Budget-Friendly, Load-Worthy, Rugged Bikepacking Gravel Bike: Marin Four Corners 2 Review

Marin updated the Four Corners 2 for 2024, a long overdue change to the classic Four Corners line. The last time Marin updated a bike in this lineup was 2020, with the $3,949 Four Corners Elite. The Four Corners 2 update is much more appealing to the budget-conscious, with a price tag that is $1,400 less.

At an MSRP of $1,999, the Marin Four Corners 2 has a lot of competition in a very competitive gravel bike price category. The Canondale’s Topstone 2 and REI ADV 2.2 are examples of similarly priced gravel bikes aimed at price-conscious two-wheeled adventurers. Marin also had the chore of justifying double the price over its updated Four Corners 1, a low-cost, long-running first choice among many.

I strapped it to a roof and drove cross country to ride it through four different states: rail trails through Illinois thunderstorms, up Wyoming bluffs, over Utah’s salt flats, and down alpine lake switchbacks in Nevada. How did it hold up?

In short: The Marin Four Corners 2 is a versatile, fun beast big on comfort, customization, and reliability. Its 1×12 SRAM drivetrain is steadfast and capable. There are mounting points galore, making it a cinch to load out. The geometry is at home on moderate single track and on city streets. And even for a guy a little jaded with the gravel bike market in 2024. I must admit, damn, is it fun.

Marin Four Corners Field Test Plans

The testing game plan might’ve been too ambitious. I had to drive cross-country for a wildland firefighting position. From Illinois, I’d detour to hit some of the hundreds of miles of new trails being mapped out near Fayetteville, Ark. Then, I planned to stop at the Four Corners Monument for a little bikepacking and finally ride across the Great Salt Lake Desert into Nevada. 

That didn’t happen. It turns out that the gas mileage on an abused 2001 Nissan Xterra drops to about 10 mpg with two bikes strapped to the top. Fortunately, over the last few months, I’ve still been able to put the Four Corners 2 through a gauntlet.

In Illinois, I saw how well the Four Corners 2 handled commuting through cities and speed-running rain-slicked rail trails. The bike tackled a mountain double track in the Medicine Bow National Forest outside Laramie, Wyo. In Utah, it got its first taste of salt drifting over the flats. 

However, Nevada was the biggest test. For the last month, the Four Corners 2 carried me over a few hundred windswept miles of access roads in the Great Basin region. It’s also climbed up to alpine lakes, hit mountain singletracks, and been asked to make 50+ mph runs down paved switchbacks. And every time, its response has been the same: What’s next?

Upgrades and Features

So, if the Four Corners 1 is a low-cost gravel and bikepacking classic, what upgrades make the Four Corners 2 worth an extra stack? In one word: ruggedness. 

The Four Corners 2’s 460mm handlebars offer more steering stability than the 1’s 420mm-wide ones. The hoods and hydraulic braking have been upgraded from mechanical Shimano Soras to SRAM Apex 1’s.

The Apex brakes felt a touch spongy but were reliable, offering middle-of-the-road feedback and great stopping power. Also, the Apex brake hoods are a little higher and thicker than the Shimano GRXs used on many gravel bikes. Personally, I found them more generally ergonomic.

Both frames are made from 4130 CrMo steel and sport tall head tubes, mounting points galore, and ports for dropper posts. The Four Corners 2, however, offers more weight-saving double-butted frame tubes and more reliable thru-axles.

The Four Corners 1 offers clearance for up to 45mm tires, while the Four Corners 2 claims 50mm. I’d actually peg that as 2-3mm short, as I felt wider tires would fit without issue.

Instead of the tubed 700x40mm (650cc for XS and S-sizes) Vee GPs, the Four Corners 2 opts for 44mm (650cc for XS and S-sizes) tubeless-compatible Vee Rocket Man tires. It’s one step up in reliability and comfort but three steps up in knobbiness — a gravel-first, pavement-second pick.

The drivetrain is the biggest upgrade. Instead of a Shimano Sora 3×9, the Four Corners 2 sports a SRAM Apex Eagle 1×12 drivetrain. The Apex was simple, versatile, and bulletproof. And while its clutch can’t be toggled off as with GRX drivetrains, it does offer the ability to lock the derailleur for easier maintenance. 

This is paired with a single SRAM’s Apex Double-Tap shifter: Light tap to upshift one, deep tap to downshift, and an extra deep tap to double downshift — easy and reliable, though a bit prone to accidentally over-downshifting. 

Stacked up against its predecessor, the more expensive Elite, the Four Corners 2 might be even more impressive. It’s a slight step down in frame butting. However, the Four Corners 2 is a massive upgrade in mounting points, offers a wider range of gearing, and is a hell of a lot easier on the wallet.

Comfy Marin Four Corners 2 Geometry 

If you’d asked me to ballpark the Marin Four Corners 2 geometry, I would’ve been miles off. I’ve ridden some of 2024’s best and brightest gravel bikes around this price point. However, most of the ones I’ve been pedaling have more aggressive geometry. 

I would’ve guessed the effective top tube length and wheelbase of the large I’d been riding were a good bit shorter than, respectively, 617mm and 1107mm. I would’ve thought the head tube angle was steeper than 71 degrees. The Four Corners 2 is plenty long and reachy — but boasting 648 mm of stack, it’s also unusually tall. 

At 205 pounds and a few millimeters shy of feet, I’m built like a middleweight kickboxer who got into powerlifting and is now trying to hang at heavyweight. That’s longwinded for “Short torso. Long limbs. Probably bigger than the average bikepacker.”

With that kind of build, for the first time in a while, the angle of my torso and arms were relatively equivalent. Your mileage may vary, but for me, the moderately long reach and even higher stack combo made for an incredibly comfortable ride in the hoods.

I typically prefer more flared drops, but between the riding position and 460mm handlebars, the 16-degree flare left the drops feeling comfy and accessible for more than just bombing downhill. 

Overall, the head tube and fork sport some pretty versatile geometry. With a 71-degree head tube and 70mm of trail, the Four Corners 2 leans toward longer, steadier geometry — though not so much that it becomes sluggish once you start mounting gear. 

Speaking of mounts, with 450mm chainstays (432mm on XS and S), it’s also pannier-friendly. Although the rear mounts’ narrow, angular position did make attaching some panniers slightly difficult. (Personally, I found the flat bars of my Old Man Mountain Divide the easiest to mount.)

Round the Town

My very first ride on the Four Corners 2 was 5 minutes into a rainstorm in a slick parking lot. My first thought was, “These tires seem like a much less generalist pick than the Four Corners 1’s.” My second thought was, “Ah! Slipping!”

The Marin Four Corner 2’s geometry and ample mounting points made it an excellent commuter. Its frame was stiff enough to handle a pretty heavy loadout. Being steel, it’s easier to repair in the event of a moving meeting with an inattentive driver. The fork and wide handlebars don’t make for the nimblest traffic traverser. However, the fork isn’t so slack that it felt outright sluggish when front-loaded after a big grocery run. 

Outside of hilly towns, I found myself staying in the top three gears for most pavement commutes. Nevertheless, the drivetrain itself had plenty of range for getting around any city at an appreciable speed.

That said, for someone mainly looking for a pavement prince to commute around town, especially in wet areas, the Four Corners 2 was a bit overkill. 

The Four Corners 1’s tires are a better fit for the occasional ride on wet shoulders. With the Four Corners 2, I’d be inclined to swap rubber. But you won’t get much return on investment with the SRAM 1x Apex’s reliability on city streets alone.

Highway Haulin‘

Almost all of the FC2’s upgrades are clearly meant for the trail first — but they do start to shine for touring. Both models will handle predominantly pannier approaches to packing. Additionally, swapping the tires would be a priority for long, predominantly paved routes outside arid country.

Nevertheless, the FC2 handled bombing down sharp highway switchbacks at 50+ mph surprisingly well for such a comfort-forward hauler. The high stack and reach encouraged me to ride in the drops more often than usual. On fast descents, the Apex brakes were very linear-feeling: a bit muddy feedback-wise, but extremely reliable, and packing plenty of power. 

The Apex drivetrain is a major boon for long-distance runs. Even after a month without oil, a cross-country drive, and 100 dusty miles without any cleaning or lube, it was still shifting reliably. However, even with a relatively light day trip loadout, 9% grade climbs on paved roads had me sticking to my two lowest gears. The real test would be heavier loadouts, on more technical climbs, over rougher terrain.

Off-Road Running

The Washoe Tribe of the Great Basin believed that Lake Tahoe housed a creature called the Ong, with wings as long as the tallest pine tree, with a human face. I believe it once flew far enough East to chew up and spit out the dirt and gravel BLM access roads I typically commute along as a wildland firefighter in Northeast Nevada. 

Even so, it’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun, this comfortably, on mountain “roads” this questionable. The FC2 has been extremely easy to load out for everything from work commutes to weekend trips. The Apex drivetrain is a minimal-maintenance beast with gearing that hits the sweet spot for moderate ups and downs, with the drops being accessibly flared.

The ergonomic hoods and more upright geometry make for a ride that’s surprisingly easy on the wrists, even over earth more rut than road. From bouncing over the odd baseball-sized boulder to drifting through turns on loose gravel, the tires and relatively progressive geometry leave the bike feeling stable.

The high stack does leave the bike feeling a bit tippy during fast banking turns on loose dirt and gravel, but fatter tires will make up some ground. (I’ll be opting for a pair of Maxxis Ikons, myself.)

Singletrack Shuffle 

I did find the limit: narrow, boulder-strewn singletrack with sharp ups and downs. 

On moderate singletracks, where you don’t have to navigate tight, hemmed-in turns around boulders, the Marin Four Corners 2 was plenty capable. The handlebars and tires were fat enough to minimize the odd boulder deflection. The drivetrain made quick shifting easy, with a clutch that minimized chain slap. And for those tackling long tracks, the frame carried weight like a mule. 

Throw in tight turns, steep verticals, and frequent hazards, and the Four Corners 2 started to feel a bit clumsy. On narrow trails, I found it hard to find a sweet spot to distribute my weight for climbing out of the saddle. Likewise, the gearing became a bit aggressive when it was time to tackle steep climbs on rough trails or navigate around obstacles uphill. 

For bikepacking trips where I expect a lot of verticalities, I prefer the low end of my gearing to be below 20 gear inches — a measurement of the mechanical advantage and distance covered in a given gear. At 22 gear inches, if your bikepacking routes tend to resemble hospital EKG readouts, the Marin Four Corners 2’s low end might leave you pushing your bike up the steepest bits.

However, I’m 200 pounds. Between myself, camera equipment, fishing gear, my appetite, general packrat tendencies, racks, and bag, I’m usually pushing close to 300 pounds, including the bike itself, for multiday trips. 

Lighter, less maximalist cyclists will probably find the Marin Four Corner 2’s gearing and geometry to climb better. All the more so if they capitalize on the available port to install a dropper post.

Conclusions on the Marin Four Corners 2

If you’re looking for a bike that will spend most of its life commuting on roads and rail trails around town, or if your multiday trips are primarily jumps from town to town along paved shoulders — Marin’s Four Corners 1 remains a capable, lower-cost classic. 

If most of your multiday trips are along narrow, more technical singletrack with tons of climbing — the Four Corners 2 might not be the move. The Four Corners 2 could use a dropper post for tricky climbing and might need alternative tires (especially for wet-weather riders).

However, if you regularly tackle backcountry access roads, moderate singletrack, or multiday trips off paved paths, the Marin Four Corners 2 more than justifies its updates. 

Its SRAM Apex 1 drivetrain was bulletproof and covered a wide gamut of what you’d ever need a gravel bike to do. The wider handlebars and increased tire clearance offered better handling on the trail.

The frame tube butting made for a touch lighter ride. The hydraulic brakes were a significant performance upgrade. Thru-axles and tubeless compatibility made trail maintenance that much easier.

Brakes, frame, drivetrain, wheels, and handlebars — 4 years later, with five major improvements, Marin has elevated the Four Corner’s reputation as a reliable, comfortable, easy-to-kit-out, do-it-all bikepacking and touring-oriented gravel bike. 

But you know what hasn’t changed? It’s still a damn good bang for your buck.