1.3 kg of loveliness ! premature end of story !

[bduc61]

well, I finally found a merlin in a small ad in France
went there undecided :roll:
no more top tube or down tube decal
one sized canti stop on left rearstay

but under closer inspection, guessed the "shadow" of XLM on top tube
merlin engraved on the rear wheel chainstay end but nothing under the bottom bracket
where is the serial number ?

could not depart without it
suppose its a 1996 or 1997 ?
is equipped with a WTB New Paradigm grease guard threadless headset
takes a 1 inch fork so I believe its suspension corrected but could not sport a 80mm ???
first blue SID would be OK ?
believe its a 16.25 (41.5 cm C/C and 46 cm C/T seat tube - never understood the merlin sizes :roll: )

picture soon
frame needs some "polishing" is scotch brite the fast and easy solution ?
but do I need to rub dry or with something ?

 

[tintin40]

Pictures??

 

[cce]

XLMs have XM<3 digits> serial numbers on the dropout.

if it's 1 inch, then the serial will be lower than mine, mine is #277

 

[bduc61]

XLMs have XM<3 digits> serial numbers on the dropout.

if it's 1 inch, then the serial will be lower than mine, mine is #277

dirty but I read XM116

 

[jax13]

depending on the finish you want with the polishing, you can use brasso, autosol or a metal polish & a lint free cloth to bring it back up to a shine but if there are a lot of scratches that need thinning out using an old scotchbrite pad with a metal polish will do the job nicely before you go onto a smooth cloth. (I never use a new scotchbrite because they can be too harsh and leave more scratches than you started with)

another thing most people forget after a good polish is to degrease the frame. I prefer methys and a lint free cloth to degrease then i plain polish with a sheepskin mop on an electric drill without any chemical assistance. I've had some old air rifles come up like mirrors with this method so an already polished frame should be easy!

 

[Rio]

now you found a Merlin, you can sell your stumpy to me!

love to see piics, any idea how you're going to build it?

EDIT: you can find some info on the build in length of forks in the catalogues in the archive. I think in the '96 catalogue, Merlin talks about changing their geometry to the 'longer travel forks', which was about 60-70 mm back then
A SID with 63 mm setup would work fine in that case I recon

 

[bduc61]

well I am afraid this thread is going to be ended prematurely as under close scrutiny, the frame had a "latent defect" so its been back to the seller :cry:

 

[cce]

what was wrong with it?

 

[bduc61]

After having cleaned the dropout to make sure about the serial number, I had still some trouble to clearly read it - well with a magnifying lens I saw that it had been filed - so nothing sure about the number !
The seller seemed in good faith and had apparently bought it years ago second hand - maybe even from a policeman he recalled !
May have been found on the street and after 1 year put back in "the circuit"
That is the french rule with lost property !
But I did not want such a frame so I ll wait for another merlin !!!

 

[Rio]

too bad... Hope you find another one soon!