The Trek Marlin+ 8 is built with an aluminum alloy frame, what Trek calls Alpha Gold aluminum. This is a relatively thin-walled aluminum that is butted—tubes are thicker on the where they are welded—and also hydroformed to give the tubes the shapes they take. What this adds up to is a frame that is lighter and stronger than what we find at lower price points.
Trek produces the Marlin+ 8 in five sizes to truly fit nearly anyone. Two sizes, the small and extra small, roll on 27.5-in. wheels to keep the standover height and reach reasonable for people of modest height. The medium, large and extra large roll on 29-in. wheels, which allows them to make the most of this eMTBs ability to roll over rocks and roots. Trek says that the Marlin+ 8 should fit everyone from 4 feet 9 up to 6 feet 5 and that is a range you can believe … thanks to five sizes. The two smallest sizes also get a narrower bar than the bigger sizes.
The fork is RockShox’s Recon Silver RL, which is an air-spring fork with adjustable damping, adjustable air pressure and preload, plus lockout. It also offers 120mm of travel; compare that with the 60, 80 or 100mm of travel we often see on more cost-conscious e-bikes. The difference between this fork and the suspension forks with coil springs we see on value-targeted e-bikes is significant; it will do more to soak up little bumps while also doing a better job of absorbing bigger hits.
For riders looking to ride singletrack trails who also need to stick to a budget that won’t max out a credit card, the Trek Marlin+ 8 is an outstanding option. It will offer a level of performance that is unlikely to be matched by anything going for less than $3000. This is a different world of performance from the fat-tire, all-terrain e-bikes that are so heavily advertised. And while it’s made for off road use, there’s nothing to say you can’t commute to work on the Marlin+ 8.
One detail that would be easy to overlook that will definitely affect the ride quality is their tire choice. The Bontrager Gunnison Pro XR tires are tubeless ready which means that a bike shop can remove the tubes and set the tires up to be run tubeless. This does several things for your experience. First, it improves the ride quality by allowing the tire to flex more. It also allows you to run lower tire pressure, which also improves ride quality. Running tires tubeless also cuts rolling resistance which means that running lower tire pressure won’t slow you down. Finally, it improves flat resistance because should the tire be punctured, sealant inside the tire will usually plug the hole before it goes flat.
We’re beginning to see some eMTBs at lower price points and one thing they don’t offer is the ability to set up the tires for tubeless riding. It’s easy to underestimate how this improves an eMTB’s ride quality.
One last detail not to overlook is the presence of a dropper post. Of the many technical innovations in mountain biking over the last 25 years (and there have been many), dropper posts changed the experience of going down steep descents by allowing the rider to press a lever with their thumb and with their body weight push the saddle down, allowing them to get their body down to lower their center of gravity, making downhills entirely more fun than they would be with the seat all the way up.
