Merlin Titanium
history
In 1991 I purchased a first Merlin with tons of Ti components such as Nukeproof hubs, Titec stem and much more. It was equipped with lots of purple bits, Topline cranks, Grafton brake levers and my own pre-V-brake V-brakes to name a few. Stunning looking bike but the frame was a good size too small. I rode it a couple of years and decided to trade it in for a better fitting frame in 1994. At the same time, I sold the McMahon fork to my bike shop in exchange for an AMP suspension fork. The wheelset with Nukeproof hubs got taken off to make room for a wheelset with my own hubs. I rode it happily across the Swiss Jura, Utah’s slick rocks, through the Mojave Desert and after my move to the US it covered many of Northern California’s trails. At some point a Rockshox Judy SL replaced the AMP fork. It’s in California were I realized that I didn’t need silly gears. The bike was fitted with a purple Chris King singlespeed hub and on a trip to Switzerland I bought the rigid McMahon fork back from my old shop. To offset the shorter fork, a Titec Hellbent riser was mounted. Time came to retire the braking system and install Love Levers and Avid Single Digits. Lastly, Race Face Turbine cranks replaced the somewhat noodly Toplines. Around 2006, the bike being rarely ridden, I decided to restore it a bit by scotch-brighting the frame, applying new Merlin stickers and getting a few NOS bits on Ebay. The bike has not been back on the trails. It found a permanent place in the house instead.
Specs
| Frame: | Merlin Titanium |
| Fork: | McMahon Racing Cycles Titanium |
| Stem: | Ibis Titanium 135mm 0° |
| Headset: | Chris King 1” |
| Handlebar: | Titec Hellbent Ti |
| Brakes: | Avid Single Digit Ultimate |
| Front Hub: | Hedgehog II by collideous |
| Rear Hub: | Chris King Singlespeed |
| Rims: | Specialized Z-21 |
| Spokes: | DT Competition |
| Skewers: | NOS SRP Titanium |
| Tires (f/r): | Michelin Wildgripper |
| Bottle Cage: | Ringle H2O Ultra Light |
| Seatpost: | Syncros Ti |
| Seatpost Clamp: | none |
| Saddle: | Selle Italia Flite |
| Cranks: | Race Face Turbine 175mm 110BCD |
| Pedals: | none |
| Bottom Bracket: | SKF BRI 600 68x108mm |
| Chainring: | Actiontec 36T 110BCD |
| Chain: | SRAM |
| Chaintensioner: | Tuned Singulator |
| Cog: | Boone Titanium 18T |
| Ridden: | 1994-2006 |
| Status: | living room deco |
