I have 2 E2's - a medium for me and a large for my son - sorry for those that are still waiting, I just got lucky searching
(Ironic - I feel guilty climbing past regular riders on an E-Bike and now I feel guilty having 2 when some of you don't have yours yet)
My M came with the 35mm deity, the L came with the 50mm raceface - To be fair - the US specsheet for 2022 shows a race facespec, I just thought going to 50mm was a bummer - so I contacted Marin about this and a few other things, they were very responsive, and it came down to Deity was replaced with RaceFace due to supply issues. So if you get a bike from early in the build cycle, you might get a 35mm deity, otherwise it will likely be a 50mm RaceFace. I am in the US - I could not speak to regional differences.
Here are my impressions after having mine for a short while
As far as build, it is always good to go over the bike if you know how - no bikes are immune to build issues, some more than others.
Trunnion bolts are always a touchy install on any bike - its a fine thread aluminum shoulder bolt and has to be 100% aligned and straight to start the bolt - just take your time and make sure to manipulate the rear triangle to get it lined up. Both our bikes came with allen heads
Clean the threads with a brush as best you can, put clean blue threadlocker on the threads and a dab of grease on the shoulder upon reinstall, torque to spec. I've replaced both springs - I put a Sprindex on mine and put the 350 from the M onto my sons, and lining up the trunnion bolts is the touchy part.
Motor limits - my M came with a 20mph US cutoff, the L came with a 16mph EU/NON US cutoff - to fix this we will need to take the L to a shop to get a firmware update (it's apparently a special firmware flash that uses the Steps/DI2 interface) - I don't want to sideload it with another app at this point
Battery connector - keep an eye on the upper battery connector (at the head tube) my L came loose - not a big issue for me to fix it - but if you are not comfortable wrenching, take it in if the battery starts rattling around. Marin stated they were aware of this and addressed it at the factory during production runs.
I feel a little hesitation with all of these e-bikes and the long term of the battery staying tight in the holder. I have some rubber cinch straps I might use to keep the strain off the holder - but then again, I might be providing a solution where there is no problem - time will tell
Dropper post cable - the cable binds in both frames - I'm guessing the cables are binding up on the seat tube - I could barely get the cable on our frames to pull through , even after pulling the battery and working it from both ends. I have no desire to pull the motor to figure this out so it was just a tug of war to get a couple of extra inches to raise the seatpost on the L
SeatPost - I can definitely see a value to longer extension dropper posts - I wish my M was at least a 170mm dropper - the L frame could be a 200 at least - this bike has a ridiculously low standover, so Marin might as well pair it with the right dropper post
Water Bottle - I have no idea how a S would ever fit a bottle. My M will only and ever so barely fit a short bottle I found on Amazon (550ml I believe) using a Specialized Z cage, I had to hog out the cage bolt slots to get it fit just right. For so many things right with this bike, this was one area where they blew it
And Marin - why did you use such tall rivnuts for the water bottle bosses? - they are ridiculously tall - about 10mm or 3/8" high - Why? a braver person than me would machine/file these down some and use shorter bolts if it helped solve the problem
Side note: It will fit a beer can in a foam coozie just fine!
Fork Stops - all four of ours are already wonky from transporting the bikes, etc. They are held on with some odd adhesive that isn't strong enough to keep them in place. I have umpteen types of adhesive at my shop, I can figure it out if it becomes a problem. Plus, if I can thin these out or make thinner replacements without leaving the frame susceptible to denting, I might try that and grab a few degrees of turn radius - these are boats, see below
Other than that, these bikes are hella fun and then some and just eat up where you point and turn where you lean (unless you are on a real tight switchback, then prepare to use your directionals for a 3 point turn).
Future change will be:
Trying to put an I Spec 2 PNW dropper onto the I Spec EV SLX levers - I think it can be done - that left hand control area is clunky out of the box - but again - if I have to rerun that dropper cable , I'll gladly put this in the later pile
Everybody has preferences and my preference is for Bosch over Shimano. I'm sure people love their Shimano powered bikes. If it gets them out riding and they have a blast every time they ride, then that's awesome! The bike is doing it's job and i'm happy for them. It'd be a boring old world if we all liked the same thing.
