I have a 2003 Marin East Peak that I bought in January 2004. It is simply the very best mountain bike that I have ever owned! A pure pleasure to ride, especially on cross country terrain where it really comes into it's own.

I have used this Marin East Peak mountain bike fro the past 4 years (it is basically the Mark-1 version of this model - tubular frame non-ovalised.

I ditched the original RST forks as soon as I got the bike home for my PACE RC-36 forks which improved the ride no end (it turned out that the RST's had no lube in them and so was incredibly stiff).

Over the next six months I upgraded the pretty basic brakes to Hope Discs, replace the Marin rear shock for a Fox Air shock with lockout and replaced the gears with XTR throughout...much better!

The last mod was the replacement of the seatpost with a RaceFace XY version - but I have found that you have to tighten the seat clamp incredibly tight to stop it slipping.

Riding the bike the first time was a culture shock - I thought I was fast on my old Hard-tails (a Rocky Mountain Equipe then GT Zaskar) but WOW! You can hardly feel the lumps and bumps that used to send the rear end sideways. I felt little or no pedal action, and the suspension works whether you're standing or seated - it just works!

I paid £1050 for the bike but It is available for about £100 less now.