Hello. It's a nice bike. It's fun to upgrade an entry-level MTB to your liking. It also leads to learning how the bike works. I upgraded my 2022 Bolinas Ridge 2. Since I live in Japan, Shimano parts are easier to get than SRAM, so I changed to a Deore 12s with a single front chain ring and used an old Shimano hydraulic disc breaks called BR-M355. I chose bolinas Ridge because the frame of the 2022 model has low standover hight. I only have a 70cm inseam. If you combine a Bolinas Ridge 2 frame with a Deore 12s chainring and cassette, no one can guarantee that it will work properly. So I first tried it on the Deore 10s to make sure it worked fine, and then upgraded to the 12s. (The Deore 10s or 11s cassette can be attached to an existing 8s rear hub.) Even so, at first, it didn't shift well for 10s or 12s. After a lot of trial and error, I straightened the derailleur hanger with Park Tool's Derailleur Hanger Alignment Gauge. Still, the 12s didn't work. The reason was that I had mishandled the shift cable and how to pinch it in the bolt. Transmissions that exceed 10s are severely adjusted. I have short legs, so I need a crank that is 165mm long. In the case of Shimano, you can't choose 165mm unless it's XT or higher, so I use XT. It doesn't have to be that high-grade, but it's because of the length. The chainline doesn't fit a bit, so the spacers that came with Shimano's Bottom Blacket are one on the right and two on the left in the manual, but I put all three on the left. I really wanted to do Facing before I put the BB in, but I couldn't because there was no bike shop that would do it (I think I should do it if I could). The tricky part when swapping out the crank and chainring was that the 2022 Bolinas Ridge used an inch-sized bolt for the fixing bolt and not an 8mm. These two are not even 1mm different in size, but the wrench does not fit. If the rear of the frame has an OLD of 135mm like Bolinas Ridge, Shimano sells two types of 12s Micro sprine hubs with quick release (FH-MT500 with cup & cone bearing/FH-MT401 with sealed bearing). I Chose FH-MT500 for easy regreasing. I bought this and combined it with DT Swiss rims to make two wheels (Front and Rear). The DT Swiss rims were tubeless ready, so I made the tires tubeless with Schwalbe's Rocket Ron. The sealant is Stan's No Tube. In Japan, Panaracer sealant is easy to get, but since it contains walnut powder, if you try to pour it with a syringe, it will clog and the sealant will not enter. The front fork was replaced with an air suspension fork with remote lockout called Raidon from the SR Suntour. It was about 25,000 yen on Amazon, but it has a good balance between performance and price. If the front fork were to be replaced with a tapered steerer in the future, Tange's head parts that has 1.5 lower bearing (not Zero Stack) and 1-1/8 inch upper bearing(Zero Stack) would be able to handle it. The handlebars that came with the Bolinas Ridge were cut from 780mm to 630mm. The pipe was 4mm thick, so it was hard to cut with my pipe cutter (designed up to 3mm thick). My Bolinas Ridge 2 is changing regularly. What I've done recently is to change the pedal from a flat pedal to a Shimano SPD pedal, and to take the right pedal 20mm outward with the Pedal Spacer(Extender). This is because the toe of my right foot is facing outward greatly. Other things I've tried are changing the stem length, changing the saddle to a Selle Italia X-bow (now back to Marin), making the grip Elgon, and put on a handle cover to keep my hands warm in the winter. It's great to know that there are people out there in the world who are upgrading Bolinas Ridge just like me.
Thats a lot of sweet upgrades 👌 I think the Bolinas Ridge was a great bike for beginners who are interested in mountain biking. Its a quality frame with decent enough parts to start. The frame itself also help in being easy to work on, and learning how to build up a bike. I had fun upgrading this one, without being to expensive, and i learned alot in the process. Thank you for sharing your upgrades! Much appreciated 🙏
I fell in love with the 2021 29er version once I got it. Since then, I've gone to a 120mm dropper post, hydraulic brakes, Maxxis Recon front 2.4, Ikon rear 2.2, 120mm Suntour XCR air fork, and converted it to tubeless. Have a race next month and have been training for it for 4 months. Looooove this bike. Not sure that I feel the need to change the drivetrain just yet. As of now, its shifted smoothly up until 2 weeks ago, just in my rear derailer between my 2nd and 3rd highest gears. I think I need a new chain. There's no shame in finding a budget bike and personalizing all the upgrades you want. In the end, if the frame is solid, why not?!
That's awesome to hear. I opted to try out the Miroshift Advent X drivetrain for this bike a few months back. It's a better drivetrain for someone on a budget imo. I also think there isn't anything wrong with upgrading a bike regardless of the entry level. Especially if its a bike you plan to own for months/ or years and feel you get the full value of everything you invested.
I just picked one up yesterday that was very lightly used for 180$. It's completely stock but at the price I picked it up I have more then enough room to upgrade it. Super excited to get back into mountain biking and I'm really stoked to see how I end up liking the bike overall. It's first budget bike, so I guess we'll see what happens !
Thats awesome to hear. I actually end up getting this bike back. I plan to use it next week, its been a solid investment and still rides great years later.
Beautiful. I have the exact same bike. Year color and all, but other than Odi grips and a upgraded derailleur it's completely stock. Ended up here looking for upgrades to do.
Oh cool, Thats awesome to hear! I ended up upgrading the drivetrain on this bike again recently. I enjoy spending time on this bike, its likely to stay in the family for many years to come
I have a Bolinas Ridge 1 but a 2017 and looking into upgrading the same as yours. As for the crankset kit, how much am I looking to spend? That's the upgrade I want to do first. Did you need to change the chain as well?
Not right away, although if you only change the cranks the tourney derailleur doesn't have a clutch so you you may experience alot of chain drops. If your looking to do the drivetrain also, my advice is to buy a groupset that comes with a derailleur, shifter, and chain. It'll be cheaper that way.
It depends. From experience I know a 10sp didn't fit the original hub. I believe a 9sp might, but I was never able to test it myself. If you want something like an 1x8, Box makes an 8sp 11-42 tooth "Box Four 8S Wide Multi Shift Groupset" that retails for $159. Its supposed to use Prime 9 tech. I used a Prime 9 on a different build and I liked it just fine. It's sold out on their site though, like alot of other good groupset. Link to help a bro out (www.microshift.com/en/product-category/mountain/advent-x/)
Nice vid, I've got a 2016 Bolinas Ridge 7.2, not done so many upgrades like yourself, but much has changed over the years, only the Tektro brake calipers remain original now, and working on the bike has been great experience especially as its my first bike since my youth. I'm still running a 3x8 set up, have considered moving to one chainring but I'd already committed myself to a straight swap of parts. Two of the best changes I've made are moving to rockshox forks, and adding new wheels to go tubeless. Oh and buying a more comfortable seat and better flat pedals. What travel have your forks got? I'm considering upgrading to 120mm travel in the future.
I kept the fork to 100mm, as this bike was used for cross country and light trails, for a much lighter rider then myself. I think the fork and drivetrain were the most notable upgrades to the bike as it made the overall bike considerably lighter, its been a great experience in learning about bikes in my free time.
Thats awesome to hear. I can tell you from experience that a 10sp won’t find the stock hub. Looking back i wish i bought the Box Prime 9, in hindsight the 9 might have fit the stock hub. For the fork, i have had no issues with the Rockshox recon. But i also wrestled with the Manitou Markhor because it allows you to switch from 100-120mm from what i heard. Ultimately the Recon won due to availability.
@@edch06 Well i didn’t get my first Prime 9 until months after I finished this build. And the old wheel got turned into a clock, so what I have is nothing more then a sneaky suspicion that it would have worked. If not for this recommendation from my local bike shop I was looking at this wheel from worldwide cyclery thats currently outta stock. I always recommend check with a local bike shop as they may have something in that size lying around. www.worldwidecyclery.com/products/quality-wheels-mountain-disc-rear-wheel-27-5-32h-135mm-qr-sram-406-6-bolt-wtb-st-i23-tubeless-black#cyc-modal
Did you mean this? www.rei.com/product/109438/sram-nx-gxp-crankset-32t I bought this from a local bike shop. Along with the Sram GXP BB. It uses a standard 73 mm, so if you can't find this one, there shouldn't be any issues finding on just like it to work.
Pretty sure I misunderstood the question originally. Actually no, my local dealer has yet to refill his supply of Marin Bikes since he sold out in 2020. I don’t know when I’ll see one, at this point.
If remember correctly it was somewhere in the ballpark of about $900-$1000 USD (Bike included). I ended up upgrading the brakes to hydraulics later which added an additional $150.
@@RomansDowntime not bad. I recently bought this bike & upgraded tires, brakes, saddle, fork. Now I want to start looking for a new trans & crank, I like the set up👍🏼 I do want to try to avoid buying a new rear wheel.
@@boostedlife4183 Awesome. I remember how noticeably lighter the bike was after the drivetrain got installed. I think its at about 28 pounds now. The fact that the 10sp was slightly to big kind of shocked me, and I only wish I had a Prime 9 or at least an 8 sp to avoid buying a new wheel.
Too much money was spent on a low end Marin....The money would of been well spent on say a Trek X-Caliber instead. Sorry but I'm seeing too many people spending hundreds of dollars on a bike that cost new, 400-500 bucks. Doesn't make it a sound investment....
Hello. It's a nice bike. It's fun to upgrade an entry-level MTB to your liking. It also leads to learning how the bike works.
I upgraded my 2022 Bolinas Ridge 2. Since I live in Japan, Shimano parts are easier to get than SRAM, so I changed to a Deore 12s with a single front chain ring and used an old Shimano hydraulic disc breaks called BR-M355.
I chose bolinas Ridge because the frame of the 2022 model has low standover hight. I only have a 70cm inseam.
If you combine a Bolinas Ridge 2 frame with a Deore 12s chainring and cassette, no one can guarantee that it will work properly. So I first tried it on the Deore 10s to make sure it worked fine, and then upgraded to the 12s. (The Deore 10s or 11s cassette can be attached to an existing 8s rear hub.)
Even so, at first, it didn't shift well for 10s or 12s. After a lot of trial and error, I straightened the derailleur hanger with Park Tool's Derailleur Hanger Alignment Gauge. Still, the 12s didn't work. The reason was that I had mishandled the shift cable and how to pinch it in the bolt. Transmissions that exceed 10s are severely adjusted.
I have short legs, so I need a crank that is 165mm long. In the case of Shimano, you can't choose 165mm unless it's XT or higher, so I use XT. It doesn't have to be that high-grade, but it's because of the length.
The chainline doesn't fit a bit, so the spacers that came with Shimano's Bottom Blacket are one on the right and two on the left in the manual, but I put all three on the left. I really wanted to do Facing before I put the BB in, but I couldn't because there was no bike shop that would do it (I think I should do it if I could).
The tricky part when swapping out the crank and chainring was that the 2022 Bolinas Ridge used an inch-sized bolt for the fixing bolt and not an 8mm. These two are not even 1mm different in size, but the wrench does not fit.
If the rear of the frame has an OLD of 135mm like Bolinas Ridge, Shimano sells two types of 12s Micro sprine hubs with quick release (FH-MT500 with cup & cone bearing/FH-MT401 with sealed bearing). I Chose FH-MT500 for easy regreasing. I bought this and combined it with DT Swiss rims to make two wheels (Front and Rear).
The DT Swiss rims were tubeless ready, so I made the tires tubeless with Schwalbe's Rocket Ron. The sealant is Stan's No Tube. In Japan, Panaracer sealant is easy to get, but since it contains walnut powder, if you try to pour it with a syringe, it will clog and the sealant will not enter.
The front fork was replaced with an air suspension fork with remote lockout called Raidon from the SR Suntour. It was about 25,000 yen on Amazon, but it has a good balance between performance and price.
If the front fork were to be replaced with a tapered steerer in the future, Tange's head parts that has 1.5 lower bearing (not Zero Stack) and 1-1/8 inch upper bearing(Zero Stack) would be able to handle it.
The handlebars that came with the Bolinas Ridge were cut from 780mm to 630mm. The pipe was 4mm thick, so it was hard to cut with my pipe cutter (designed up to 3mm thick).
My Bolinas Ridge 2 is changing regularly. What I've done recently is to change the pedal from a flat pedal to a Shimano SPD pedal, and to take the right pedal 20mm outward with the Pedal Spacer(Extender). This is because the toe of my right foot is facing outward greatly.
Other things I've tried are changing the stem length, changing the saddle to a Selle Italia X-bow (now back to Marin), making the grip Elgon, and put on a handle cover to keep my hands warm in the winter.
It's great to know that there are people out there in the world who are upgrading Bolinas Ridge just like me.
Thats a lot of sweet upgrades 👌
I think the Bolinas Ridge was a great bike for beginners who are interested in mountain biking. Its a quality frame with decent enough parts to start.
The frame itself also help in being easy to work on, and learning how to build up a bike. I had fun upgrading this one, without being to expensive, and i learned alot in the process.
Thank you for sharing your upgrades! Much appreciated 🙏
I fell in love with the 2021 29er version once I got it. Since then, I've gone to a 120mm dropper post, hydraulic brakes, Maxxis Recon front 2.4, Ikon rear 2.2, 120mm Suntour XCR air fork, and converted it to tubeless. Have a race next month and have been training for it for 4 months. Looooove this bike. Not sure that I feel the need to change the drivetrain just yet. As of now, its shifted smoothly up until 2 weeks ago, just in my rear derailer between my 2nd and 3rd highest gears. I think I need a new chain. There's no shame in finding a budget bike and personalizing all the upgrades you want. In the end, if the frame is solid, why not?!
That's awesome to hear. I opted to try out the Miroshift Advent X drivetrain for this bike a few months back. It's a better drivetrain for someone on a budget imo. I also think there isn't anything wrong with upgrading a bike regardless of the entry level. Especially if its a bike you plan to own for months/ or years and feel you get the full value of everything you invested.
I just purchased a Bolinas Ridge 1 and I am interested in upgrading it to make it lighter for commuting.
@@chrisruiz8966 Honestly its not a bad build to start off with. Shouldn’t be too hard to find areas to drop weight also.
I just picked one up yesterday that was very lightly used for 180$. It's completely stock but at the price I picked it up I have more then enough room to upgrade it. Super excited to get back into mountain biking and I'm really stoked to see how I end up liking the bike overall. It's first budget bike, so I guess we'll see what happens !
Thats awesome to hear. I actually end up getting this bike back. I plan to use it next week, its been a solid investment and still rides great years later.
Beautiful. I have the exact same bike. Year color and all, but other than Odi grips and a upgraded derailleur it's completely stock. Ended up here looking for upgrades to do.
Oh cool, Thats awesome to hear! I ended up upgrading the drivetrain on this bike again recently. I enjoy spending time on this bike, its likely to stay in the family for many years to come
I have a Bolinas Ridge 1 but a 2017 and looking into upgrading the same as yours. As for the crankset kit, how much am I looking to spend? That's the upgrade I want to do first. Did you need to change the chain as well?
Not right away, although if you only change the cranks the tourney derailleur doesn't have a clutch so you you may experience alot of chain drops. If your looking to do the drivetrain also, my advice is to buy a groupset that comes with a derailleur, shifter, and chain. It'll be cheaper that way.
@@RomansDowntime does any groupset kit I find online work? Any recommendations? Or links for the kits? Thank you.
It depends. From experience I know a 10sp didn't fit the original hub. I believe a 9sp might, but I was never able to test it myself. If you want something like an 1x8, Box makes an 8sp 11-42 tooth "Box Four 8S Wide Multi Shift Groupset" that retails for $159. Its supposed to use Prime 9 tech. I used a Prime 9 on a different build and I liked it just fine. It's sold out on their site though, like alot of other good groupset.
Link to help a bro out (www.microshift.com/en/product-category/mountain/advent-x/)
@@RomansDowntime thanks for your help.
Nice vid, I've got a 2016 Bolinas Ridge 7.2, not done so many upgrades like yourself, but much has changed over the years, only the Tektro brake calipers remain original now, and working on the bike has been great experience especially as its my first bike since my youth. I'm still running a 3x8 set up, have considered moving to one chainring but I'd already committed myself to a straight swap of parts. Two of the best changes I've made are moving to rockshox forks, and adding new wheels to go tubeless. Oh and buying a more comfortable seat and better flat pedals. What travel have your forks got? I'm considering upgrading to 120mm travel in the future.
I kept the fork to 100mm, as this bike was used for cross country and light trails, for a much lighter rider then myself. I think the fork and drivetrain were the most notable upgrades to the bike as it made the overall bike considerably lighter, its been a great experience in learning about bikes in my free time.
I have one completely stock. Im wanting to upgrade it. Starting with drivetrain and i guess wheel.
Then a better fork. What fork would you recomend?
Thats awesome to hear. I can tell you from experience that a 10sp won’t find the stock hub. Looking back i wish i bought the Box Prime 9, in hindsight the 9 might have fit the stock hub.
For the fork, i have had no issues with the Rockshox recon. But i also wrestled with the Manitou Markhor because it allows you to switch from 100-120mm from what i heard. Ultimately the Recon won due to availability.
@@RomansDowntime you think the box prime 9 fits on the stock wheel?
@@RomansDowntime if not what budget wheel would you recomend
@@edch06 Well i didn’t get my first Prime 9 until months after I finished this build. And the old wheel got turned into a clock, so what I have is nothing more then a sneaky suspicion that it would have worked.
If not for this recommendation from my local bike shop I was looking at this wheel from worldwide cyclery thats currently outta stock. I always recommend check with a local bike shop as they may have something in that size lying around.
www.worldwidecyclery.com/products/quality-wheels-mountain-disc-rear-wheel-27-5-32h-135mm-qr-sram-406-6-bolt-wtb-st-i23-tubeless-black#cyc-modal
Can you put 2.4 wheels in the rear of bolinas ridge 2?
I never tried, so dunno. But probably 🤷
What from single crank did you buy. And where can I find it.
Did you mean this?
www.rei.com/product/109438/sram-nx-gxp-crankset-32t
I bought this from a local bike shop. Along with the Sram GXP BB. It uses a standard 73 mm, so if you can't find this one, there shouldn't be any issues finding on just like it to work.
Just ordered the 29” in blue. Has your friend ridden it yet? Or you for that matter?
Pretty sure I misunderstood the question originally. Actually no, my local dealer has yet to refill his supply of Marin Bikes since he sold out in 2020. I don’t know when I’ll see one, at this point.
How much did u spend on the whole build ?
If remember correctly it was somewhere in the ballpark of about $900-$1000 USD (Bike included).
I ended up upgrading the brakes to hydraulics later which added an additional $150.
@@RomansDowntime not bad. I recently bought this bike & upgraded tires, brakes, saddle, fork. Now I want to start looking for a new trans & crank, I like the set up👍🏼 I do want to try to avoid buying a new rear wheel.
@@boostedlife4183 Awesome. I remember how noticeably lighter the bike was after the drivetrain got installed. I think its at about 28 pounds now.
The fact that the 10sp was slightly to big kind of shocked me, and I only wish I had a Prime 9 or at least an 8 sp to avoid buying a new wheel.
Too much money was spent on a low end Marin....The money would of been well spent on say a Trek X-Caliber instead. Sorry but I'm seeing too many people spending hundreds of dollars on a bike that cost new, 400-500 bucks. Doesn't make it a sound investment....
Maybe. However, there is no harm in it. Especially if its the only bike someone owns, and expects to keep it for years to come.