[older guy]

Bought this Merlin new 1991. Rode it as a rigid mountainbike untill '96. With the advent of 1 1/8 suspension forks, 9/10 spds cassettes, and rear suspensions it gathered dust for a while in the garage. I changed the wheels as it had a 7spd freewheel then, put on road 26x1 tires, switchded the X-1s to xtr vees, Suntour thumbs to Bar end shifters, Ritchey Logic fork to new Tange Switchblade (didn't have to but straight blades look cool), Midge handlebars, 287V Diacompe levers, quill to 1/18 stem adapter to use 45 deg stem and road pedals. The RSR Cooks cranks/SRP Ti chainrings, Ti post and Flite Ti saddle are circa '91.

 

[bushpig]

I like it.

 

[hollister]

love the look of those chainrings. im with you on the cool look of straight bladed forks:thumbsup:

 

[older guy]

Thanks

Thank you for the compliments.

 

[DeeEight]

Old Alpinestars on the other hand do die...

cracked my Ti Mega this evening just above the right dropout. Fortunetly I was able to ride out the smooth stuff back to the car. Time to find out how much TrueNorth and DeKerf charge for frame repairs.

 

[older guy]

I've always admired the elevated chainstays of Alpinestars, i.e. no chain suck/slap, they look different and gorgeous looking. The design flaw apparently is where the chainstay meets with the seatstay. The load being on the lower portion of the seatstays where other designs have it on the dropouts - 6/4 Ti at that.
Hope you can have it fixed as Alpinestars have some kind of appeal for being different with an attractive color schemes.

 

[Reposado Man]

How do the road levers work with Vs? I dont see anything like Travel Agents in the mix...

 

[older guy]

287V Diacompe levers were designed to work with V brakes. I was suggested to use road levers with travel agents but I opted for the 287Vs which came with the noodles in the box, no brochure or manual though. They work quite well with Vs, no mushy feeling.

 

[collideous]

Merlins certainly never die. I had mine since 1994. Syncros seatpost and McMahon fork are a few years older. Front hub is from 1991, designed and machined by myself while in college. RaceFace cranks, Paul Love Levers, Avid brakes and rear King SS hub are obviously younger. I just re-polished the frame earlier this year, added some purple bottle cage screws, purple chainring bolts, and a purple derailleur bolt. The rig looks brand-new.

 

[erol/frost]

Lovely Merlin.

 

[older guy]

Oooh, I love the McMahon fork. I had a NukeProof front hub laced radially, it cracked on the flanges. But then I was riding it on dirt back then. 1991 front hub? you should have patented and marketed that thing. It looks very 21st century..

 

[pinguwin]

. Time to find out how much TrueNorth and DeKerf charge for frame repairs.

Keep us posted on your repair. I'd be curious to see what it looks like after (if?) they fix it.

'Guin

 

[collideous]

Oooh, I love the McMahon fork. I had a NukeProof front hub laced radially, it cracked on the flanges. But then I was riding it on dirt back then. 1991 front hub? you should have patented and marketed that thing. It looks very 21st century..

I had a set of Nuke Proof hubs, front was radially laced. They held up well and I recently sold them on Ebay. Never really thought about patenting anything I've designed. Patent, manufacturing and marketing all cost quite a chunk of money. It would have required an investment I wasn't able to make. With cyclists at the time having less and less interest in after-market components it would have probably not even been a wise decision to jump into such an adventure. Nuke Proof, TNT, Bullseye, Pulstar, Grafton etc - all really great stuff, and all history now.

 

[pinguwin]

...Bullseye...all really great stuff, and all history now.

Bullseye is still around, albeit in a much smaller form & presence. Talked to Roger Durham a few months ago.

'Guin

P.S. But what history they made. Thanks to all of them.