1995 Merlin Newsboy

[GoldenEraMTB]

thanks for posting.

I would love to see this bike in action, would you happen to have any videos of it on a trail? What type is it best suited for? I can only imagine it rides as good as it looks, or does it?

 

[SF Klein]

Deleted

 

[halaburt]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Replying to some of your questions/comments:

...you must be quite tall?

Yes. About 6ft 5in (1.95m)

...When I visited your link, I learn't the under chainstay bosses are a std feature of Newsboys. Didn't knew that...

There were 2 series of Newsboys -- separated by a couple of years. Mine is from the first series which had chainstay-mounted WTB Rollercams stock. The later series had disc tabs.

I do like that mudguard feature. Where I live you do not really need that, except with the two or three occasions each year, when riding elsewhere on muddy soil. Type of soil really varies here in the small country. The guard is a cool feature though, due to its rareness, level of customization for function matter and that by no less the CC.

The mudguard is a standard feature on all of Charlie’s later customer bikes and all of his personal bikes. Each one is a little different and fully custom because of differences in tubing, geometry, etc. etc. so this could never be offered as an “off-the-shelf” part by WTB. Although we (thankfully) don’t get a lot of muddy days where I live/ride, the mudguard definitely works very well.

...What size it is, I thought that Newsboys laregst size is 19" or is this a larger one?

In this first series, Merlin made three sizes: 15”, 17”, and 19”. This is the 19”.

^^On that note, you mention on your site that the bike flexes quite a bit. Can you elaborate? Thanks.

It has more side-to-side flex than other rigid bikes that I ride... but that’s relative. My other 2 main “rider” bikes are a Cunningham Racer and a WTB Ti Phoenix -- both very laterally stiff bikes with heavily sloping top tubes. I’m also a big/heavy guy and more likely to flex any frame. I think the Newsboy’s relative flexi-ness owes to a combination of factors:
Curved and smaller diameter tubing.
Tubing optimized probably for the Size M and not beefed up for Size L.
Obviously Merlin were optimizing the frame for aesthetics over function (compared to the rest of their line-up).

...is it a rider?

...I would love to see this bike in action, would you happen to have any videos of it on a trail? What type is it best suited for? I can only imagine it rides as good as it looks, or does it?...

The bike climbs very well (short stays). It also has great vertical compliance -- which makes fast/flowy downhill trails very nice. For tight, technical single-track it’s not my first pick.

It is definitely a “rider” and will now return to “normal rotation” for rides. I’m embarrassed at how clean it was for these photos and promptly took it out for a nice ride on Tam immediately after. The bike had been sidelined for about the last year while some of these upgrades were getting planned/sourced/done.

No video, but from trailside later that day:

 

[chusma]

My other 2 main “rider” bikes are a Cunningham Racer and a WTB Ti Phoenix

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

And then visited your personal web page...
Is there an emoticon for "Speechless"?

 

[Elev12k]

My other 2 main “rider” bikes are a Cunningham Racer and a WTB Ti Phoenix

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

And then visited your personal web page...
Is there an emoticon for "Speechless"?

possibly: :|

Nice bike >>

 

[24pouces]

...you must be quite tall?

Yes. About 6ft 5in (1.95m)

It would be difficult to ride for you when there's wind .
The only thing would be better : the tires. But why the tires brand has stopped to make good tires with amber wall :roll:

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

...is it a rider?

...I would love to see this bike in action, would you happen to have any videos of it on a trail? What type is it best suited for? I can only imagine it rides as good as it looks, or does it?...

The bike climbs very well (short stays). It also has great vertical compliance -- which makes fast/flowy downhill trails very nice. For tight, technical single-track it’s not my first pick.

It is definitely a “rider” and will now return to “normal rotation” for rides. I’m embarrassed at how clean it was for these photos and promptly took it out for a nice ride on Tam immediately after. The bike had been sidelined for about the last year while some of these upgrades were getting planned/sourced/done.

No video, but from trailside later that day:

Thanks for the response; it looked like it might be a handful on tight turns, but I didn't know if that was just the look of it due to its very large size.

Great that it's a rider; awesome bike.

 

[halaburt]

As with a couple of my other "main" vintage rider bikes, I recently did a few upgrades/changes to my Newsboy. I really wanted to do a new, full set of pics of it while it was all nice/clean this morning --- but decided to go for a longer ride instead! ;p The formal set of "dungeon" pics will happen at some point.

Here's my much earlier (2002) gallery of it -- including the kitschy commentary. This is a re-creation of the now-dead .Mac gallery mentioned above in the first post: http://www.flickr.com/photos/halaburt/sets/72157632071916920/

The newest round of updates included:
- New shifters/levers
- Repainted fork (in "faux Titanium" Imron by Joe Bell)
- Wider bars (25" up from the previous 22.5")
- period-correct pedals
- taper-ground brake springs

Tupperware bin-o-parts for the work:

On today's ride:

And the revised spec sheet:

Frame: 1995 Merlin Newsboy #N055 (size “Large”, one-piece bow, custom 140mm rear spacing)

Fork: Steve Potts Type-II, suspension-corrected, 118mm dropout spacing

Headset: Chris King TwoNut “Old Cup” (No Logo)
Stem: Axis Design (quill-style, custom Titanium by Chris Paretich)
Handlebar: Steve Potts Titanium Flat-Bar
Grips: Magura Ergo (Cunningham-modified)

Brakes: WTB ToggleCam w/WTB Bridges (F&R), Cunningham mud guard (R)
Brake Pads: WTB GripMaster
Brake Levers: Suntour XC-Pro BL-XP01

Shifters: Shimano M732 Deore-XT
Front Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Rear Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Cassette: Shimano M900 XTR 8sp 12-32t
Chain: Shimano HG91
Cranks: Cook Bros. Racing “CBR” 181mm
Chainrings: Shimano SG-X 46/34/24t
Bottom Bracket: WTB New Paradigm GreaseGuard (thread-in)
Pedals: Shimano M737 Deore-XT clipless

Hub Skewers: Cunningham Slo-Release
Rims: WTB PowerBeam 32h (F), 36h (R)
Hubs: Cunningham/Hi-E 118mm 32h (F), WTB New Paradigm 140mm 36h (R)
Nipples/Spokes: DT
Tires: WTB ExiWolf 2.3” (F), 2.1” (R)

Saddle: WTB SST (Ti rails)
Seatpost: Cunningham Fixed-Angle
Seatpost QR: Cunningham Lightweight

Bottle Cage(s): King Cage Ti (2)
Chainstay Protector: WTB
Pump: Zefal Solibloc, seatpost/internal (Cunningham-modified)

 

[adri.75]

this is my dream bike, congratulations!

I'll never get one :cry:

 

[ez054098]

That is just cool.