Voodoo Marasa or 13 Implicit Alpha?

daff

Looking for a bit of advice

Looking for a bike to do some quick blasts on when I haven't got time to get the full sus out.

Have see the above 2 at Halfords and they both look good but different

Voodoo Marasa - looks like a rigid 29er?

13 Implicit Alpha - looks like a flat bar roadie?

I want to do some light fire roads, bridleways and C roads linking them all together - which one do you think would serve me the best?
Any idea what size tyre can be fitted to the 13?

Cheers

supersonic

The Marasa has more MTB blood in its DNA - the 13 more road based, as you say. The Marasa can take bigger tyres, but the 13 would be very limited in this respect.

The 13 is also geared higher, but is lighter too. Personally I'd go for the Voodoo - is a little more versatile, will be more comfortable and could be easily converted to a more roadie stance with narrower tyres should you so wish.

Sleeper Service

I'd go for the Voodoo too.

Also worth noting that if you're looking for something robust and bombproof, the Carrera Subway is only £200 at the moment, although you'd probably want to buy better tyres (and inner tubes) for it, which in 650b size can be challenging (although not so much these days).

The Rookie

My Nephew has the previous model Marasa, uses it on road on 32mm slicks and one local XC trails on narrowIsh MTB tyres, the tyres on it are so heavy they create their own gravitation al field (OK slight exageration as everything has one) , lighter tyres make it feel a lot snappier.

daff

Thanks all

Popped in to my local Halfords yesterday & they had a Marasa in in 18". Looks like a nice bike, but blimey, it is a little on the lardy size!
It looks like it will do everything that I want and I like the fact that it has a triple chainset on it, particularly with the hills around here.
Still not convinced which is for me yet - think the Marasa with roadie or cx tyres might be the way to go.

Cheers

The Rookie

The tyres on the Marasa are exceptionally heavy, so yes it will give an impression of a heavy bike in the showroom, which is a shame really.

jfparis

Did you take them for a test ride ? Remember trying the 13 implicit alpha and was pretty pleased with it for road and very light trail. Price range is very similar to the Boardman Hybrid Team (especially is Halfords is running a promotion). The Boardman one was better polished / finished

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The Marassa is even more tempting at £299 today, before you either subtract Topcashback (3.15%) online, or use your British Cycling membership 10% discount in-store.;)

daff

Good spot!

Couldn't not at that price, so have ordered one in to the local store. The money saved should buy some nicer tyres.

This will come in really handy when I want a quick blast of an evening and the MTB isn't an appropriate choice of steed. Also looking forward to taking it on to some bridleways and see how it copes. Might invest in some wider rims at a later date to see what size tyres I can fit in

daff

Picked up the Voodoo tonight. Looks great and will do exactly what I want.

Looks like you can fit quite a large tyre into it. Tried my geax gato on my 29er but the rotor is too big - looks like it'll fit though.

Even better tonight as I managed to get it for £260!
There's a halfords code tonight WIN2 to celebrate Cav winning another stage which gives another 10% off, making it £270 - got to be a bargain

N0bodyOfTheGoat

daff wrote:

Picked up the Voodoo tonight. Looks great and will do exactly what I want.

Looks like you can fit quite a large tyre into it. Tried my geax gato on my 29er but the rotor is too big - looks like it'll fit though.

Even better tonight as I managed to get it for £260!
There's a halfords code tonight WIN2 to celebrate Cav winning another stage which gives another 10% off, making it £270 - got to be a bargain

I missed that promo code, think I must have spotted and visited the Halfords TdF page too early, but for £260 it is a no-brainer... Good job!

If you have not got some replacement tyres yet, I'd be looking at deals like those at PX, such as...
£20 700x35c Schwalbe Kojaks
£20 Vittoria Voyager Hyper
£20 WTB Nano TCS

penguin_of_death

daff wrote:

Looks like you can fit quite a large tyre into it. Tried my geax gato on my 29er but the rotor is too big - looks like it'll fit though.

I've got a Marasa based Monstercross and 29er 2.2 Mountain Kings and Race kings fit with plenty of clearance

daff

Have managed about 30 road miles on the Marasa. Have changed the tyres to some lightweight Continental CX versions, they make a huge difference to how it rides.
I think, (though I would say this wouldn't I having just bought it!!) that it is a good fit for what I want. I don't think a drop bar road bike or CX would have been as comfortable, and I like the fact I can probably stick some 2.1 29er tyres on it and use it as a rigid cross country bike.
All in all, it's a good bike. I think you can quite easily take some of the "lard" off it and it will become a really versatile do it all bike. Admittedly, it will never be as fast as a road bike and isn't a slack trail bike, but that isn't what I bought it for.
Thumbs up from me

The Rookie

Pleased you like it.....or I'd feel guilty for recommending it!

daff

Just a quick heads up - the Marasa is now at a real bargain of £240!! at Halfords.

A brilliant bike for that money