marin or merlin frame..titanium apparently? roll a dice

[NAILTRAIL96]

l asked him to do the magnet test and he replied saying the frame and bar are non magnetic. So not steel but doesn't look like Ti either :?

I had an allegro that failed that test
I'm pretty sure it wasn't titanium.

 

[Benandemu]

It is a 1990 or early91 Marin (Litespeed made) Team Titanium.


Trust me, I have some pics that will prove it...

Why do so many ill-educated people get upset about weld quality? They are the tyre kickers of the cycling world!

 

[big.eck]

This guy is a local BMX collector and sent me pics a few weeks back. He offered it to me as an early Merlin. I told him it wasn't a Merlin but might be a 92 Marin but no way am I an expert. I didn't think it was Titanium looking at the photos but an engineer he works with confirmed it was Ti. Welds are not the nicest are they.

if si says it's ti , it's ti

i can't believe no-one picked up on this

 

[Russell]

:cry:

Was hoping this was going to fly under the radar and I was going to get an early Christmas bargain.

Ah well.

 

[sylus]

Sorry chap

 

[pete_mcc]

It is a 1990 or early91 Marin (Litespeed made) Team Titanium.


Trust me, I have some pics that will prove it...

Na, that's polished steel.

My fat ti has welds that look like they were applied with a bathroom sealant gun. But then that was in the days before all that fancy dual pass welding that wets so many knickers. Can't think why people think that because a weld is lumpy it must be steel, surely steel is far easier to weld than ti?

Not the best photo but:

 

[Anthony]

Why do so many ill-educated people get upset about weld quality? They are the tyre kickers of the cycling world!

I'd be interested to know what Jones would say, as he is an expert in ti welding techniques from his day job.

Although I admit I know very little in comparison, it is surely important that the welder strikes the right balance between getting the material to penetrate as fully as possible, while not lingering so long that he overheats the tube at the risk of cracks appearing in service. Titanium welding is a more exacting process than steel or aluminium, and can easily produce bad results. I would be concerned about anything that looked sloppy, as it doesn't seem to be consistent with the care and precision that is needed for a successful ti weld.

 

[sylus]

for me on the ti welds

Ti is normally expsensive and given after all apart from saving a few pounds it is just a bike frame.

So to justify the huge cost over say a steel frame, I like to see some craftsmanship, some element of attention to detail, some point where you look at it and say..that my son is where the extra money goes

If you have welds that look like the trainee has done it then it kinda kills the specialness of ti and the justification for paying extra for it

 

[Dingeske]

looks like steel to me

 

[pete_mcc]

So to justify the huge cost over say a steel frame, I like to see some craftsmanship, some element of attention to detail, some point where you look at it and say..that my son is where the extra money goes

If you have welds that look like the trainee has done it then it kinda kills the specialness of ti and the justification for paying extra for it

wow, that really misses the point totally. No early Ti frames had the 'pretty boy' cosmetic welds of modern frames. To say that those welds looked like a trainee did them is so far from the truth as to be laughable. There were less pretty welds than that on bikes from the period from Ti pioneers like Gary Helfrich and Mike Augspurger but no one would call them a trainee.

If you think that a ti frame is expensive because welds look pretty then, my son, you should never buy a Ti frame as that is not where the money goes.