Right then, so there's sort of news, and sort of not with this one!
Parts have continued to be purchased and shipped to NY, and those still remaining I've been diligently trying to track down.
The first big shipment I sent to Brenden looked like this:
Which should give everyone a rough idea of the direction I'm going.
Like I said, it's not going to be period correct, but it is hopefully going to thoughtfully considered and still pretty classy/classic. Hopefully, with nothing too out of place!
Maybe even
@newsboy will agree?
Now, not everything above will necessarily make its way onto the bike, as I have some alternative options that I'm considering, but I would imagine a fair few will end up making the final cut.
A few notes:
- The bars are from Full Metal Cycles in Marin, who recently produced a batch based on the original WTB ti bars.
@wtb_rider talked about these recently in his/Adrian's Toad thread, and I concur! They're pretty much perfect. Great sweep and a perfect width, with a lovely Paragon Machine Works shim. Those of you who might want your own, I know he's working on a second batch now, which should be ready in a few weeks. Let me know if anyone needs any assistance in securing a set of those.
- The stem was a random eBay find, and is an unknown, chromed, fillet-brazed beauty! Here's how it looked with the bars while I was playing mock-ups at home before shipping everything out:
I actually love this stem, and the brazing/finishing on it is superb. I just wish I knew who or what it was!
Anyone got any ideas?
The custom fork I'll be pairing it with for the Nor'Easter is coming along nicely, and will actually have a similarly styled stem to go with it. That said, I do really love this beautiful chromed one, so there's a very good chance it will stay on the bike regardless. It was the original inspiration for the custom version, after all.
- The Cooks came from another random vintage contact out here, who sold me a couple of slightly worse-for-wear cranksets at a very good price. This one took some time and muscle to clean and polish up, but I'm pleased with the results. I think it'll look much better on this build than the black ones. I feel like a lot of people go pretty black-heavy on their Merlin builds, which is nice and all, but personally I like the contrast of the dull ti against the shinier silver and chrome components.
- Which is another reason I chose the polished Paul Tall & Handsome seatpost! I just really want a shiny, polished theme going on for this bike, regardless of whether it's the PC or Non-PC version.
- Then there's the original and classic Hite-Rite. I mean, it's an 80s bike! Late 80s, but still 80s. And it was about time I found myself an excuse to run a Hite-Rite!
- The well-worn but still nice Unicantor came on the cheap from a local swap here in LA. I've been looking for an affordable one of these forever, as I've always loved the look, so was thrilled to come up on this. I'm not sure how it will ride (especially over 50 miles a day!) but, if it's a giant pain in the literal arse, I already have a back-up ordered and on its way to NY.
- An original WTB cable hanger will be needed, because of course I'm running canti's up front. I might be making some modern concessions, but I'm not about to stick something crazy like a V-brake on a frame like this!
Anyway, the rest I'm sure you guys can ID and figure out for yourselves.
Brenden, the sweetheart, wasted little time getting me a mockup of how a few things looked on the frame:
And I'm pleased to say I'm not exactly mad about any of them!
The MRC Powerlink fits just fine beneath the chainstays, which was of some concern originally (although it may not stay), and I like the polished Cooks with the black spider along with the Paul post and Unicantor. The headset won't be staying, either. In fact, it's already been replaced with a nice shiny Chris King No Logo Nothreadset. Well, actually it was a Gripnut originally (so I can use it on the period correct build later), but I purchased the threadless adapter kit from Chris King, as the forks will come with a threadless steerer to work with the above stem.
More on those forks, and the rest of cockpit, when they finally arrive.