This is my Merlin, frame number 9443. It's been my restoration project for the last six months, finally took it out for a shakedown this afternoon. I think it's 1993. Oddly, it doesn't have canti bosses, and uses a Merlin designed disc brake adaptor. There are no hose guides either, so I've used some BBB stick on guides, which have worked well. The head tube is 1", so I was a bit stuck for fork choice. I decided to take a chance with an Exotic rigid carbon fork, having read some favourable reviews. I'm impressed with it, seems solid. Its 39 A-C which seems to suit the bike, it's not suspension corrected. It did have a Pace RC-38LT and risers fitted when I bought it, which didn't feel right for me.
Since I like the Exotic fork I decided to use their seatpost, bars and stem to tie it all together. I took an inch off each end of the bars. The stuff is reasonably priced for the quality, and seems just as good as some more established brands. I'm quite light so not too worried about the carbon seatpost. I've used fibre grip on all the clamp areas. The 27.2mm seatpost is tight, need to pry open the seat clamp a little with a large screwdriver to get it to go in without trauma. Suffice to say I'm not planning on taking it back out now
Wheels are Shimano M-959. Not the lightest, but strong. They were on it when I bought it, along with the Panaracer tyres which I'll wear out and replace with something a bit fatter eventually. Discs are Hope Minis. I've changed the fluid so they're working nicely.
When I bought the bike it had a Royce titanium bottom bracket, which had been in there since day one. I managed to get it out by immersing the whole shell overnight in a bucket of Plusgas, and used Royce's tool to get sufficient leverage. The threads in the shell were fine. I sent the BB back to Cliff at Royce and he refurbished it -good for another 20 years. I reinstalled it with some Ti bolts (had to really), all to the correct torque using an ALDI torque wrench -fine for occasional use.
The drivetrain is Cooks cranks and Raceface chain rings, M952/953 XTR shifters and derailleurs. Picked up some Gore ride-on cables cheap on CRC, smooth!
Weight is just under 23lb. Hope you like it.
Since I like the Exotic fork I decided to use their seatpost, bars and stem to tie it all together. I took an inch off each end of the bars. The stuff is reasonably priced for the quality, and seems just as good as some more established brands. I'm quite light so not too worried about the carbon seatpost. I've used fibre grip on all the clamp areas. The 27.2mm seatpost is tight, need to pry open the seat clamp a little with a large screwdriver to get it to go in without trauma. Suffice to say I'm not planning on taking it back out now
Wheels are Shimano M-959. Not the lightest, but strong. They were on it when I bought it, along with the Panaracer tyres which I'll wear out and replace with something a bit fatter eventually. Discs are Hope Minis. I've changed the fluid so they're working nicely.
When I bought the bike it had a Royce titanium bottom bracket, which had been in there since day one. I managed to get it out by immersing the whole shell overnight in a bucket of Plusgas, and used Royce's tool to get sufficient leverage. The threads in the shell were fine. I sent the BB back to Cliff at Royce and he refurbished it -good for another 20 years. I reinstalled it with some Ti bolts (had to really), all to the correct torque using an ALDI torque wrench -fine for occasional use.
The drivetrain is Cooks cranks and Raceface chain rings, M952/953 XTR shifters and derailleurs. Picked up some Gore ride-on cables cheap on CRC, smooth!
Weight is just under 23lb. Hope you like it.
