I've always wanted a vintage Merlin MTB. Lusted after them back in the day. I found a nice one owner bike with lots of nice components on eBay and was able to make a deal. The plan was to sell all of the Paul & Salsa components to help fund the project. I had planned on selling the Cook Brothers Crankset too, but after seeing it in person on the Merlin it just looks too good to give up.
I stripped the bike down, removed all of the decals except the head tube one as it was in great condition. From there I gently polished the frame by hand to brighten it up a little and replaced the decals with new ones from RetroDecals. Control Tech seatpost, Merlin Ti bars, ATAC stem (new decal on it too), NukeProof hubs and wheels were all in great shape. I added a flite saddle, XT M735 rear 7spd derailleur, XT M734 black cantilevers, XT732 Brake levers and new re-pop smoke/dart tires. Waiting on NOS gripshifts from the UK should be here by end of this week and I should be able to wrap it up. Also have some NOS black Odyssey Svelte pedals to add as well. I really like the way it has turned out so far.
I stripped the bike down, removed all of the decals except the head tube one as it was in great condition. From there I gently polished the frame by hand to brighten it up a little and replaced the decals with new ones from RetroDecals. Control Tech seatpost, Merlin Ti bars, ATAC stem (new decal on it too), NukeProof hubs and wheels were all in great shape. I added a flite saddle, XT M735 rear 7spd derailleur, XT M734 black cantilevers, XT732 Brake levers and new re-pop smoke/dart tires. Waiting on NOS gripshifts from the UK should be here by end of this week and I should be able to wrap it up. Also have some NOS black Odyssey Svelte pedals to add as well. I really like the way it has turned out so far.
