hova
Retro Guru
Fellow Retrobike family...
The saddest day of all has come, the day I'm selling on my beloved Merlin Newsboy.
I bought this nearly 15 years ago. During the week or so between purchase to its arrival, I spent stupid money buying and gathering all the parts I'd always dreamed of one day putting on a Newsboy, in order to make it into a fully retro-modern (I believe they're called restomods these days
) build that could be ridden everywhere and anywhere, while still using parts that could add to and enjoy its ultra-retro looks and feel.
It was never intended to be a true retro build, I just wanted it to have the best of the best and feel like an absolute banshee on the streets or in the singletrack, and either make me look like a tool or a badass doing it. I think I (may have) accomplished it?
This is a 2002 "M" frame; Merlin's second release of the Newsboy.
It's frame number "6x" of only 100, I'll let the buyer know the full number, of course.
In its entire life, it's only been ridden around 30 miles. And only on the road.
I built it up with pretty much everything titanium and carbon possible, with the exception of the stem and seatpost - because it just needed to have Thomson Elite and Masterpiece ones. Lol.
However, after building my dream, life got in the way (child born) and this Newsboy never got the time it deserved. That rather sad news for me, has kept it pretty much new though. Great news for whomever will own her next.
So, why am I selling it? Well, you may have seen in some of my other sales listings that I recently had some bad news about my health and future here as a human. No sob story or details necessary, but I am OK and have come to terms with it, but very soon I won't be able to ride again. I was once one of the most prolific buyers/hoarders on here and the greater internet of Golden Era bikes, frames and parts because I had intended to one day open a free-to-all Bike Museum in London showcasing the Golden Era of MTB and some freaky road/TT bikes as well... and this was of course meant to be the centerpiece... but as that's no longer happening and my teenage daughter has no interest in inheriting this stuff, I've decided to make some cash for my family instead.
Alrighty then, to the good bits:
It has:
Original Newsboy fork (works perfectly, does not even need service)
Tune front hub laced to DT Swiss tubeless rims
THM Carbones crankset
Carbon Ti front ring
Rohloff Speedhub 500/14
Carbon Hayes Gram/Stoker brakes (no bleed required, working perfectly)
Black Sheep Titanium moustache bars
Thomson Elite X4 stem
Thomson Masterpiece seatpost
Titanium bolts anywhere possible
Atomlab Aircorp pedals
Fizik Aliante saddle with carbon rails (no melted gunky plastic on this one)
Ultralight, ultracomfy foam grips
Tufo tubeless tyres.
I may have missed some stuff. But, you get the gist. Decals are all great as you can see, a few are sliiiightly crispy due to age but not anywhere near enough to replace.
I spent, in total, over £10,000 on this bike - I know - but I it was supposed to be my "keep until the end" bike of all bikes!
The frame alone was 7,000 new in 2002.
I'm asking for £6,000. Shipping cost to anywhere in the world will be on top of that, and collection in London is welcome of course. If you love it, we can talk a bit about price. I want it to go to a good Retrobike home, even though it will probably sell on ebay for more than that, as its currently built.
I know it's a lot of money, but hey - would you rather have this, a pretty much new Newsboy, or a just mid-level modern Trek from Evans Cycles? Because that's what the modern bikes are shockingly going for these days!
Alright, if you've made it this far, thank you - enough is enough, here are the pics! Shame I can only include ten here, haha. BTW any smudges you see on the frame are just that - fingerprint smudges.
Cheers!
The saddest day of all has come, the day I'm selling on my beloved Merlin Newsboy.
I bought this nearly 15 years ago. During the week or so between purchase to its arrival, I spent stupid money buying and gathering all the parts I'd always dreamed of one day putting on a Newsboy, in order to make it into a fully retro-modern (I believe they're called restomods these days
) build that could be ridden everywhere and anywhere, while still using parts that could add to and enjoy its ultra-retro looks and feel.It was never intended to be a true retro build, I just wanted it to have the best of the best and feel like an absolute banshee on the streets or in the singletrack, and either make me look like a tool or a badass doing it. I think I (may have) accomplished it?
This is a 2002 "M" frame; Merlin's second release of the Newsboy.
It's frame number "6x" of only 100, I'll let the buyer know the full number, of course.
In its entire life, it's only been ridden around 30 miles. And only on the road.
I built it up with pretty much everything titanium and carbon possible, with the exception of the stem and seatpost - because it just needed to have Thomson Elite and Masterpiece ones. Lol.
However, after building my dream, life got in the way (child born) and this Newsboy never got the time it deserved. That rather sad news for me, has kept it pretty much new though. Great news for whomever will own her next.
So, why am I selling it? Well, you may have seen in some of my other sales listings that I recently had some bad news about my health and future here as a human. No sob story or details necessary, but I am OK and have come to terms with it, but very soon I won't be able to ride again. I was once one of the most prolific buyers/hoarders on here and the greater internet of Golden Era bikes, frames and parts because I had intended to one day open a free-to-all Bike Museum in London showcasing the Golden Era of MTB and some freaky road/TT bikes as well... and this was of course meant to be the centerpiece... but as that's no longer happening and my teenage daughter has no interest in inheriting this stuff, I've decided to make some cash for my family instead.
Alrighty then, to the good bits:
It has:
Original Newsboy fork (works perfectly, does not even need service)
Tune front hub laced to DT Swiss tubeless rims
THM Carbones crankset
Carbon Ti front ring
Rohloff Speedhub 500/14
Carbon Hayes Gram/Stoker brakes (no bleed required, working perfectly)
Black Sheep Titanium moustache bars
Thomson Elite X4 stem
Thomson Masterpiece seatpost
Titanium bolts anywhere possible
Atomlab Aircorp pedals
Fizik Aliante saddle with carbon rails (no melted gunky plastic on this one)
Ultralight, ultracomfy foam grips
Tufo tubeless tyres.
I may have missed some stuff. But, you get the gist. Decals are all great as you can see, a few are sliiiightly crispy due to age but not anywhere near enough to replace.
I spent, in total, over £10,000 on this bike - I know - but I it was supposed to be my "keep until the end" bike of all bikes!
The frame alone was 7,000 new in 2002.I'm asking for £6,000. Shipping cost to anywhere in the world will be on top of that, and collection in London is welcome of course. If you love it, we can talk a bit about price. I want it to go to a good Retrobike home, even though it will probably sell on ebay for more than that, as its currently built.
I know it's a lot of money, but hey - would you rather have this, a pretty much new Newsboy, or a just mid-level modern Trek from Evans Cycles? Because that's what the modern bikes are shockingly going for these days!
Alright, if you've made it this far, thank you - enough is enough, here are the pics! Shame I can only include ten here, haha. BTW any smudges you see on the frame are just that - fingerprint smudges.
Cheers!
