Merlin Newsboy L

[MattiThundrrr]

It was listed as size M where i knew i needed size L, also no pictures and a hefty price tag.. still, i decided to send a dm.
As it turns out, it was a size L and indeed it was being sold by a gentleman from the Netherlands

This makes sense, size L is like a medium for a Dutchman. Very nice acquisition. Even with its issues, I'm sure this will become a favorite bike for you

 

[Stylus]

Thanks. Funny you should say that because the previous owner was very adamant about the design proportions of the Newsboy, he liked the large one the best despite him being quite a bit smaller than me. That’s probably why the current front set up looks like a pugs face

 

[scant]

Cool bike. Just a note to say there wasn't really 2 variants of the 2 piece welded bow & the 1 piece bow. They were a massive pain to make & they occasionally cracked whilst being made. Rather than throw the bow away they were simply welded & used. If you check Ashoks excellent extensive frame number listing's there's no order & correlation between earlier/ later newsboys & welded/ 1 piece bows. Ie there's both newer & older newsboys with either welded or 1 piece. It really was just luck of the drawer.

I was always curious what happened to Robin Williams newsboy. It was never listed in his estate sale, so some family or friend inevitably must have acquired it. He rode it onto the stage of the david letterman show back in the day.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

@Stylus , not sure if you are aware, but there is a thread dedicated to the appreciation of titanium bikes and parts. Pictures of your Newsboy would be quite welcome there....

Post in thread 'The titanium weld and detail appreciation thread.'

Aug 10, 2025

Ibis Titanium

• 24pouces

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[Stylus]

Cool bike. Just a note to say there wasn't really 2 variants of the 2 piece welded bow & the 1 piece bow. They were a massive pain to make & they occasionally cracked whilst being made. Rather than throw the bow away they were simply welded & used.

Thanks for the info, that totally makes sense

Ashok referred me to a friend of a friend, who sold me some repro cable stops, how cool is that. One issue solved.

 

[scant]

ideally some of those ^^^ machined from billet titanium would be cool

have you seen rob vandermarks merlin newsboy "ti foon"? the original newsboy, some differences, especially the cable exit guides which I prefer on the ti foon, but I prefer the spun machined ends of the bow on the "production" bikes
more info: https://construct.typepad.com/25seven/2008/11/what-bikes-do-you-own.html

 

[Stylus]

^ Nice, thanks for sharing, agreed those cable exit guides are way cooler.

So here is another piece of the puzzle, a WTB roller cam brake. This was a bit of a basket case when i bought it.
Luckily i managed to find and/or replace the missing and broken pieces. Originally i wanted use it for another bike but i guess it's going on this one.
- replaced the cracked and non original washers with some repro's from synlos
- I found a pair of brake stud caps that were missing (these slide over the brake bosses)
- bought a top roller with the appropriate bolt that was missing
- one of the springs is bend but that should be an easy fix, also i have some spares
I will upgrade the brake to Toggle cam with a repro toggle cam i got from France years ago