The Marin Rift Zone E is a Ride-All-Day eMTB with Trail Bike DNA

MTB With a Boost

The heart of the new Rifty is the Shimano Steps drive unit (AKA the motor) and battery. These wonders of pushbike tech work in harmony to give you that added ebike shove up, along and down the trails.

The new Marin Rift Zone E family is made up of three models, the budget-friendly Rift Zone E, the mid-tier Rift Zone E1 and the bells-and-whistles Rift Zone E2.

The base-spec Marin Rift Zone E and mid-spec Rift Zone E1 are both built using Shimano's all-new STEPS EP6 drive unit. New for 2023, EP6 is designed to be affordable but still punch-packing. It's a little less high-tech than its high-flying sibling, STEPS EP8, but is still an absolute riot on the trails with plenty of power and a comfortable, easy-to-use control unit.

Most importantly, STEPS EP6 shares the same power output as the higher-spec version, at 85Nm. That means that despite the lower price, you'll still get almost exactly the same level of assistance up those epic climbs and a very similar experience. The base-spec Rift Zone E is fitted with a 504Wh battery which should be plenty big enough for most adventures.

And, if you ever find yourself needing more capacity, the Marin Rift Zone E base model can be upgraded to a larger 630Wh internal battery, adding an extra 25% of juice.

Both the Rift Zone E1 and Rift Zone E2 are supplied with the larger 630Wh internal batteries as standard, with the E2 built using the higher-spec, higher-performance STEPS EP8 drive unit.

While the power output of EP8 is the same as the more-affordable EP6 it's altogether a more refined package. It's about a pound lighter, it's slicker in appearance, offers more ground clearance, delivers smoother and more direct power and it's quieter.

Both EP6 and EP8 are awesome, EP8 is just a little more awesome.

All About Those Numbers

So what exactly is that 'less-is-more' Rift Zone philosophy?

Some bikes get the whole shooting match thrown at them. Deep travel, slack angles, long geometry, big wheels. The whole enchilada. Bigger (and longer, and slacker) is better.

And while that's right for some bikes, big, fast, gravity-focused bike park and race bikes for example, it's not right for everything and everyone. Less really can mean more for mountain bikes and ebikes.

You see, the biggest, burliest, fastest bikes often need big, burly, fast terrain to really come alive. And by lowering the travel a little and making that geometry just a little more down to earth you can make a bike feel absolutely awesome. You can make it super fast, super fun and super exciting without needing the roughest and rowdiest trails. After all, we can't always make it to those double black diamonds, right?

And so, we applied this philosophy to the Rift Zone E. We made a bike that had all the fun and freedom of an eMTB, but that was heaps of fun on almost any terrain and didn't need to be in the bike park of big mountains to get you hooting and hollering. It's easy to ride, quick to accelerate and can be tossed and turned, threaded and thrown without quite the same effort of a full-fat, big hitter.

But never fear, if you're more of a hard-charging, whole tamale kind of rider we've got your back with the longer-travel Marin Alpine Trail E.

Meet The Family

Time to meet the Rift Zone E family, which is made up of three models at three different specifications and prices. All awesome, all packed with Rift Love, all Made For Fun.

Marin Rift Zone E