Boy, that escalated quickly - '91 ehhh '88 Merlin Mountain

[br0qn]

 

[worldcollapse]

did you ever make any progress on this?
i remember seeing the listing on CL for it, pretty rockin price considering the components. i had heavily contemplated but it looked a bit too small for me - so glad it got picked up by some RB alum.

stoked to see where this build goes

 

[br0qn]

did you ever make any progress on this?
i remember seeing the listing on CL for it, pretty rockin price considering the components. i had heavily contemplated but it looked a bit too small for me - so glad it got picked up by some RB alum.

stoked to see where this build goes

Another LA based RBer? Rad!

I stripped the medium down and sent it off to Colorado in exchange for an '88 in a size down which better suits me.

I've got most everything to build it, the largest issue right now is sourcing a BB spindle for the cranks I want to use. So if anyone has a nice, long 17mm diameter ~127mm long Ti spindle let me know ;D

I'll try and get some photos of the collected components at least this week.

 

[R-V]

I had planned to post a follow up to my just created '92 marin team issue thread with a just purchased (soon to arrive) '92 orange clockwork. If you read the marin thread you'll know that bike will be my first as an adult and the first I've owned since ~2000. It's a frameset sitting next to a box of parts that I will build up with the help of a friend in the next couple of weeks.

Well, having been thoroughly bit by this sick, sick, bug (thank you retrobike) I became interested in the early clockworks for several reasons but specifically the first three years, the decals are my favorite. I was scrolling (uk) ebay late one night (in bed, on my side, using one eye) and saw a good looking project, paint stripped but clean early clockwork with a nickel plated f7. I wrote the seller to inquire about general info and shipping stateside and found the bike was originally black. Immediately I had to have it as it would be a same year negative to the marin (nickel frame black fork.) The kind seller accepted the starting bid offer which made it worthwhile to me as courier fee was the same as the frameset.

This project is supposed to show up to my door tomorrow but in anticipation, as I was searching local craigslist for components an xtr search turned up an ad for a merlin titanium for not crazy money.

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That got my heart pumping enough and as I clicked trough the listing images -

Avid tri aligns. whoa, those are cool and usually a couple hundred bucks


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Very cool hub! mavic paris dakar


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There's the XTR that brought me here, rear hub on a mavic rim. Also I think those are ringle skewers, people seem to go ape for them.



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Clean condition on the XT mechs, that I'm into.



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Nice looking crankset / rings. These weren't on my shopping list, I was really wanting some xt m737 cranks or unobtanium syncros revolution. Odd pedal choice


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Things got a little weird here with the paul v brake levers (they do very little to stop the cantis) and the budget bars but I can figure that out easy enough


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At this point I'm trying to "buy it now" but I've got to write the seller...if you don't know, craigslist is full of flakes and I've little hope that someone didn't beat me to the punch.

Then my eyes about popped out of my head

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An Igleheart fork! and that headset aint bad either.

At some point after the marin purchase I started looking for a second project because I fell in love so many times over with other bikes and in trying to justify it I started looking for maybe something already together and serviceable for the mrs (I have a fantasy that we'll ride together, we'll see!) that wasn't going to run up like the marin project. In my search I kept finding a lot of front suspension stumpjumpers and not caring much for the look of them (purely cosmetic and subjective reasons, baseless really but a certain few have since come to grow on me) I started looking at forks. Somehow I became locked onto segmented forks (the aforementioned clockwork was also hastily bought in part for the segmented f7 attached) and in my quest I found a few makers that were supposed to be masters of such things. Igleheart was one of them and his mountain fork goes for $550+ though he's not taking any orders right now, I imagine he's slammed. From what I gather he is/was responsible for the Fat Chance forks too though someone please chime in with the facts.

Somewhere along the way another obsession formed for Syncros, everything they did was stunning. I have a wtb thread coming for some wish list parts for this and the orange.


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A meet was set and I paid the man asking price, no haggle.

This is an awesome buy. So amazed. That is the bike i desire the most. I would sell both kidneys for this... I love this Igleheart fork. Best i have ever seen.

 

[br0qn]

This is an awesome buy. So amazed. That is the bike i desire the most. I would sell both kidneys for this... I love this Igleheart fork. Best i have ever seen.

I was so stoked to find a Merlin with that fork as Igleheart is officially retired. Lucky find for sure. Now I can't wait to see what this smaller size feels like once built up.

I found the Vantage Pro rims and had to have them though they're difficult-to-match-hubs-to 28h. I set about looking for hubs and got pretty set on having some Hugi's. I ended up finding a NOS set of 28h CODA branded DT Hugi made hubs for a nice price and scooped them up. Such a relief to find a near enough period correct set of hubs to mate with the hoops and NOS at that. Hubs are circa '95 and the WCS Pro rims first showed up in '92 I believe.








They were listed as 100/135 but once received it was clear the rear was 130mm and I was pretty bummed about it until I slipped them in the rear drops and found the '88 has 130mm rear spacing . . .again relieved. Plan is to remove the CODA logo and run a DT HuGI decal





In wanting to keep with the Ritchey kit I'd been hunting some of the original True Grips and had no luck but did find the Lite set which come in around '94. Also some modern, super light WCS evo rubber





And the first piece of Ritchey kit I collected some months ago was this sweet shorty/riser black chrome Force stem from ~'89





and a few weeks ago I found the perfect mate





580mm wide with a nice little sweep





CK no logo grip nut, m733 levers and NOS m732 shifters.





That is it for now. Probably a few months before this one is done. I need to get the rest of the drivetrain sorted though I'll probably run the mechs that came off the original build and I'd like to find a WCS saddle to run instead of the Flite.

 

[R-V]

Very interesting top of the line build. Nice story of hubs could fit in eventually. I like them, and couldn't agree more to replace coda logos with DTs. Also very much those beautyful Vantage rims. Seems no effort or expenses spared on this project.

 

[br0qn]

Very interesting top of the line build. Nice story of hubs could fit in eventually. I like them, and couldn't agree more to replace coda logos with DTs. Also very much those beautyful Vantage rims. Seems no effort or expenses spared on this project.

Thank you! It's a really nice starting point with the frame and fork so I want to do right by them. I think it should look nice in the end, hope it rides nice too.

 

[Prodigal Son]

No logo hubs: faster, stronger, lighter.

The shimano levers are very good and very heavy. A titanium bike w/ light everything could use a set of anything other shimano "100grams heavier" levers. I have those levers and much prefer building w/ dia compe ss 5 or ss7.

 

[br0qn]

The shimano levers are very good and very heavy.

But they were $11! Hard to argue with that. Finding the boots will end up costing me it seems...

Besides, the Ritchey bar/stem aren't featherweight and though it's my Ti frame I'm shaving grams everywhere on the Race Lite only (for now), otherwise I'd be broke-r. Rotating mass, however, is the first place I'll look to shave a few grams, that's where you feel it (right?)

And I've really never used the early XT, figure this is a good bike to wear it

 

[br0qn]

I think I have the bb sorted. Found a long enough Ti spindle on ebay, Ti collars from SRP and bearings from Phil. I just have to figure out how to press it all together and into the shell




Chain cassette and pedals as well.