Little Bob
Senior Retro Guru
It's taken a while but it's just about ready.
Virtually all parts have been sourced from RetroBike (many thanks to all who supplied the various bits and pieces I required - apart from SunnyJim :evil: )
The frame is a 1992 Merlin Mountain in great condition, sourced in the US (thanks once again Mr. Customs and Excise for the £71 charges) and arrived 3 weeks later.
The welds are something to behold and the frame really looks and feels something special, as light as a feather too.
The bottom bracket is the WTB/Suntour greaseguard version and the first job was to replace the two bearing races - now runs super smooth and as the bearings are available for £10 a pair it is a wonderfully cheap system to maintain.
Then came the rest of the kit - mainly XTR as this is intended to be ridden but I wanted to maintain the light weight and yet not go mad with bling as this is more stealth and subtlety. Plus I needed to save some wonga for my Dave Yates build (not too far off now).
Frame: Merlin Mountain 1992 (awaiting decals from Gil)
Forks: Pace RC31
Headset: Chris King
Stem: Syncros 130mm 5 Deg rise
Handlebar: Answer Hyperlite
Grips: ODI Ruffian
Brakes: XTR M950 V
Brake Pads: XTR
Brake Cables: Teflon
Brake Levers: XTR M950
Seat Post: Control Tech
Saddle: Flite Titanium TT
Seat Bolt: Control Tech
Shifters: XT Rapidfire (may switch to thumbies in a while)
Front Derailleur: XTR M900
Rear Derailleur: Proshift
Cassette: XTR M900
Chain: SRAM
Cranks: XTR M900
Chainrings: XTR
Chainring bolts: titanium
Bottom Bracket: WTB GreaseGuard
Pedals: XT Flats
Hub Skewers: Mavic
Rims: Mavic CrossRide (early originals)
Hubs: Mavic CrossRide (early originals)
Tyres: Ritchey Megabite Grey
Tubes: Maxxis LiteWeight
Apologies for the poor pictures - new camera which is far more capable than I am, and I'm still getting to grips with it:
I'm not sure about the grey tyres - I originally thought they would look , I tried another set of wheels with Smoke Lites - perhaps these look better?
Be gentle guys...
Virtually all parts have been sourced from RetroBike (many thanks to all who supplied the various bits and pieces I required - apart from SunnyJim :evil: )
The frame is a 1992 Merlin Mountain in great condition, sourced in the US (thanks once again Mr. Customs and Excise for the £71 charges) and arrived 3 weeks later.
The welds are something to behold and the frame really looks and feels something special, as light as a feather too.
The bottom bracket is the WTB/Suntour greaseguard version and the first job was to replace the two bearing races - now runs super smooth and as the bearings are available for £10 a pair it is a wonderfully cheap system to maintain.
Then came the rest of the kit - mainly XTR as this is intended to be ridden but I wanted to maintain the light weight and yet not go mad with bling as this is more stealth and subtlety. Plus I needed to save some wonga for my Dave Yates build (not too far off now).
Frame: Merlin Mountain 1992 (awaiting decals from Gil)
Forks: Pace RC31
Headset: Chris King
Stem: Syncros 130mm 5 Deg rise
Handlebar: Answer Hyperlite
Grips: ODI Ruffian
Brakes: XTR M950 V
Brake Pads: XTR
Brake Cables: Teflon
Brake Levers: XTR M950
Seat Post: Control Tech
Saddle: Flite Titanium TT
Seat Bolt: Control Tech
Shifters: XT Rapidfire (may switch to thumbies in a while)
Front Derailleur: XTR M900
Rear Derailleur: Proshift
Cassette: XTR M900
Chain: SRAM
Cranks: XTR M900
Chainrings: XTR
Chainring bolts: titanium
Bottom Bracket: WTB GreaseGuard
Pedals: XT Flats
Hub Skewers: Mavic
Rims: Mavic CrossRide (early originals)
Hubs: Mavic CrossRide (early originals)
Tyres: Ritchey Megabite Grey
Tubes: Maxxis LiteWeight
Apologies for the poor pictures - new camera which is far more capable than I am, and I'm still getting to grips with it:
I'm not sure about the grey tyres - I originally thought they would look , I tried another set of wheels with Smoke Lites - perhaps these look better?
Be gentle guys...