It Stands For eXtra Rad

Please be upstanding for the all-new Marin Gestalt XR, the perfect drop handlebar bar bike for off-road adventures and showing those mountain bikers how to shred.

Is it a gravel bike? Is it a drop bar mountain bike? Is it a bikepacking bike? Yes to all of the above! Who cares about definitions and pigeonholes? All you need to know is that the XR stands for eXtra Rad!

Gravel What Now..?

Gravel biking has really blown up in the last few years, and we're proud to be leading the charge here at Marin Bikes.

It's the perfect way to explore the outdoors, combining most of the zippy-on-the-tarmac benefits of a road bike and most of the trail shredability of a mountain bike. Singletrack, doubletrack, ride to work, ride for fun, gravel race, the gravel bike does it all and pretty much anything else.

So why eXtra Rad? Ever been on a gravel ride and thought "I wonder if I could ride down that?..". It was born out of exactly that, the curiosity to push our drop bar bikes just a little further. To break off the fire road, down the singletrack and further, faster and harder than before. All while keeping the versatility and challenge of a bike with curly handlebars.

That's where the 2023 Marin Gestalt XR comes in. This drop bar mountain bike-cum-gravel bike is built to handle anything you can throw at it. In our book, it's the best gravel bike for off-road adventures that might get a little extra rad.

No Stone Unturned

First, let's talk about what sets the Marin Gestalt XR apart from other gravel bikes. It starts with the frame and fork.

We built the Gestalt XR with a deluxe Series 3 aluminum frame. It's lightweight, super durable and built with a heap of cool details including a tapered headtube, internal cable routing and a 142X12mm thru-axle.

We've left no stone unturned in creating the gravel bike that we want to ride.

Extra Fun, Extra Stable, Extra Rad

On the trails, the Gestalt XR is designed to be super fun and super stable, giving loads more confidence than you'd ever expect from a drop bar. A longer-than-the-usual wheelbase and slack-like-your-mountain-bike head angle mean excellent handling on techy terrain and more fun and confidence when gravity kicks in.

Combine those with in a low-slung frame, wide bars, short stem and a gravel bike dropper post and you're really ready to tackle the super-niche that is technical, off-road, gravity gravel.

Or gnarmac. Or gravelty enduro. Or MegaGravalananche. Or whatever other weird and wonderful name you think it needs!

All Week Long

But the Gestalt XR isn't just about sending off-road trails - it's also incredibly versatile.

It features plenty of room for bottle cages and mounts, so you can easily outfit it for bikepacking adventures or the daily commuting by bike. It'll zip along comfortably on the road, it's perfect for biking to work, it'll take on your local cyclocross or gravel race and it'll get you wherever you need to go seven days a week.

And with plenty of tire clearance, you can run anything from 700c x 50mm to 650b x 54mm wheels, with room for fast slicks or grippy knobbies. It even comes with tubeless-ready wheels to really set you up for the most fun and least hassle.

The Gestalt XR comes built with 700C but can easily be turned into the fat-tire, 650b gravel bike of your dreams if that's your heart's desire.

And The Fine Details

And speaking of components, the Marin Gestalt XR was designed to offer mountains of value and fun. We've specced the bike with a careful balance of kit that offers great performance, without blowing your budget.

The gravel-specific Shimano GRX 1x11 drivetrain is a real highlight, providing butter-smooth shifting and plenty of gear range for all of your on and off-road adventures. The clutch-equipped rear derailleur reduces chain slap on rough terrain and those hydraulic brakes and 160mm disc rotors guarantee plenty of stopping power when you're hauling on the anchors. The brake levers are also designed for easy reach and comfortable braking, super important when you're on the drops and charging hard.

Let's not forget the Gestalt XR's wheelset. It would have been easy to shoot the price up through the roof with a big-brand, off-the-shelf wheelset, but we've worked hard to create our very own set of bang-for-your-buck hoops.

Tested relentlessly by the Marin team on unforgivingly dry and rocky California trails, we're stoked to have created wheels worthy of the XR. Pair those up with fast-rolling and grippy VeeTire RocketMan rubber and you've got plenty of grip on the loosest of gravel.

That's A Wrap on the Marin Gestalt XR

And that's the Marin Gestalt XR. If you're looking for a gravel bike (or even a drop bar MTB) that'll take you further, faster, steeper and rougher off-road then it might just be your golden ticket. It makes sense to us and we know there's a whole load of you that just love the niche thrill of gnar gravel. We see you and we've got you with the Gestalt eXtra Rad!

The Marin Gestalt XR is available worldwide now, via your local Marin Dealer.