I seem to remember a titanium bike that had a sort of rear suspension which had no pivot but used the flex inherent in titanium in the chainstays and an elastomer part way up the struts for about 2 inches of travel. Was this a Merlin?
Wasn't it called something like Ti Beat?.....I remember the one with the Cannondale Fatty Headshock that was called the Fat Beat, both names being based around the Moots YBB (Why Be Beat) (I think!)
that 1 was a firestone air bladder around 90-91 with the valve protruding thru the seatstay. The elevated chainstay non pivot was purely known as the merlin full suspension (check mtbr.com as mentioned above).
the merlin fat beat must go down as 1 of the f'ugliest bikes ever IMHO
I like the look of the pure moots back end, but mixing with a headshok.. yikes!