New bike for me- any thoughts on the Marin Fairfax?
 

I just bought a 2013 Fairfax SC6 on the internet. Granted, not the best way to purchase such a personal item, but the deal was too tempting for me to pass on. It's supposed to have disk brakes, a compact crank with a really fast top gear- 50/11t, all Sora components, a lockable QR rear, puncture-resistant 700x28s, and a carbon fork.

I don't really know Marin, let alone the Fairfax, but I've read some favorable things in reviews. Any items I should pay attention to with this bike or with any new bike in general?

Unfortunately, money is a pretty big issue in guiding my purchase and why I couldn't go for anything at my LBS, even clearance stuff. I do plan on bringing the bike to them for 'expert' assembly as they said they regularly do this for $75.

I'm really excited about getting something I can keep up with other road bikes on. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Specs I was told don't really match up with the company website specs for either the SC5 or SC6, although the SC5 is closer: http://www.marinbikes.com/us/bikes/d...irfax-sc5#spec. Maybe because they're only listing 2014 models now. I hope it's not because the seller was just putting down anything he felt like in the description. Link to a similar bike on eBay by the same seller, although I paid less for mine, http://goo.gl/9yv6Xd.

Thanks a lot for any advice, Ron.


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Briefly looked at your model and the 2014 spec and the main difference seems to be on gearing. The 2014 has a lower gear setup and with the crank being a 48x32- it may not have high enough gearing for the average rider. The cassette also has lower gearing aswell so would be suitable for mountains but could lack a high enough gear on the flat. Neither are points that could affect you initially but as Fitness and Capability rise- then you could be disappointed in the SC5.

Think you have got a good deal there and Marin is a good named bike. When the bike arrives you may feel like tackling assembly yourself. In the main it will be fit the wheels- straighten the bars and then check alignment of brakes and gears.-----Both of which are normally pretty well set up in the first place. AND are jobs you will have to learn in any case to keep the bike running sweet in future.

As long as the seller comes through with the bike, as shown, you did well. Having a dealer build it up is a good idea if you aren't up to that. Make sure the fit is dialed in for you, they should work with you on stems and such if they need swapping, a discount or a take off they have you could use. As Stapfam said, doing the set up is straight forward and no difficult thing to get done. Maybe a friend or using one of the many books available would do this for you. And, Marin is a good bike, as said by Stap.

Watch this seller closely, the negative feedback seems high, and several address their habit of cancelling a sale if they don't like the price. Hopefully your credit card or Paypal will protect you on that one, if it happens.

Bill

Usually when a thousand-dollar bike goes for 540.00 'new in box' (i.e. 'fell off truck'), the seller's in Jersey and the buyer's in Minnesota. What a topsy-turvy world we live in. I hope it all works out because that's a nice bike.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear Marin is a good make.

I live in Fairfax, Marin county- the namesake of your bike, so

thumbs up from here!

I also have a similar Marin bike- it's a fun ride, & the fatter tires make it versatile.