Reimagining a 1988 Merlin Mountain

[Imlach]

I'll give credit where its due. It looks nice and you did a bit of bodging to test and eventually ended up producing the exact result you wanted. Kudos.

It's a very nice build.

 

[Prodigal Son]

Good job on making the Paul Racer work there.

 

[Imlach]

Build challenge for @pw_pw_la

Next build no Paul

Good luck

Sorry to curse your thread, but the Inn is dead and I'm drunk

 

[br0qn]

But big thanks to @br0qn for the loaner rear wheel to keep me on the road (and in the stream) and for getting me thinking about trying it without the basket in the first place!

happy to have helped!

I like an XT U, but that Paul looks so much nicer given everything else you've got going on. I need to see it in person now.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Build challenge for @pw_pw_la

Next build no Paul

Good luck

Sorry to curse your thread, but the Inn is dead and I'm drunk

And the one in the stand next might not get any Pau... No, wait, yeah, I'm moving some Touring Cantilever's from another build over to it, aren't I?

Hmmm. Well, then there's the one after that, the Ro...

Oh. Nope. That's getting the Racers I used for testing on this one.

Damn it.

Well surely...

Okay, maybe this one?



Yeah, that one should be pretty safe. I don't think I can find a justifiable reason to add anything Paul-made to that!

 

[pw_pw_la]

happy to have helped!

I like an XT U, but that Paul looks so much nicer given everything else you've got going on. I need to see it in person now.

Saturday!

 

[Imlach]

View attachment 720504

And the one in the stand next might not get any Pa... No, wait, yeah, I'm moving some Touring Cantilever's from another build over to it, aren't I?

Hmmm. Well, then there's the one after that, the Roc...

Oh. Nope. That's getting the Racers I used for testing on this one.

Damn it.

Well surely...

Okay, maybe this one?

View attachment 720506

Yeah, that one should be pretty safe. I don't think I can find a justifiable reason to add anything Paul-made to that!

Is this the addiction hotline I've called?

 

[Imlach]

Saturday!

I'll be there. Got my swimsuit at the ready.

 

[Prodigal Son]

Sorry to bring this insignificant matter but... how does the Paul Racer work on the bike? Better than the U shimano? I don´t care about looks.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Sorry to bring this insignificant matter but... how does the Paul Racer work on the bike? Better than the U shimano? I don´t care about looks.

Why does this question also sound like an insult?

Ha.

I do have a lot to say about how it works, tho. I just hadn't got around to that part yet!

Regarding the sleeve issue: I chose, probably somewhat controversially, to resolve this by removing material from the stud, rather than try to have a custom sleeve made. (My brief discussions with a machinist were promising, however he felt the likelihood of them lasting too long was slim, given how thin the material would need to be in order to fit over the studs and still work as a pivot inside the brake).

I have no reason to think this bike will ever not be in my possession (it means too much to me in the way it was built and who contributed to that) so I felt comfortable making the decision to alter it in this way. If I ever wanted, I could always have the studs removed and replaced with new ones to run a roller cam, or regular U-brake, I or could possibly have a custom shim made to fatten the existing ones.

Other than the sleeve, there were no other issues at all in terms of clearance, or pad positioning against and away from the rim. Everything worked and there was now ample clearance, with no annoying rubbing, for my tire of choice, even when hammering the pedals on a climb. It's tight back there, sure, but in a pleasing, track bike kind of way.

The brake functions really well, and stops firmly. It is, however, a little spongier than I would like. I plan to pay around a little with straddle length and further refine the spring tension to see if this can be improved, but it may well be that it's simply because of the flex in the ti chainstay. In which case, my other planned improvements are to try some high-end compressionless housing, as well as purchase or fabricate some kind of booster for it. Not a bad thing to have as a guard against damage back there, either.

I think both things will help drastically and I'll make sure to report back once I know for sure!