Merlin XLM Redux

[al]

Mirror polish the frame, Gold decals, de-Shi*mano it, ultra-light all black wheelset gold nipples, gold seat collar, Gold Chris King headset, all black chainset, gold middle ring, gold chain, all other components black.



al.

 

[letmetalktomark]

Agree with cce - too much silver

I find its amazing what a difference skinwalls can have on the aesthetics of a build.

I think this incarnation is my favourite:

 

[al]

ps I forgot, a pair of Cro-mo straight blade forks with gold decals.

al.

 

[24pouces]

Agree with cce - too much silver
I think this incarnation is my favourite:

It's my favourite too

If one day you could come in France, bring it !
It would funny to make photo with our Merlin… the biggest and the smallest sizes !!!

Crossmax are the best wheels on a Merlin. They are stiff enough for leting the titanium frame giving all its magic feelings.
I think for such a huge frame, you need some stiff component

 

[Anthony]

If you're just talking about aesthetics, the general look of the bike in its current form seems pretty good to me. However in terms of the frame's suitability for its purpose, I have some doubts.

Firstly, there seems to be an extreme disjunction between the immense height of the saddle and the relatively short head tube. If that's a personal preference of yours then fine, but no bike designer would specify a medium-length head tube for somebody who needs such an extremely high saddle, and the end result must surely affect the intended working of the geometry.

The other thing is that I always worry about a retro frame showing a zero bottom bracket drop. That is usually a sign of a fork that's too long for the frame, and with the Pace looking to be set at 90mm travel, it could well be too long. If so, you would need a short stem to counteract that, but in fact you're coupling it with quite a long stem, so again I suspect you're taking the geometry out of its intended working zone. I appreciate that you're a very skilful rider, but you need to be with geometry like that.

To my eyes, it looks as though you need a bigger frame, with a fork that suits its age and intended geometry.

 

[ededwards]

Thanks chaps, some really helpful comments and has definitely given me something to reflect on.

..... but I doubt that that's the route of your issues

Now that is a much more wide ranging discussion that could take years to resolve

If you're just talking about aesthetics, the general look of the bike in its current form seems pretty good to me. However in terms of the frame's suitability for its purpose, I have some doubts.

Firstly, there seems to be an extreme disjunction between the immense height of the saddle and the relatively short head tube. If that's a personal preference of yours then fine, but no bike designer would specify a medium-length head tube for somebody who needs such an extremely high saddle, and the end result must surely affect the intended working of the geometry.

The other thing is that I always worry about a retro frame showing a zero bottom bracket drop. That is usually a sign of a fork that's too long for the frame, and with the Pace looking to be set at 90mm travel, it could well be too long. If so, you would need a short stem to counteract that, but in fact you're coupling it with quite a long stem, so again I suspect you're taking the geometry out of its intended working zone.

To my eyes, it looks as though you need a bigger frame, with a fork that suits its age and intended geometry.

You may be on to something here as it's certainly possible that I've never bonded with the bike because it is a bit small. Still, it's never felt particularly uncomfortable to ride in any of the guises. I might well have to do some measuring. What fork a-c would you estimate is suitable for this frame (I have some other forks although at least two of them would mean a 'none more silver' build)?

I appreciate that you're a very skilful rider.

One of the funniest things I've read in ages!

 

[MikeD]

Very tall riders often have what look like terrifyingly low-barred bikes but actually they're entirely comfortable on them. Very tall people tend to have disproportionately longer limbs (notice how they're not as much taller when sat down) so the high seat/low bar thing often works.

What year is it? My favourite Merlin builds all seem to have gloss black curved blade unicrown forks -- classic and clean

 

[cce]

i am running a 420mm Pace RC31 on mine, and it's lovely.

 

[ededwards]

Very tall riders often have what look like terrifyingly low-barred bikes but actually they're entirely comfortable on them.

Word. Although that brings us to whether your bike fits your body or whether your body fits your bike? Hmmm.

Maybe I should compare to the bike I most enjoy riding and go from there - none of this pseudo scientific bike fit stuff for me, it's all about feel, passion and other BS.

i am running a 420mm Pace RC31 on mine, and it's lovely.

Yep, that's exactly what I had and, cool as it was, I simply wasn't feeling it - unrealistic expectations maybe? To be honest I'm more disposed to the problem being internal than hardware related.

 

[ededwards]

Ok, tried to incorporate most of the suggestions and come up with the build pictured below (I also made measurements and the frame is in line with my preferred bike, including the saddle/bar drop).

Actually looks better in reality than photo but the proof will be in the riding.