Gravel bikes are just mountain bikes from the ‘90s! We’ve heard this many times, and it looks like Marin has gone with that analogy with the DSX FS. Gravel is a wide-ranging genre that is morphing rapidly filling all of those gaps between road and MTB and I enjoy Marin’s take on things with this bike. It’s a lot of fun to ride because it feels relatively light and nimble, and can accommodate up to 2.1in knobby tyres meaning it’s not just restricted to hardpacked gravel tracks either. It does lack the mounting points of many gravel machines though, so this is more of a blaster than an adventurer.
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Marin DSX FS gravel bike - Technical details
The DSX uses Marin’s Series 3 6061-grade aluminium alloy for the frame with butted tubing and geometry designed to work with the suspension fork. Suspension is something we’re seeing more in gravel riding, and it certainly looks the business here with the frame design and flat-barred aesthetics of the Marin.
The welds are chunky, especially around the beefed-up areas like that extra little top tube triangle, but are well hidden beneath the glossy black paint.
The sloping top tube gives loads of standover and the ability to run a lot of exposed seatpost, ideal if you want to swap in a dropper post which you can do cleanly as the DSX has internal routing for one.
The front triangle runs all cables and brake hoses internally for a clean look and keeps things snag-free when riding through narrow branch-lined trails.
The rear mech cable and brake hose reappear under the bottom bracket shell where they then run beneath the chainstays held in position by guides welded to the frame and secured with zip ties. It’s not the neatest solution, but one that many manufacturers use.
Other details include a tapered head tube to beef up the front end for hard cornering and braking, plus a threaded bottom bracket that brings peace of mind for those dusty or muddy rides, especially if you are a bit lax on the cleaning and maintenance front.
From a mounting point, the DSX is as well adorned as many of its dropped barred brethren as in you won’t find anything on the fork legs, top tube or beneath the down tube for adding bags or bottles. It’s not a major issue as the amount of quality frame bags on the market these days means that mounting points aren’t a necessity.
There are twin bottle cage points in the traditional position and mounts for a full rear mudguard and a rack.
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph the tyre clearance is decent at 2.1in on a 700c/29-inch wheel and retention is taken care of via 12mm x 142mm thru-axle. The rear brake point is flat mount allowing the caliper to sit snugly in the compact rear triangle.
Up front, you’ll find an SR Suntour GVX LOR fork with 60mm of air-sprung travel with rebound adjust and lockout.
The GVX is a gravel-specific fork range, and this one is a decent performer. It copes well with the typical ripples and bumps you’ll find on byways and most gravel tracks smoothly and once the pressure is set up correctly, they don’t dive under heavy braking or when hitting bigger bumps.
Coming from the road and road riding, I’m generally on the side of no suspension on gravel bikes. I think drop bars work well with that though. The limited hand positions of a flat bar don’t so much, so the Suntour does make sense here, even with the added weight penalty over a set of rigid forks.
Included with the fork is a front fender or mudguard as we say in these parts.
In terms of geometry, the range comprises four sizes (S,M,L,XL) with stack figures of 583/602/630 and 658mm, respectively. The reach numbers are 400/425/440 and 455mm.
Many gravel bikes are road or cyclo-cross derivatives, but the Marin isn’t. It’s very much mountain bike-focused. The medium pictured here has a 120mm head tube sitting at 68.5-degrees, while the 74-degree seat tube is 480mm long. The effective top tube length is 598mm while the wheelbase is 1,097.3mm.
The bottom bracket drop is 82mm and the fork offset is 47mm.
Marin DSX FS gravel bike - Componentry
The DSX is available in five models starting with a model of that exact name for £775 which sees you get a Series 2 aluminium frame and fork, 9-speed MicroSHIFT drivetrain and Clark’s hydraulic brakes.
The DSX 1, DSX 2 and DSX 3 all come with a series 3 aluminium frame and full carbon fork with prices of £985, £1,155 and £1,835.
This DSX FS is the only one to get the suspension fork and costs £1,545.
The groupset is a bit of a mixed bag with a Shimano SLX RD7100 12-speed rear mech controlled by a Deore shifter. The cassette sees a shift to SunRace for a bunch of cogs spreading from 11T to 51T which is paired up with a 42T narrow/wide chainring mounted to a 1x alloy crankset.
I found this set-up to work well with plenty of gears high and low for the type of riding I encountered on the Marin.
The 42/51T lowest gear gave me plenty of scope for climbing steep hills in the saddle even with a bit of kit loaded up, and while the 42/11T isn’t that large you aren’t going to spin out on the flat.
The gear changes were always crisp and clean though, and the levers are well positioned on the Deore unit for ease of use. The shifting action is quite tough which can feel a little vague when wearing full-finger gloves but the reassuring clunk from the chain as it skips over the cassette at least lets you know that a change has been made.
According to Marin’s website, Tektro should provide the stopping power with the HDR285 hydraulic units, but the bike we have here is using Shimano’s flat mount units (running a post-mount adaptor on the fork) and levers.
The rotors are 160mm front and rear which all adds up to plenty of stopping power and control.
For the wheels, Marin has specced its aluminium double-wall rims with a 21mm inner width. They are 32-hole rims for both the front and rear wheel and when paired with the alloy hubs create a tough and durable wheelset. I haven’t had an issue over the last three or four months.
Tyre-wise, it’s another deviation from Marin’s website with a pair of WTB Riddlers in a 45mm width rather than Vee Tire’s Rocket Man in a 44mm width.
I like the Riddlers overall, well for dry conditions at least as their tread pattern isn’t that pronounced. They are a gravel tyre than for anything more demanding. WTB tyres can have quite porous side walls when first setting them up tubeless, but once that is sorted, they are fairly robust and reliable.
As for the rest of the kit, it’s pretty standard stuff with an alloy Marin branded mini riser handlebar at 680mm wide (700mm on XL) and a Marin alloy stem. The seatpost is much the same, purposeful without being anything flashy, and atop that you’ll find the Marin DSX saddle. It’s a little long and padded for my tastes, but it’s of good quality and the narrow shape means the nose is unobtrusive when pedalling.
Marin DSX FS gravel bike - Performance
So who is the DSX FS gravel bike aimed at? While gravel bikes and the concept of gravel are pretty diverse, many have evolved from road bikes, which, in my opinion, makes them an ideal alternative to those coming from a road background into off-road riding or for mountain bikers coming across to road riding.
The DSX is different. I wouldn’t say it is the kind of bike a mountain biker who already owns a hardtail is going to switch over, too, it’s a bit too much of a soft option. But, if you are a roadie wanting to dip your toe into off-roading without anything too technical or tricky, then it makes a lot of sense.
Also, for those new to riding the DSX makes a lot of sense. The wide, flat bars give a sense of more control and confident handling compared to drop bars and the fact that you can run some decent-width tyres opens up plenty of possibilities.
It’s the ideal bike for those who want something that can tackle a long ride or something but is just at home pootling around with the family at the weekend.
If you fit into one of those categories and go for the DSX I reckon you’ll be happy with your purchase.
I found the Marin to be an easy bike to ride. The lengthy wheelbase translates to stable dynamics that inspire confidence on pretty much all terrain while the capabilities of the fork and the way the front-end geometry works mean that the DSX never really feels out of control.
Bearing in mind that the review period has comprised rain riding which saw the standard tyres scrabbling for grip on anything other than hard surfaces, I still didn’t find the Marin to be a handful to keep pointed in the right direction.
With some bigger treaded tyres fitted for the mud, the Marin was noticeably easy to control, especially with some subtle shifts in body weight.
It’s the same at all kinds of speeds, too. Whether negotiating obstacles at a walking pace or carrying some speed on a flowing descent it all feels pretty relaxed and stable.
The only place I’d say it doesn’t feel as nimble or capable compared to a drop-barred machine with a lighter front end is on technical downhills or at really high speeds.
For what it is designed to do though the DSX is a machine. If you are one of those riders coming from the road into gravel via the DSX the top tube lengths may look extremely long but that is offset by the short 70mm stem offsets that length meaning that the position on the Marin isn’t extreme in any way. I found it comfortable, never too upright placing extra weight on the saddle, nor too stretched out that I was putting excess weight on my wrists and hands. I had no issues with toe-overlap either.
If Goldilocks were a cyclist, she’d give this one a thumbs up.
Everywhere else things are good on the whole. This isn’t a bike that will blow you away but, for the money, it gives a pleasant and rewarding experience.
The rear wheel follows the front one nicely and the back end feels light, too, so while the fork takes out the bumps at the front it’s easy to lift the rear wheel to clear the same obstacle especially if you are clipped in.
The weight of the fork also keeps the front end down when pedalling hard for seated climbing but isn’t so heavy that it affects the handling much when swooping into a turn.
Overall, from a riding point of view I’d say the DSX is dependable, and confidence-inspiring for those newish to off-road or who don’t want anything too extreme, while remaining fun enough to be engaging.
Marin DSX FS gravel bike - Verdict
Flat-barred gravel bikes aren’t rare but we haven’t yet reviewed many on the site for me to do a full comparison with.
Specialized released the Diverge in a flat-barred build a couple of years back but, at £3,000, it’s in a slightly different league. That said, the aluminium frame/carbon fork and 12-speed mechanical shifting doesn’t look that good value for money.
Sonder offers its Camino in a flat bar build which is based around an alloy frame and carbon fibre rigid fork, SRAM Apex 1x mechanical groupset which is priced at £1,149 or £1,598.99 if you spec the RockShox Rudy Ultimate XPLR suspension fork. Tyre clearance is 50mm at 700c and 2.1in on 650b wheels.
In Giant’s Cross & Gravel/Adventure range, you’ll find the Roam range of bikes which they describe as combining the best qualities of a road bike and a mountain bike.
The Roam Disc 0 is the range-topper and costs £999. The geometry is similar to the Marin, and it uses Shimano CUES rear mech and shifters, with Shimano hydraulic brakes. A Suntour NCX 63mm suspension fork is included.
If you are after this kind of geometry but want drop bars and aren’t bothered about a suspension fork Merida’s Silex might be worth a shout. The frame uses a long top tube, short stem and tall front end. The rest of the components are more focused though with 2x groupsets and a narrower handlebar.
We currently have the Silex 700 in for review (£2,150) although the range starts at £1,225.
The Marin DSX FS does have its limitations but it's a capable and easy-to-ride bike. It also has plenty of versatility and offers decent value, too.
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