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| Make and Model : Merlin MTN |
| Price : $1650 (original frame/rigid fork only in 1990) |
Year : 1996 |
Color : natural titanium |
| Where Purchased : Two Wheel Drive, Albuquerque, NM |
| Likes : Everything...beautiful welds, beautiful color, beautiful ride. It doesn't rust. I still give a yip everytime I ride this bike! |
| Dislikes : none |
| Where I Ride Most : Currently in Venezuela...in the past this bikes has been all over the western USA. |
Summary :
I am not one to buy new bikes too often...
This is my favorite bike. I have had a Merlin since 1990. This is the third one...the second warrenty frame. In the early 90's, titanium bikes were still evolving. Designers/builders had to work with available tubes. By the mid-1990's, bike builders were working with Ti tubing mills and getting their own custom drawn tubes, therefore 1996 frame is a big improvement from the earlier 1990 frame. Also the 1996 has suspension geometry and 1 1/8" head tube which is nice as well.
This bike has been all over the place; the Gila, the Jemez, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mill Valley, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Durango, Moab, Fruita, Baja (Mexico), the Copper Canyon (Mexico), Big Bear, Mammoth, Mt. Tamalpais, Topanga Canyon, the Andes mountains (Venezuela),...The list goes on and on. This bike has eyelets on the 6/4 titanium alloy dropouts. Makes a bomber touring bike with a front and rear rack mounted.
In November 2006, I converted the Merlin to a single speed. It has turned into a real project of trying to make the bike as light as possible. Just bought a White Industries ENO hub and 18T freewheel for it. Will update photos in the future.
I use this bike to commute on and to run errands since it is somewhat less conspicuous than my other bike I have in Venezuela. I still don't like to leave it out of sight for very long.
Overall, it is a super light single speed, probably only 19 lbs or so with 2.35 Ritchey Z-Max tires. Though the frame is going on 12 years, it is still amazingly fun to ride! |
Overall Rating (1 to 5) :  5 out of 5 |
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