Merlin Titanium

Thanks. I have the m10 I believe and they were too big. I might give the m8s a try. I checked and there might be a mm or two of recess in the screw area for the fork but that might also be because the threading can't go all the way to the outside. I'll give those m8 bosses a go.

Purchased these. Hope they work out. If not I have some expensive paperweights.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0526721371

The front cable hanger dilemma:

A pre-2000 Judy, Sid, or Mag-21 has a threaded hole in the arch. I don't know if Kona still makes their hanger, but it's a tidy one. Origin 8 cable hangers are available on ebay for not much money. Both of those hangers mount on the fork. Pre-2000 (or was it '99?) Marzocchi's also had drilled arches and were available with their own canti hangers, but the hangers were 2-bolt, so the Kona and Origin 8 wouldn't work on those.

Done! Almost...there is a creaking coming from the bottom bracket, at least 2-3 creaks per rotation. I think I may need to replace it.

This bike has undergone a series of changes in the past year. My mechanical skills have improved considerably and I look back at some of my previous work and shake my head a bit. But... we all start somewhere. I rode it as it stood above for a few rides but it never quite sat the way I wanted. I then replaced the RM-17 rims with some Rhyno Lite rims I had picked up as the RM-17 rims had a bump in the brake track. I also replaced the thumb shifters for some modern acera 3x7 speed shifters (boo, hiss) and found a rear mech in better condition. I rode it like that once then stored it for a few months as the weather wasn't conducive to riding much.

Initially I brought it inside to repack some bearings and to go over what I had done previously. It was supposed to be an afternoon of light upkeep and to tune what I had. The rear hub was opened and I ran my finger in the hub race. Corroded, pitted, uneven surface. I can't believe I missed it at the onset. So my minor repack turned into a wheel rebuild with another xt hub set I had scavenged from a 1989 diamondback axis xt. The front was ok but the new hub was even better, so both wheels were rebuilt. Then the new black cromo rigid fork came along and the crown race from the old fork was damaged upon removal. So a new cane creek forty headset is on order since...why not?

So, here I am waiting to put on some new xt cantilever brakes, a better xt crankset, a new bottom bracket, new SRAM cassette, etc etc...

Tl;dr minor discovery of a pitted rear hub race turns into stripping the bike to the frame and redoing it the way I had envisioned since acquiring the bike.

These are some of the bits that I've changed. I found some M732 XT skewers and replaced the seat clamp and both front and rear skewers. The pulley wheels on the old xt rear mech were pretty chewed up so the new one I swapped in is quite a bit nicer. The black fork is just sitting in the frame for now but I need to replace the headset with the new one.

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Alright! That's the right direction. Gonna slap those canti's on 'er? That Mitsuboshi SuperHeat that was on it is a good tire. (Wish I could get some of 'em.) If you have room for it in that rigid fork, it's got good cushion, and wow do they corner with confidence. I'd be lookin' for 3 period pieces: lighter rims, another stem and a flat bar. Job done.

Regardless, it's a good rescue Merlin. Looked great last year, and I'm sure you'll have it looking different but just as good real soon.

rigid forks look best,,,merlins are great,,,

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I've been updating this bike to be more what I had envisioned it should be. Xt cantilever brakez with some modern lever have replaced the xt v-brakes and the thumbshifters have been replaced by a pair of blasphemous modern acera 3*7 speed trigger shifters which are surprisingly nice when compared to earlier xt trigger shifters of which I've had 4 sets pass through my hands. I've replaced the fork with a cr-mo unicrown black rigid more in the style of what it was when it came out. The stem is a cheap one and I am considering replacing it with something slightly longer. A cane creek 40 headset completes it as the previous one was making cracking noises. A nicer xt crankset, some xt pedals and some tires more suited to my father's riding habits (who I am gifting this to) round it out. I had to rebuild the wheels with new hubs as the old ones had corroded races that my more amateur self hadn't noticed. Thankfully I had a pair lying around. The skewers have been replaced by some xt bits. A new pc730 cassette for a bigger gear range was also installed as well as a nicer rear derailleur whose teeth aren't chewed up. Overall it is very lightweight and stops on a dime. I nearly endoed in the parking lot playing around.

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