Last week Marin launched an all-new aluminum Alpine Trail E enduro ebike powered by the torquey Bosch CX with a big 750Wh battery. And it’s a beast. With all the big mountain travel and much of the adjustability of their recent “meat-powered” enduro bike, this pedal-assist enduro eMTB is a super capable ride. Ideal for mountain e-bikers looking to tackle the most technical trails, but with a powerful boost to get back up the hill fast for lap after lap good times…
2024 Marin Alpine Trail E Bosch 160mm alloy enduro ebike
Marin calls this new Alpine Trail E Bosch ebike the “biggest, baddest beast” of their MTB lineup. A big step up from the previous eMTB generation of the Alpine Trail family, this new aluminum enduro ebike features: 10mm more travel front & rear, an improved long-travel suspension design, more capable geometry, more rider style adjustability, a more powerful motor, and longer pedal-assist range.
What’s new?
The logical starting point is the switch to a Bosch ebike powertrain. Marin now powers the revamped Alpine Trail E with the popular 85Nm Bosch Performance CX motor. Inside its massive hydroformed downtube is a big 750Wh PowerTube battery, offering almost 50% more juice than the previous generation.
And it all is controlled by a tidy Bluetooth wireless lefthand thumb switch with a simple multi-color LED battery & mode indicator just behind your headset.
4-bar upgrade
Next up, a new suspension design. The new Marin Alpine Trail E Bosch now gets 160mm of rear wheel travel paired to 170mm forks. That’s just 10mm more than the previous Shimano-powered eMTBs. But now it’s with a proper 4-bar suspension layout that promises more active suspension and a sense of even more travel (vs. the previous faux-bar design). Marin moves the rear end pivot onto the chainstay, calling it MultiTrac 2 LT.
It’s the same as on the newly updated regular Alpine Trail enduro bike, and was created to “reduce anti-rise, allowing for better chassis control while braking, more mid-stroke support, and better feel at bottom out”. Marin describes it as a gamechanger for their longer travel bikes.
Adjustable enduro ebike geometry too!
Like the enduro bike, Marin makes their enduro ebike adjustable, as well.
The new MultiTrac 2 LT layout had the added benefit of neatly integrating a chainstay flip-chip to let riders easily swap chainstay length & bottom bracket height depending on their preferred riding style. Pick a High bottom bracket/Short chainstay length for more agility or a Low/Long position for more stability. BB height and chainstay length both change by 7mm – a relatively small tweak to adapt the ebike to your preference, without doing anything too drastic.
It also gets an adjustable headset. That means the new ebike starts with a Zero-offset headset. Or you can drop in the angle-adjust upper headset cup and change the head angle by +/-0.6°. Don’t worry, no internal cables through the headset, so this is a quick and easy change.
From its low position baseline, the new Marin Alpine Trail E Bosch aims to be a bit more modern geometry-wise compared to its same-travel predecessor. But the old bike was already quite long & slack, so no huge changes. Now with just 3 sizes available – M-XL (but no more S) – these sizes gets wider Reach range, generally shifting rider weight forward, while still fitting most riders. Seattube are a bit steeper to match, as well.
Its headtube angle starts the same in Low mode at 63°, or half a degree steeper from the High mode starting point at 63.5°, hinting at a bit more agility. But with the adjustable upper cup, head angles go as slack as 62.4° or as steep as 64°.
Tech details
The new aluminum Marin Alpine Trail E Bosch now features a new 34.9mm dropper post diameter, UDH for future-proof drivetrains, and conventional internal cable routing through ports in the sides of the downtube with rubber membrane seals to keep the elements out.
Marin gives the Alpine Trail E lots of heavy-duty frame protection. There’s wrap-around rubber chainstay guard and seatstay protectors to ward off chain rattle. And also the big 30% fiberglass-infused-nylon downtube and motor casing protection.
Riding Impressions
I ride a lot of steep rocky trails, so I really like the ability to set the ebike up with the Higher bottom bracket / Shorter chainstay position, while still being able to pick how steep I want the head angle. Frankly, I feel like 63.5° in my preferred 0-offset is plenty slack, while still being able to muscle this heavy ebike around tight turns. But, it’s nice to know that I could make it slacker if ended up riding more on faster, straighter trails.
I had not ridden the previous Alpine Trail E, so can’t attest to its relative improvements. But I did get to smash this version down a mix of steep rocky trails, tight & slick technical tracks, and high-speed open singletrack. And the new Marin Alpine Trail E Bosch just smashes down the hills, and was happy to help spin me back up to the top to do it again and again.
Now, it’s undeniable that this is a heavy ebike. Beefy alloy frame + big Bosch motor & mega battery + e-enduro capable components… all adds up. The large E2 that I tested weighed 27.8kg (61.3lb) without pedals. It takes quite a bit of muscle to push that around on tight trails. But the geometry seemed well-matched to the weight. And the Alpine Trail E liked to stay planted on the trail. A side benefit to smaller, lighter riders though, is you’ll have no trouble getting an active suspension feel.
One tiny, but super-appreciated detail. Sure, it’s nice that the ebike comes spec’d with sticky Vee tires that I know. But also that Marin actually spec’s these ebikes with Cush Core Pro tire inserts and their own sealant, straight off the bikeshop floor.
2024 Marin Alpine Trail E Bosch – Pricing, options & availability
Marin only has two models of the new Alpine Trail E Bosch ebike. Both share the same 160mm travel Series 4 Aluminum frame, Bosch Performance CX motor, and 750Wh internal battery. And they both also get a mixed 29/27.5″ mullet wheel size setup. Plus, 170mm forks, powerful 4-piston brakes, and big 203mm rotors to bring these beasts to a stop.
The Alpine Trail E1 Bosch is more of the entry point at $5700 /6300€ with a Marzocchi Z1 fork & CR Coil shock, a Shimano CUES 10-speed LinkGlide drivetrain, and TRP Slate EVO brakes.
The ebike I tested was the $6600 / 7250€ Marin Alpine Trail E2 Bosch with a Fox 38 Performance Elite fork, DHX2 Performance Elite coil shock, an XT 12-speed drivetrain, and powerful TRP DH-R EVO brakes.
Both are available now through your local Marin dealer bikeshop. The old Shimano versions of the Alpine Trail E carry over without the newfound adjustability, but now with lower pricing.
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