here it is, completed yesterday morning and initial reports from short ride near my house are extremely positive. what an absolute beaut. 😮

usual lost marks for tyres and rim logos and stem spacers that go all the way up to heaven…! 🙂

other than that, v nice in a diddy-wheeled kind of way…

woah woah woah – the tyre logos are by the valves, it’s not my fault they put the rim logos on the opposite sides!

and the spacers are to get the height right before the committal steerer cut!

Pink hubs or is it just the photo?

yep, pink CK hubs and headset for reasons of appearance and breast cancer charity support.

my first ownership of significant amounts of xtr kit is also extremely positively received. the whole things is just immense…

pink for breast cancer support!! would they not benefit from the cash instead?

Lovely bike, apart from those gopping stickers all over it…
🙁

pink for breast cancer support!! would they not benefit from the cash instead?

they do get money from the pink king stuff though, don’t they?

Looks fast as flip – very factory!

pink for breast cancer support!! would they not benefit from the cash instead?

Lol, yes. You could just buy Hope and give £150 to charity.

racing_ralph – Member

pink for breast cancer support!! would they not benefit from the cash instead?

i appreciate your concern. i was going to buy chris king hubs anyway, and liked the combination of the colour and the fact that some of the money for those ones goes to charity. you’ll no doubt be pleased to know that for personal reasons i already donate a fair bit of money to cancer charities.

i appreciate a lot of the bits might be ‘beaut’s’ but that bike is a mess of poor colour cooridination. Ti frame, black swingarm and silver rims/components means it should have had black forks at the least, if not black post/stem/bar also, imho anyway ;0)

I was about to say the same, Stato :o)

To me it looks like an ill-conceived exercise in how much money can be spent on a bike.

IGMC.

see i feel it is fairly colour coordinated, all monochrome apart from the hubs/headset. i see your point though. don’t agree with it, but see where you’re coming from!

It’s how it rides that counts :O)

well exactly. and it is absolutely awesome, so far! just awesome.

It’s how it rides that counts :O)

Like an old 4-bar turner? no wait, a newer Faux-bar turner (since they are they same, so say DT)? or maybe a Faux-bar Kona then?

Yes, you new £Xk merlin rides like a Kona ;0)

stato & will, i’ve heard some rollox on here over the years, whatever colour the frame doesn’t “mean” other bits have to be a certain colour, he can buy whatever stuff he likes you know.

will, yep you’re right.

;0)

does not in any way the money from Pink King stuff only go to a charity local to their factory, though? I’m sure women there are just as worthy as anywhere else, but I’d rather see it going to a more global charity, really.

Still, if other Humans benefit, even in a small way, then I spose it’s all good.

What the smeg is going on with those decals? They look like a cheap Halfords brand!
My honest first reaction was “since when has Merlin made a Malt full sus frame?”

They used to be so much better!

yeah i’m debating whether to take them off and polish it up…

I love it when people post bikes on here for everyone to admire… then get the p1ss taken out of them….. it’s rather masochistic

I’d have gone fr black rims, bars and seatpost etc myself, but that’s personal choice…… Liek the frame, good write up in this issue of ST but when approaching £3K, I’d have bought my dream frames, and IBIS and still saved about £1K

martyntr – Member

I love it when people post bikes on here for everyone to admire… then get the p1ss taken out of them….. it’s rather masochistic

well for the amount it cost there’s no danger of me having my feelings hurt by people i’ve never met who don’t like it – the backlash is entertaining!

people always mock what’s unobtainable to the masses…. when a man buys a flash sports car for example, people always assume that he has a small *****……….. it’s just jealousy…..

No doubting masochism then… ?

Judging by the stem spacers and high ride stem/bars you dont like cornering or going uphill and/or you have bought the wrong size frame.

It is also Gopping.

nice bike. needs a shorter stem though

yeah i’m debating whether to take them off and polish it up…

Do it.
Then get some of the old black script-stylee ones made up, nice and subtle. The bike’s really worth it. I love Merlins, beautifully made and they just dont nead big graphics like that. It’s a really elegant frame and they spoil it, IMO

I think the photo’s not taken from that bike’s best angle.

Yes, you new £Xk merlin rides like a Kona ;0)

Like a Ellsworth truth, as thats whats bolted onto the Merlin main frame. 😉

[cough] not for those unfortunately, it has a seatstay mounted pivot.

They are a tremendous bike; rides like an Ellsworth Truth but much lighter and no finish to scratch or scuff. The decals are not to everyones taste; I was going to pull them off mine and replace with the classic white logo’s, but I decided that it was worth shouting about.

But I did have a black post and stem, I won’t compromise on that 😉

Breast cancer charity my hairy arse! Personally I like them and I see nothing wrong with having pink bits. If you want to have them on your bike have them and just tell everyone else to f-off and get more secure with their masculinity.

I have to agree with the stickers though. Merlin’s logo used to be a class afair.

The decals I was looking at were like these. My bike was very similar to the one above. Fox F100’s, Mini Pros, except I had Red CK hubs. Very light. Very nice ride. Got my head turned by a Tracer VP and sold it on to someone on this forum.

– it’s nice
– the decals are nasty
– if you want CK, buy CK.

🙂

Like a Ellsworth truth, as thats whats bolted onto the Merlin main frame

my joke was… the truth is the same desing as an old turner with a horst link, a design which was dropped as Dave Turner didnt want to pay Ellsworth for it. So turners changed to seatstay (faux-bar) design and Dave Turner said it was just as good as the horst design he’d been selling for years. And the faux-bar turner is just a fancy Kona, so your bike is just like a fancy Kona (p.s. This is a sly dig at turner groupies not your Merlin).

isnt it sad when you have to explain a joke… ;0)

Don’t bring Turner to a Merlin/Ellsworth party then 😉

Agree with the graphics, get rid of them, the titanium needs no dress up…

A fine example of using the wrong material for a frame just because it’s expensive 😉