Submitted by
Neil Nasralla
a Cross Country Rider
from Harpenden
Date Reviewed: August 21, 2002
Strengths: Great looks, extremely light, agile but feels strong. This bike zings along and seems to absorb a great deal of vibrations that you feel on other frames.
Weaknesses: can't think of any
Bottom Line:
I've spent a mint on this bike as you can see from the parts list but this bike weighs 21 lbs and goes like sh** (etc). It's my pride and joy and just begs to be ridden. I'm off for 8 days round trails in the Peak District but doubt that I'll have any saddle soreness because of the subtle ride of the fork and frame.
Bike Setup: Rockshox SID race carbon forks, Hope Minis, Hope XC hubs, Hope XC headset, Easton Monkey lite bar, raceface stem, Use seatpost, flite titanium saddle, XTR cranks, XTR front and rear derailleur, Mavic 317 rims and Panaracer trailblaster 1.9s
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Submitted by
Howard Poole
a Cross Country Rider
from Stevenage, UK
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2002
Strengths: Ride Quality. Weight (or lack of)! Price paid in Sterling for 2000MY without r/disc mount.
Weaknesses: No r/disc mount but hey, what do you want for a near 40% saving!
Bottom Line:
I built this bike from component parts specifically to provide a lightweight and low-geared training machine to help me recover from a back problem as my road bike is just too high-geared and my partner prefers off-road riding.
The frame cost meant I could get a better ride than AL for a just affordable outlay and carefully selecting parts with the right balance of performance/cost/weight has enabled me to own precisely the bike I intended to which rides absolutely as the spec suggests it should. Anyone wanting a great value Ti based solution should talk to Merlin. Component performance to date has been excellent with no issues whatsoever from anything.
Bike Setup: 2000 RS Judy Race forks/ XT Sti levers, r/mech, cassette, chain, bb/ LX crankset, f/mech, r/v brake/ Deore mech f/disc/ Mavic rims/ DT Swiss spokes/ Specialized Crossroads tyres/ USE XCR sus post/ XTR cabling/ Ritchey and Titec finishing kit/ Shimano Flightdeck computer.
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Submitted by
Ben Feighery
a Cross Country Rider
from LEicestershire, England
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2002
Strengths: Very Light, Manuverable and very forgiving to the arse, compaired to the steel/alu hardtails i have tried
Weaknesses: it came with canti bosses (why the extra weight). Fitting triple clamp forks invalidates warrenty (wanted to get away with using my old forks)
Bottom Line:
Fantastic ride - i'm never going back to full suspension evAR. (oh ok, maby if i get one for free), Great frame at a great price (for titanium anyway). Especially suitable for people who mainly road ride but also want the option of comfort on the trail.
Strengths: Very light and strong with a nice soft feel to the back
Weaknesses: flexes too much in the bottom bracket area
Bottom Line:
There many different titanium frames around & just because it's titanium doesn't mean it it automatically brilliant. My frame flexes far too much in the bottom-bracket area especially under hard pedalling. Although I understand the new ones are a lot better. Also the geometry on mine is a bit sloppy but again the new ones seem to be tighter there. Mine rides beautifully but when you ride the steel version, the 853 Rocklobster, you see how close they are in all but price.
Submitted by
Conrad
a Weekend Warrior
from yorkshire,England
Date Reviewed: March 2, 2002
Strengths: Fat down tube really stiffens BB area. Titanium = no paint to scratch+resiliant rear end+yum yum factor Frame has a lifetime guarantee!! disc mounts made from solid Ti Really nice wishbone rear. it costs £600 ... you can build a freekin gorgeous bike for £1600 (see spec below) thats only a bit more than the frame on my Orange!!!
Weaknesses: If you are a bike snob you will always think ....ah but it ain't a merlin/ibis/litespeed. If you are a bike snob you probably need shooting anyway.
Bottom Line:
This review is for the 2002 frameset... it has improved quite a bit from the 2001 frame. Main improvements are: slightly better welds/finish fat/shaped top and downtubes...stiffen the bb area better thought out cable routing. Chunkier stays and braces.
This bike is without doubt the best thing I have ridden. I loved my Vitamin T because it was mega light. It did however flex a bit in the BB area, a problem that I imagine affects most skinny tubed Ti bikes. The geometry of the 17" frame I have fits my just right(am 5'11"), if you like Kona's then you will like this ride. The bike is light...but not mega light. Frame weighs about 3.5lb but at the price you could easily shave a pound or two of the overall weight of the bike with the money saved over more expensive frames.
Who should buy this bike?
Well if you are hankering after an airborne Lucky Strike and live in the UK then then I really suggest you have a gawp at this frame. It is cheeper than the Lucky strike and nicer than the Corsair.
I can't comment on the reliability of the frame but it comes with a lifetime guarrantee and looking over it the built/weld quality if fantastic so I do not envisage any problems.
With the SID SL fork this bike is very plush and soaks up ruts and bimps really well. I havn't ridden full suspension much so can't comment/compare but I can't really see a need for more comfort if you ride XC. I looked at buying Santa Cruz superlight, but Stif wanted £2k for a Deore specced,Duke XC bike! For £400 LESS I got a titanium hardtail, with SIDs and XT .... you decide which is the better deal!
The disc brakes are also a revelation. The frame really calls out for discs because the rear brake guides are hose guide rather than cable stops. the frame has rear canti mounts but I doubt many would choose to use them. The only improvement I could make to the frame is to rotate the seat clamp slot 180 degrees out of the way of the Leeds mud. If you are in the market for a £1500 bike then look at this. If you want more info then I can send you pics of the frame to tempt your spending!!!
Similar Products Used: Orange vitamin T2 untill some git nicked it 8 weeks ago. Variety of steel and alu hard tails.
Bike Setup: Full XT, 2002 SID SL,hope hubs,hope mini discs,flite saddle,x-lite bar and ends.
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Submitted by
Adam Cheney
a Cross Country Rider
from London, UK
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2001
Strengths: Looks, weight, price, material...
Weaknesses: No disk mounts
Bottom Line:
I got this frame after my alu hardtail developed a crack; it was on a special deal from Merlin at only £375 for the 2000 frame - could not resist this price! I only finished building it with my old components (and a few new ones) and it's had a couple of rides...
What a revelation! It feels agile and secure at the same time. It has a much steeper headtube angle than my last frame (it may be corrected for a longer fork than I'm running), so the steering feels lively. On the other hand, it goes precisely where I point it and keeps egging me on to try new things and ride to the limits of my confidence! I will probably fit a longer stem to try to stabilise the steering a little, although that's probably just what I'm used to.
It flys over roots and rocks, and the frame seems to take the very high frequencies out of the bumps - I still feel everything the bike goes over, but it feels less harsh and doesn't hurt my bum anymore! After my first ride, which followed a month long layoff due to illness, I hardly had any saddle sores.
In short, this is a superb frame, and make the best bike I have ever ridden. It certainly feels fast, and it's inspiring me to stretch the limits of my riding... Can I give it six flaming chillis?
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Z2 Lights, Mavic CrossRides, Magura HS33, Sugino Mighty 900, XT/STX-RC gears, Easton EA50 seatpin, Selle Italia saddle, Cane Creek C2 headset, Club Roost risers...
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Submitted by
Colin
a Weekend Warrior
from Wigtownshire, Scotland
Date Reviewed: June 29, 2001
Strengths: Very forgiving to the point of big smiles but never loses that flying feeling. Superlight, stiff on the climbs and just basically, makes you want to go faster and faster. Great stuff for the money
Weaknesses: I've only had the bike for a month and cant think of any yet. Its some shed!!!!!!
Bottom Line:
This is by far the best bike i have ever owned and i've only had it a month. It gives me a "catch me if you can" feeling that i've never had before. The build quality is top drawer and looks beautiful as the natural finish will take some pounding. Buy one if its in your budget
Similar Products Used: Kona, Trek, Specialized, De kerf, Giant, Marin and also had the pleasure of riding my mates Yo & bro Eddy's
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Bombers, Xtr, Xt, Sachs and my very lovely CT2 carbon post
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Submitted by
pedro garcia
a Weekend Warrior
from leicester
Date Reviewed: May 1, 2001
Strengths: light,very responsive,very agile, beautiful ride,feels alive,easy bike to love, very fast with thin slicks, the best and most enjoyable ride I've ever had. great customer service. this bike can do anything.
Weaknesses: setup was awful on receiving bike,-merlin paid for the service so no probs. tell em EXACTLY what you want-I wish I'd told em not so much off the front folk-its a bit low.
Bottom Line:
My dream bike, agile, extremely quick to accelerate & react/handle. one set of wheels for road-fast,commanding & gorgeous ride, anothr set for offroad-its so versatile. I'll get front sus folks eventually but this bike already rocks on & off road. titanium is kelly brook of the bike world--everything you ever heard is true-and bettr & 575 pounds for the a top titanium frame is a bargin. best of all is the ride & feel--its poetry & devotion. I've owned 12 bikes in 20 yrs--nothing touches this one.
Submitted by
john
a weekend warrior
from Manchester
Date Reviewed: March 2, 1999
Bottom Line:
great frame no probs as yet all the right sizes and angles looks like new fore ever a loveley springey feel to the whole bike, makes it feel very smooth when every thing gets a litte rough overall, excllent
