WE DIG
WE DON’T
ABOUT THE MARIN RIFT ZONE EL
Marin entered the SL space with the Rift Zone EL (Electric Light) eMTB. This 140mm rear and 150mm front travel e-bike rolls on a pair of 29” wheels. It’s equipped with the Bosch Performance Line SX drive unit, powered by a 400Wh battery.
DRIVE UNIT AND ELECTRONICS | When we first got the Rift Zone EL in, Bosch was just releasing the update for their SX drive unit. The update bumped the torque from 55Nm to 60Nm, and increased the maximum speed from 17MPH to 20MPH. While this may not seem like much, it was a noticeable difference, knocking roughly 3.5 minutes off our test lap time.
The updated Bosch Performance Line SX drive unit still boasts 600W of peak power, but now with 60Nm of torque and up to 400% assistance. It runs on a 400Wh battery that, along with the motor, weighs about 4kg. The battery is removable via the Pop Lock release on the downtube.
More battery capacity is available with the purchase of Bosch’s PowerMore range extender, adding 250Wh. Fitted at the bottle cage bosses, the PowerMore adds 1.5kg to the Rift Zone EL.
Bosch’s System Controller is set into the top tube, with their wireless Mini Remote on the handlebars. From the remote, you can toggle between ride modes and activate the Walk function. Five LED bars indicate the bike’s battery life, with each bar representing 20% and a 10% loss when switching to white, before disappearing completely.
FRAME AND FEATURES | Like all of the eMTBs in Marin’s electric lineup, the Rift Zone EL is built with a Series 4 aluminum frame. The frame is built around 29-inch wheels, and features fully internal cable and hose routing. The routing ports are newly designed, and create a seal around hoses and cable housing, helping to keep things quiet while keeping water and debris out of the frame. As we’ll touch on later, we didn’t find them to be the most effective.
Marin’s angle-adjust headset is featured on the Rift Zone EL, allowing for half a degree of adjustment on either side of the nominal angle. There is no flip chip for further adjustments.
Along with standard chainstay protection to prevent chain noise, the Rift Zone EL also features a custom downtube guard. Located around the bottom bracket and motor, this guard is made from a Nylon and fiberglass mix. It features several small holes that help to dissipate heat and allow for water to drain on wet rides.
SUSPENSION | While the Rift Zone EL sees 10mm more travel, it has the same MultiTrac suspension system as the non-electrified Rift Zone. This is a Linkage-Driven Single Pivot setup, with the pivot on the seat stays, and delivers 140mm of travel. The suspension is controlled by custom-tuned shocks across the build range, and up front, there’s a 150mm fork.
Marin also offers a suspension setup guide on its website, serving as a great and easy-to-follow starting point for the Rift Zone EL.
GEOMETRY | The Marin Rift Zone EL comes with a 0.5° headset adjustment, meaning the headtube angle sees a range from 64.5° to 65.5°. We ran the Rift Zone EL in its neutral setting, which is reflected in the geometry that follows.
Stand-out geo features on our size Large include a relatively long 490mm reach, paired with 440mm chainstays — the same chainstay length across all sizes. Reach grows by 30mm across the Small to X-Large size range. The HTA is 65° (neutral), the effective STA is 77°, and the stack is 641mm. Bottom bracket height is 342mm, with a 36mm BB drop.
BUILD SPECS | Marin is offering their new Rift Zone EL in three build options — EL1, EL2, and the EL XR we received. Pricing ranges from $4,999 to $7,299 respectively. The XR features Performance Elite-level suspension from Fox, with a 36 fork up front and a Float X in the rear. SRAM GX Transmission handles shifting, and Magura MT7 brakes with 203 rotors take care of stopping.
All touchpoints are handled by Marin’s in-house components. The dropper post is an adjustable, 170mm PNW Loam post, running off a PNW Range lever. And, as with all the bikes in this SL grouping, Schwalbe set us up with Radial casing control tires — Magic Mary Gravity up front and an Albert Gravity in the rear.
Total build weight on the Rift Zon EL XR with these control tires fitted to our size large test bike was 47.5lbs (21.5kg).
THE DIRT
SETTING UP THE MARIN RIFT ZONE EL XR |The Marin Rift Zone EL was an eBike that was low-maintenance and happy-go-lucky. However, we found that the rear suspension still felt best after taking time to find the right air pressure for our riding style. The only other potentially time-consuming aspect of this bike’s setup was the cable rattle. Our model had a bit of rattle; however, we imagine that we would have been able to isolate and insulate it if we owned it. For the purpose of this test, it wasn’t bad enough to make us remove the battery and wrap hoses. The rest of our “temporary owner” experience was seamless, and we quite enjoyed how straightforward and trouble-free this bike was.
BOSCH SX DRIVE UNIT PERFORMANCE | We dove a bit deeper into the intimacies of the Bosch Performance Line SX drive unit in our Lightweight eMTB Shootout home page. If you want to see all the fine details, check that out.
Overall, the Bosch SX drive unit was a very competitive drive unit in terms of power, control, delivery of assistance, and tuning. It was impressive in this space when we wanted power and speed, and excelled on technical hill climb challenges.
Where Bosch fell behind and lost points, however, was in the efficiency, noise, and battery-size (range) discussion. The Bosch SX motor noise while climbing is louder than the Fazua and TQ. However, the sound on the way up isn’t what troubled us. We spend a ton of time on full-power ebikes so, the electronic buzz of a drive unit isn’t too big of a deal. However, the clacking sound of the drive unit while coasting on bumpy descents was a bit more of an issue.
DRIVE UNIT RANGE TEST RESULT | We compared eMTB drive unit performance and efficiency with a standardized test. We created a 13-mile, 1,300-foot elevation “Battery Efficiency Loop” and rode every bike in its highest assist mode until the loop was done. Our test rider, Travis, is 193lbs and was diligent about his efforts and physical state for each ride.
We rode the Marin on our Battery Consumption Test Loop both pre- and post- Bosch update, and noticed a large difference in battery consumption, as well as overall time of the loop.
Pre-update, the Bosch SX system completed the loop in 01:03:04 (5th/8), and used 300Wh of its 400Wh capacity (75%). This placed it mid-pack for energy used, and 5th in capacity remaining (predicted range: 17.3 miles, 1,730 feet).
After applying the 60Nm update, the Bosch SX system completed the loop 2nd fastest at 00:59:28, but used 388Wh of its 400Wh capacity (97%). This placed it highest for energy used, and lowest in capacity remaining (predicted range: 13.4 miles, 1,340 feet).
CLIMBING | We test rode the Rift Zone EL in size large, which was the right size for our 5’11 to 6’2 testers. It had a slightly longer reach than many of the eBikes at 490mm, which put a good amount of body weight on the front bars for steeper climbs, but also caused two of our five testers some slight hand discomfort. We all agreed, however, that the stiff bars and grip spec didn’t help.
The rest of the geometry put our crew in a strong and confident climbing position, but may not be for everyone. This bike had relatively short chainstays at 440mm. Still, it was one of Drew’s favorite light eMTBs to climb, even on the techiest sections. In fact, aboard the Marin Rift Zone, Drew easily climbed a couple of very challenging sections that had him struggling on other eBikes. Don’t let the weight put you off climbing the Rift Zone EL.
HOW DOES THE MARIN RIFT ZONE EL XR DESCEND? | Most of our testers got along very well while descending the Rift Zone EL XR. In fact, a few of our guys kept forgetting it was “just” a 140/150mm bike. The 140mm of rear wheel travel was on the sporty side, but avoided being overly rough. Most of our riders enjoyed the progressivity of the system, and felt that it offered a confident and capable feel when pushing hard. It felt so natural being pushed hard that all our testers agreed that we would have loved to see it with 150mm or even 160mm of rear wheel travel. Rift Zone EL LT in the future please, Marin.
Much like the climbing performance, the shorter 440mm chainstays of the Marin Rift Zone EL XR were not for everyone. If you are a rider who prioritizes a quick-moving rear end, a bike that can snap into corners, manuals easily, and puts a smile on your face, then the shorter rear end will certainly be a grin-inducing feature. We certainly had a good time thrashing it!
One thing that would make the grins come even easier would be a slight weight reduction from its 46.5 pounds. However, the extra dollars left in your wallet compared to many other lightweight eMTB’s on the market leaves room for parts upgrades, should you really want to put this bike on a diet.
FINISH AND VALUE | Every single tester loved the overall appearance of the Rift Zone EL XR. The stance, suspension spec, and most of all the paint job were all hits, and not suggestive of one of the cheaper bikes in this group test. While the charge port cover did a great job at protecting the vitals of the charge port, it was difficult to seat and took a bit more time than we’d like to get it fully pressed in.
We had issues with cable rattle on the Marin, too. It’s the kind of issue that we’re confident could be remedied with a couple of hours and some sound-deadening foam if you had this bike long-term. So, although it was disappointing to see, it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker for us.
Our only other critical point would be the brakes and cockpit, at least for our preferences. They didn’t please everyone in our group – which isn’t abnormal – but they are parts that riders can swap should they want to. Marin has created a bike that stands out, while both looking and feeling premium, without the crazy price tag.
COMPARISON AND RANKING?
Overall, our team all thoroughly enjoyed the performance of the Marin Rift Zone EL XR on every kind of trail. It was one of the most neutral-handling and diversely talented bikes in the 140/150mm category. It handled some high speeds and chunk, jump and played when we wanted, or could happily go out for a scenic cruise on a rest day.
The Bosch SX drive unit’s power and control were notable, but the relatively small battery meant it could deplete fast if the rider was not careful with battery management. The rest of the climbing performance characterisics were excellent on the Rift Zone EL though, ranking as one of the better technical climbers on test.
The value proposition on offer ranked fairly well, especially considering the support that Marin offers for their machines through their dealer network.
The Wolf’s Last Word
As challenging as it may be, we’d love to see Marin keep the solid value proposition, while also dropping the weight of this bike. It would propel the Rift Zone EL XR even higher in this category of do-it-all light eMTBs. If you’re not looking for the lightest mid-power eMTB, then the all-around capabilities and comfortable yet capable suspension platform will give you miles of good times.
Whether you’re looking to spend time on the back wheel, charging hard through diverse trail conditions, or you’re looking for a strong value Lightweight eMTB that will let you cover ground at any speed, the Marin Rift Zone EL XR is worth a solid look. It is a bike that our crew shredded, and shredded hard! 
Price: $7,299
Weight: 47.5 lbs / 21.5kg
Website: marinbikes.com
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