Matt Cipes: Marin Bikes Product Boss On The Future Of MTB & E-Bike Development
The Ride Companion
TRC Media House
4.9 • 533 Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of The Ride Companion, we're joined by Matt "Cippy" Cipes from Marin Bikes.
Cippy is Marin's Category Manager for performance mountain bikes, which means he plays a huge role in shaping the brand's full suspension bikes, e-bikes, spec choices, geometry, suspension feel, pricing, development timelines and overall ride quality. Recorded at Marin Bikes HQ in California, this episode dives into the history of Marin County as one of the birthplaces of mountain biking, the origins of Marin's 'Made For Fun' ethos, how a mountain bike goes from idea to production and why developing an e-bike is far more complicated than simply adding a motor and battery.
Cippy also gives an honest take on the current e-bike power arms race, why Marin isn't rushing to chase huge motor numbers, what brands should really be focusing on and how ride quality still matters more than spec-sheet bragging rights. We also get into 32" wheels, XC's comeback, the future of analogue mountain bikes, the new Marin TAM, the development of the Alpine Trail E, why Marin looks to moto for certain design ideas, and what kind of rider feedback is actually useful when creating a new bike. Enjoy this deep dive into Marin Bikes, product development, mountain bike history and the future of MTB!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A lot of legendary stuff came out of this zone. |
| 0:02.6 | Yeah. |
| 0:03.5 | Mike Senior came out of this zone. |
| 0:05.7 | Like Tom Ritchie, Gary Fisher. |
| 0:08.2 | Like, everyone's here. |
| 0:09.3 | And it all came out of here. |
| 0:11.5 | And it's really, really neat. |
| 0:13.7 | So. |
| 0:16.4 | And special guest, Matt Jones. |
| 0:19.2 | Matt Jones. |
| 0:19.6 | He's only ever on this podcast when he's not supposed to be. |
| 0:22.3 | He's fantastic. |
| 0:23.6 | That's amazing. |
| 0:25.2 | Cameos only. |
| 0:30.1 | All right. |
| 0:34.9 | On today's episode, Matthew Cypriano, I believe, Category Performance Manager. |
| 0:42.8 | Yes, that sounds about right. |
| 0:43.8 | That sounds about right. |
| 0:44.4 | Yeah, I asked a few people. |
| 0:45.6 | I thought, what's Sippy's job? |
| 0:46.7 | No one even knows. |
| 0:47.3 | Actually, A.K. Sippy. |
... |
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