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UPDATE: Marin’s BOGOF deal now runs through March 15th.
Through February 6th if you buy a selected Marin bike, you can get a second one for almost free. If you need a good city-, campus-, or errand-running bike, and a bike for a kid, it’s one heck of a deal.
Here’s a rare cycling deal: Two bikes for the (almost) price of one. Really—That’s what Marin and some of its participating dealers have on offer right now. This deal only runs through February 6th, so jump on this sale if you need new bikes.
If you buy one of three Marin models—the Eldridge Grade 1 ($549), the Eldridge Grade ($499), or the Sky Trail ($399) —you’ll get a second one, or one of Marin’s five Donky Jr kid’s bike models, to your cart for (almost*) free. This offer is only good in the USA, and only in the 48 contiguous states (sorry: Alaska and Hawaii).
Eldridge Grades and the Sky Trail are entry-level mountain bikes, but they also make good bikes for commuting, urban and campus riding, and errand running. They all appear to use the same aluminum frame with slightly different builds and different paint colors. All are mountain bike-style bikes with 27.5-inch wheels, a flat bar, a suspension fork, and hydraulic disc brakes. All are equipped with Shimano Altus drivetrains: The Sky Trail runs a 3x8 crank, the Eldridge Grade is a 2x8, and the Eldridge Grade 1 has a 2x9. Frame sizes offered are small, medium, and large.
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The Donkey Jr. kids' bike comes in five versions largely differentiated by wheel size: A 16-inch (training wheels included), 18-inch, 20-inch, and two 24-inch models. The two 24-inch models are mostly the same, with the LTD version getting a special space-themed finish. All Donkey Jr.s have rim brakes, and the 20- and 24-inch bikes have Shimano 1x6 drivetrains; the 16- and 18-inch bikes are singlespeeds.
When taking advantage of Marin’s BOGOF deal, you can mix or match sizes and models: Just know that you’ll pay for the most expensive bike and get the less expensive bike for free*. A Marin representative told me that some sizes are currently out of stock because the deal is so popular (go figure), but added that some fill-in stock is on the way. So, if you can’t find the model or size you need, it’s worth checking again.
Now the fine print: You pay $50 per bike for shipping. That’s why I described the second bike as almost* free. If you want to get granular about it, the deal actually is: Buy one bike, get a second bike for 50 bucks.
If you take up the offer through Marin’s site, the bikes will not ship directly to your house: You need to pick up the bikes from one of its dealers. For most readers, this won't pose a problem (check here for Marin dealers near you). Depending on where you live though, this may be a longer trip.
In my case (Durango, Colorado), the nearest Marin dealer is in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a 240-mile drive. So, I built a sample cart via the Marin website for two Eldridge Grade 1 bikes. With tax and shipping, I was looking at about $695 for the two bikes, not including driving expenses and time.
If driving to pick up bikes isn’t your thing, Marin has a few online dealers in the U.S. authorized to ship bikes to customers’ houses but be wary of their fine print.
Outdoor Gear Exchange, for example, offers the second bike for $50 and charges full price for shipping. Using the same two Eldridge Grade 1 bikes I did at Marin: OGE charged $518 for each bike, then added a $468 discount ($518 minus $50) to my cart. Then it tacked on a $283 shipping charge for the bikes: With tax, the two bikes came to $893 dollars.
That’s almost $200 more than buying through Marin and picking them up at the nearest dealer. However, I wouldn’t have to do the nearly 500 miles and eight hours round trip to get the bikes to my house.
If you have a nearby Marin dealer, this deal is clearly a winner. But if you’re like me and the local Marin dealer is far away, the deal starts to look less enticing.
If one of the bikes included in this BOGOF offer isn’t your speed, many Marin models are on sale at Sun And Ski, Jenson, and Outdoor Gear Exchange.
A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling, Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race.
