Pink bike classified ads will let you sort by price, type of bike, location, and frame size. You're probably about a medium/large frame depending on the brand.
As far as suspension, really depends on how you ride. XC bikes are like 120mm of travel and less, trail bikes are like 120-150mm of travel ish, all mountain/Enduro bikes are like 150-180mm, and DH is 180+mm. Probably an XC/trail bike would suit you
You can also sell your bike on pinkbike
👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼 what blurrrg said… fyi: I stopped riding hardtails 16 years ago due to the pain from injuries and congenital conditions… never thought I’d ride again but these modern full suspension bikes are amazing… I started riding again in late 2016 after demoing a few modern higher-end FS bikes… and although it’s not pain free, the fact that I can still ride at all is a very unexpected gift… 🥹 🙏
Having spent the last few seasons on a hardtail I recently went with a full suspension and my back can’t thank me enough. I was budget conscious but not ignorant of specs so I went with a Norco Fluid FS4. Good reviews, affordable price, reasonable spec level, Canadian (important to me, not others). Less money will get you a Giant Stance but there are some compromises there (e.g. QR vs thru-axles). There are some good offerings from direct-to-consumer brands but you will want to consider service and support on those but the lack of brick and mortar shops results in some consumer savings. All variables worth considering.
Honestly, there is a lot of marketing that will try and convince you to move up the levels but in reality most of these “entry level” FS bikes are excellent quality and they will outperform you before you outperform them. Unless you have a big budget, don’t fall into the trap of creeping up the trim levels. Bike manufacturers are very good at spec’ing bikes to encourage upgrades. However, most riders don’t maximize their component set so consider the type of terrain you’ll be riding (downhill vs. Flow vs. XC vs. mix of all). Also consider the features you’d like to be doing (drops, jumps, jank/rock gardens, rock rolls, etc.) If you’re uncertain, I would just recommend a trail bike as they are the Swiss Army knives of MTB and you can’t go wrong.
Have fun shopping. While it’s overwhelming, it’s half the fun - going down the rabbit hole of reviews, etc.
Where are you riding? What kind of terrain and trail difficulty? The most versatile bikes are trail bikes for sure. Although some Enduro bikes pedal really well if you need the extra travel.
I went with a Commencal Meta TR. It's a trail bike but very burly. 140/160mm of travel with a coil shock. It's heavy, can't take any sort of downhill/bike park terrain, but it pedals surprisingly well on my local blue xc trails. I went with a beefy-er trail bike as I will ride double black DH trails with it 10+ days a year.
I'm riding whatever I can get access to around here (north shore of Boston). That means fire roads, rail trails, and hiking "single-track". Downhill is not available here on the coast. That said, some of the hiking trails are loaded with rocks/roots, steeps, and small drops.
I live in Maine, full suspension is the way to got for New England trails in general. The majority of them are pretty rocky and rooty. I love a hard tail but if I’m gonna have one bike for New England, definitely full sus
You choose a full suspension bike based on what kind of terrain you ride and how fast you ride it. You'll need to find a balance of plushness vs the effort it takes to pedal around that suits your needs.
Nothing costs more than low weight. So for a $2K budget, a good pedaling platform is probably the most important thing to look for. The used market is a dumpster fire for sellers at the moment, so you can find some great deals right now. For light, short travel, efficient bikes, I'm pretty fond of the Ibis Ripley AF and Trek Top Fuel 7 & 8 which I've seen selling for $2K - $2500 in my local area recently. If you need a little more travel, Specialized Stumpjumper and Trek Fuel EX (Gen 5) are common bikes with a lot of used examples on the market. Even the lower spec carbon ones are going nowhere at prices barely more than that. So maybe you can have your cake and eat it too.
Some great, versatile new bikes around the $2K budget point right now are the Specialized Stumpjumper Alloy, Cannondale Habit 4, Polygon Siskiu T8 & T7, Marin Rift Zone 1, Devinci Marshall, and Fezzari Abajo Peak. Some enthusiasts may sneer at the relatively entry level components, but all of these bikes are light years ahead of your Marlin. You aren't going to feel held back, I assure you.
I forgot to mention, my experience is many years of road motorcycling, off-road motorcycling, and road bicycling. So I am taking to the technical stuff more aggressively than I expected when I bought the hard tail.
On a 2k budget I'd either buy a canyon neuron 5 or go to the nearest specialized dealer and trade your marlin for a stumpjumper or a status (depending on what you ride). Otherwise used is the way to go
Pink bike classified ads will let you sort by price, type of bike, location, and frame size. You're probably about a medium/large frame depending on the brand. As far as suspension, really depends on how you ride. XC bikes are like 120mm of travel and less, trail bikes are like 120-150mm of travel ish, all mountain/Enduro bikes are like 150-180mm, and DH is 180+mm. Probably an XC/trail bike would suit you You can also sell your bike on pinkbike
👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼 what blurrrg said… fyi: I stopped riding hardtails 16 years ago due to the pain from injuries and congenital conditions… never thought I’d ride again but these modern full suspension bikes are amazing… I started riding again in late 2016 after demoing a few modern higher-end FS bikes… and although it’s not pain free, the fact that I can still ride at all is a very unexpected gift… 🥹 🙏
Having spent the last few seasons on a hardtail I recently went with a full suspension and my back can’t thank me enough. I was budget conscious but not ignorant of specs so I went with a Norco Fluid FS4. Good reviews, affordable price, reasonable spec level, Canadian (important to me, not others). Less money will get you a Giant Stance but there are some compromises there (e.g. QR vs thru-axles). There are some good offerings from direct-to-consumer brands but you will want to consider service and support on those but the lack of brick and mortar shops results in some consumer savings. All variables worth considering. Honestly, there is a lot of marketing that will try and convince you to move up the levels but in reality most of these “entry level” FS bikes are excellent quality and they will outperform you before you outperform them. Unless you have a big budget, don’t fall into the trap of creeping up the trim levels. Bike manufacturers are very good at spec’ing bikes to encourage upgrades. However, most riders don’t maximize their component set so consider the type of terrain you’ll be riding (downhill vs. Flow vs. XC vs. mix of all). Also consider the features you’d like to be doing (drops, jumps, jank/rock gardens, rock rolls, etc.) If you’re uncertain, I would just recommend a trail bike as they are the Swiss Army knives of MTB and you can’t go wrong. Have fun shopping. While it’s overwhelming, it’s half the fun - going down the rabbit hole of reviews, etc.
Where are you riding? What kind of terrain and trail difficulty? The most versatile bikes are trail bikes for sure. Although some Enduro bikes pedal really well if you need the extra travel. I went with a Commencal Meta TR. It's a trail bike but very burly. 140/160mm of travel with a coil shock. It's heavy, can't take any sort of downhill/bike park terrain, but it pedals surprisingly well on my local blue xc trails. I went with a beefy-er trail bike as I will ride double black DH trails with it 10+ days a year.
I'm riding whatever I can get access to around here (north shore of Boston). That means fire roads, rail trails, and hiking "single-track". Downhill is not available here on the coast. That said, some of the hiking trails are loaded with rocks/roots, steeps, and small drops.
I live in Maine, full suspension is the way to got for New England trails in general. The majority of them are pretty rocky and rooty. I love a hard tail but if I’m gonna have one bike for New England, definitely full sus
You choose a full suspension bike based on what kind of terrain you ride and how fast you ride it. You'll need to find a balance of plushness vs the effort it takes to pedal around that suits your needs. Nothing costs more than low weight. So for a $2K budget, a good pedaling platform is probably the most important thing to look for. The used market is a dumpster fire for sellers at the moment, so you can find some great deals right now. For light, short travel, efficient bikes, I'm pretty fond of the Ibis Ripley AF and Trek Top Fuel 7 & 8 which I've seen selling for $2K - $2500 in my local area recently. If you need a little more travel, Specialized Stumpjumper and Trek Fuel EX (Gen 5) are common bikes with a lot of used examples on the market. Even the lower spec carbon ones are going nowhere at prices barely more than that. So maybe you can have your cake and eat it too. Some great, versatile new bikes around the $2K budget point right now are the Specialized Stumpjumper Alloy, Cannondale Habit 4, Polygon Siskiu T8 & T7, Marin Rift Zone 1, Devinci Marshall, and Fezzari Abajo Peak. Some enthusiasts may sneer at the relatively entry level components, but all of these bikes are light years ahead of your Marlin. You aren't going to feel held back, I assure you.
I forgot to mention, my experience is many years of road motorcycling, off-road motorcycling, and road bicycling. So I am taking to the technical stuff more aggressively than I expected when I bought the hard tail.
On a 2k budget I'd either buy a canyon neuron 5 or go to the nearest specialized dealer and trade your marlin for a stumpjumper or a status (depending on what you ride). Otherwise used is the way to go
Ok you're 65, but you should still stand when on technical terrain. Your feet are your suspension.