TreaderSteve
Senior Retro Guru
I spied this on a regular auction website - listed as 'unknown mountain bike'.
It looked titanium to me and having asked some questions their guy said no cracks/ dents, possible remnants of what appeared to be Merlin stickers and a 2*** serial on back of derailleur hanger. The chainstays and the rear dropouts are quite distinctive too which led me to think Merlin.
And so, it is - a Merlin! A ruddy Merlin USA titanium!
Having left a commission bid it seems I won it
.
We'll see about condition when I pick it up on Tuesday from Oxfordshire. If it's not as described I can walk away as they didn't need card details - they said it's trust!
Here's the one and only picture
Assuming all is dandy with it the research starts here. I found this list of serials:
1-59 (198
60-139 (1989)
3518-3604 (1990)
An odd break in serial numbers - not including 2000's. What year do you think it is - 1989? That should help when buying the correct decals.
Which model forks are they so I can find out if they can be saved - as you can see they're saggier than Hattie Jaques drawers! I've never owned front sussie forks either so it's a toss-up trying to restore or I can lay my hands on 1" Project Two forks and fit those.
A few bits I don't have in the shed of doom and it sure does look like it needs a few bits to bring it up to scratch.
It looked titanium to me and having asked some questions their guy said no cracks/ dents, possible remnants of what appeared to be Merlin stickers and a 2*** serial on back of derailleur hanger. The chainstays and the rear dropouts are quite distinctive too which led me to think Merlin.
And so, it is - a Merlin! A ruddy Merlin USA titanium!
Having left a commission bid it seems I won it
.We'll see about condition when I pick it up on Tuesday from Oxfordshire. If it's not as described I can walk away as they didn't need card details - they said it's trust!
Here's the one and only picture
Assuming all is dandy with it the research starts here. I found this list of serials:
1-59 (198
60-139 (1989)
3518-3604 (1990)
An odd break in serial numbers - not including 2000's. What year do you think it is - 1989? That should help when buying the correct decals.
Which model forks are they so I can find out if they can be saved - as you can see they're saggier than Hattie Jaques drawers! I've never owned front sussie forks either so it's a toss-up trying to restore or I can lay my hands on 1" Project Two forks and fit those.
A few bits I don't have in the shed of doom and it sure does look like it needs a few bits to bring it up to scratch.
