubt your experience, but I haven’t had any issues at all with the 10-speed, or any other Deore bits or any of my 11 and 12 speed drivetrains. Ever. I’ve never even had to think about them. I lube ’em up, replace chains if necessary, and they just work.

I’m a retro grouch to some degree and been around for some time, way back to when Suntour XC-Pro was the shiznit. Anyway, Sasquatch is just being an old grumpy man, something I’m guilty of at times. Shimano tech just improves and improves and yeah, old 7 or 8 speed is burly but is heavy and chunky. I put a later gen 105 group on one of my road bikes recently and the tech and performance blows away my Dura-Ace from decades ago. I’m not a huge ebike fan, I’ve been vocal about it, but if people want it then what do I really care. The Deore on this bike is fine for what it is. A reasonably priced, durable, smooth shifting group that does the job. The most respect I have for old timers is for those who don’t stay stuck in the past and recognize progression for what it is. This guy is probably also a keyboard warrior on the forums. Take one little nuanced issue and blow it out of proportion and act like the whole product is bad because it just isn’t like the good old days. I tell you what will have zero issues in shifting and is super reliable, running friction shifters. Why not go back pre-indexing? Problems solved, but you don’t see a lot of that nowadays do you?

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