You only have one handhold position
MARIN DESCRIBES ITS FAIRFAX range as 'built for the flat-bar fitness road rider'. It has a wide gear range, wide tyres for comfort and some rough-stuff aspirations, but perhaps most significantly, it has hydraulic disc brakes. You won't find a drop-bar road bike with hydraulic disc brakes at anything like this price, but this is one of two modestly priced 'hybrids' on test with hydraulic stoppers. And they make a world of difference.
The frameset, not surprisingly at this modest price, is an all-aluminium affair. But there's a bit of shaping going on with the flattened top-tube, and the semi-compact frame features dropped seatstays which, along with the 35mm tyres, promise a decent amount of comfort. I'm a big fan of fittings on budget road bikes, which might well be pressed into commuting or shopping duties, so it's great to see a full raft of bosses for front and rear mudguards and racks, including separate bosses for the lower rack strut and low-rider fittings on the front fork. You could argue that top-tube 'bento box' mounts would have rounded out things nicely, but that would just be the icing on the cake...
The hydraulic disc brakes are excellent
Generous gears
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
No limits
Not every adventure needs to be that epic, says bikepacking Scotland founder Markus Stitz
UNBOUND UNLEASHED
Josh Patterson was one of 34 starters for the inaugural edition of Unbound in 2006. Now, with more than 5,000 riders taking part in today's event, he charts the rise of the most important race in gravel
FOREST COMMISSION
Looking for a goal race in 2025 that'll stimulate the synapses and live long in the memory? You'd struggle to do better than ENID CRV in Finland
15 OF THE BEST ADVENTURES
Featuring Yorkshire, the USA, Sri Lanka and more, here are our picks of the world's greatest gravel races and routes
The stuff of dreams
Ned sings the praises of the Paris Olympics road-race course
"I rode 3,000 miles around Britain on a bamboo bike to highlight our climate crisis"
Recordbreaking cyclist and triathlete Kate Strong, 45, took to the road to raise awareness of environmental issues
FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
We venture into the hidden gem of the glorious Creuse, one of France's least populated regions
STAR TREK
New tube shapes and carbon lay-up makes the eighth generation of Trek's legendary Madone an aero and climbing bike all rolled into one
GOLD RUSH
With conflict around the world, Paris 2024 was a ray of light. Here are our highs of a mighty Olympics
