Having just finished a year long restoration of Merlin #1849 it only seems fitting to start another vintage Merlin build. White #1849 is a good representation of the evolved Merlin concept, #50 is about as close to genesis as we know.
This is one of the frames originally built for Marin. One version of the story goes that Marin rejected the frames due to an incorrectly reamed seat tube. The frames went back to Merlin and were sold direct to customers. I acquired this bike from its original owner who used to work at a bike shop which was co-located with Merlin back in Somerville. The bike is mostly complete with WTB GG wheels, Ibis fork, M730 XT and some other miscellaneous parts. I plan on rebuilding it much the same way, maybe with a few small changes.
This frame has a lot of unique features not found on later production Merlins. These include, rear facing drop outs, flared heat tube, flared bottom bracket shell, separate down tube cable stops and rather crude welds
Here are the pics of the frame as it sits today:
This is one of the frames originally built for Marin. One version of the story goes that Marin rejected the frames due to an incorrectly reamed seat tube. The frames went back to Merlin and were sold direct to customers. I acquired this bike from its original owner who used to work at a bike shop which was co-located with Merlin back in Somerville. The bike is mostly complete with WTB GG wheels, Ibis fork, M730 XT and some other miscellaneous parts. I plan on rebuilding it much the same way, maybe with a few small changes.
This frame has a lot of unique features not found on later production Merlins. These include, rear facing drop outs, flared heat tube, flared bottom bracket shell, separate down tube cable stops and rather crude welds
Here are the pics of the frame as it sits today:
