Marin - 2022 Four Corners Touring Bike - Satin Black/Red

Before now I have only ridden older bikes, my most modern bike being a Trek 520 from the 90s. So it was time to get serious. I was looking for a heavy duty all-around bike that could do some longer touring and bikepacking, but mostly using it as an urban commuter. I knew I wanted steel frame, with a wider range of gears, at least a 2x. This was actually the hardest part of finding a bike, since everyone is now using the 1x gravel gearing. So with a lot of looking and weighing options I ended up finding the Four Corners and had it shipped from this shop via Curated.com. This one also was the most on point budget wise. I'm 5'6 and usually between sizes, the Medium frame is perfect. Bike came very quickly, mostly assembled, and was very simple to finish putting together. I have put about 80 miles on it so far and I am loving it more and more. The bike is really pretty and feels very solid, shifts smoothly and easily, and is a real treat to ride. It can handle grass, gravel, and stops well when wet, although sandy patches have been a bit dicey. The black and red colorway is really pretty too. I did immediately change out the saddle to my Brooks since I don't like the narrow saddles, but the one it came with is quite nice. at first I was concerned the frame was too large, but cut down the seat post 1", and that did the trick so I did not have to remove the spacers on the handlebar mount. So if you're between a small and medium keep that in mind; there is some wiggle room. also the 700 tires are very cool on this bike, glad i did not go with 650. The riding position is very flexible and easy to transition between upright and dropped, I have my bars and seat roughly level and find it very comfortable to ride in the drops and on top of them. Handlebars adjust forward and backward to make all that easier too. my one and only complaint is that the bottle cage mounts are in awkward places and none of the bottle cages I mounted are very functional. I also wish this bike came with a kickstand. Otherwise, I'm very very happy with this bike, and this shop does a really nice job with packing and shipping everything so it's easy to get going! Im very happy with my Marin!