Retroish 853 Rock Lobster

[Thorpie]

Owner says it is 9 years old, size 17 with a £400 BIN.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rock-Lobster-Tig- ... 286.c0.m14

Trevor.

 

[Harryburgundy]

Mmmm...might go and have a look at that....£400 too much though

 

[nic]

I so hope it goes to a good home! Too small for me or I'd be very tempted...

 

[Anthony]

Just for my personal tastes, the RL 853 is the best/most fun hardtail frame I've ever ridden. Can't really tell you why it feels (even) livelier than an 853 Explosif, but it does.

 

[JeRkY]

was admiring one yesterday at the freewheel.

 

[MAXTHEROTTI]

thank god its too small for me otherwise my overdraft would be getting a slap
i like that a lot

rob

 

[ibob]

was admiring one yesterday at the freewheel.

in London? You should have said! I thought I saw two Paces during the course of the day - maybe that was you...? Maybe I should have checked out who was riding it as well as what the bike was...

 

[ededwards]

Nice, but as the advert says it is from Merlin in the UK it is not one of the desirable Paul Sadoff Rock Lobsters (although that of course doesn't mean it's not a tidy bike).

 

[Harryburgundy]

Nice, but as the advert says it is from Merlin in the UK it is not one of the desirable Paul Sadoff Rock Lobsters (although that of course doesn't mean it's not a tidy bike).

Mmm..interesting, could you expand ?
I'm seeing it tomorrow night....what should I look for...apart from the usual.

 

[ededwards]

Nice, but as the advert says it is from Merlin in the UK it is not one of the desirable Paul Sadoff Rock Lobsters (although that of course doesn't mean it's not a tidy bike).

Mmm..interesting, could you expand ?
I'm seeing it tomorrow night....what should I look for...apart from the usual.

Now I'm far from an expert (on most things but this in particular) but my understanding is that the Merlin UK Rock Lobsters are made in Taiwan and although they have the same decals have nothing to do with the US Paul Sadoff Rock Lobsters (some weird sort of franchising?). I think an obvious difference is that the Merlin ones will be reasonably built with tidy enough welding but the Sadoff ones will have superb attention to detail and beautiful "work of art" welding.

To be fair to the eBay seller, he is clear in his ad that this is a Merlin built one. I seem to recall that the Merlin Rock Lobsters are very good value for money but that the 853 Tig Team was about £875 complete with the full XT spec, so this looks like a nice enough bike but not a particularly great buy if it gets anywhere near the BIN.

Come to think of it Slimjoe had a Sadoff Rock Lobster in the past, perhaps ask him?