# 1992 Merlin Mountain



## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Thought the forum could use a little vintage titanium.

1992 Merlin with with XC Pro/XTR mix, toggle cam, Ergotec shifters, Litespeed fork, etc.
























toggle action:








Litespeed crown:









XC Pro with XTR cassette:









and probably one of my all time favorite shifters:









some more details here:
fiveandaquarter


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## Cycleshark (Jan 21, 2004)

wowzeroni! 

I always like it, when people take time for creative pictures :thumbsup:


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

Thats a beauty. how do you like those shifters?


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## alasa (Jan 28, 2004)

Vey very nice bike, 
but I think it's a '91 or '90 frame, 
the rear stay is not S bend!


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## LARRYJO (Aug 7, 2007)

Very Cool.
Like the backdrop.


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## scant (Jan 5, 2004)

sell me the fork


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Schweeet bike FB!

Hmm, Merlin, Hope ti rear hub, separated at birth?


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

I have a pair too. IN PURPLE! WOO HOO!


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## adroit 96' (Sep 16, 2011)

Welds are superb!!!


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

muddybuddy said:


> Thats a beauty. how do you like those shifters?


Love em. Kind of a mixture of rapidfire and grip shift. The buttons ratchet back to the same spot after the shift and you can push through multiple gears at once. Super nice ergonomics and feel. Brake levers feel great too. These were released I think only in 94. Their last hurrah. I think these would have really been a hit had they come out with them a few years prior...


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Fillet-brazed said:


> Love em. Kind of a mixture of rapidfire and grip shift. The buttons ratchet back to the same spot after the shift and you can push through multiple gears at once. Super nice ergonomics and feel. Brake levers feel great too. These were released I think only in 94. Their last hurrah. I think these would have really been a hit had they come out with them a few years prior...


shush!


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

alasa said:


> Vey very nice bike,
> but I think it's a '91 or '90 frame,
> the rear stay is not S bend!


Now you tell me!  I took these pics and looked up the serial number a long time ago and can't remember why I was thinking 92...

Thanks.

scant, haven't I heard that request before?


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

girlonbike said:


> shush!


oh right! Yeah, they're pretty terrible.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

LARRYJO said:


> Very Cool.
> Like the backdrop.


Thanks. It was neat that day with the clouds cruising by the top of the mountain. A little historical sidenote; the first CA flag ever was raised on that peak.



cycleshark said:


> wowzeroni!


Danke, Sharky.


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## chefmiguel (Dec 22, 2007)

Alot of cool eclectic parts mix, hard to pick which one is my favorite.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

That's a really pretty bike FB, and a nice original build too. Good to see some vintage Hope too. Greta pictures.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

I would like to see a side pic.. :thumbsup:


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

colker1 said:


> I would like to see a side pic.. :thumbsup:


Why? You can't get accurate Colkervision dimensions from an angle? 

This is the best I've got:


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Fillet-brazed said:


> Why? You can't get accurate Colkervision dimensions from an angle?


 exactly. want to feel the geometry.
NIce photoshoot btw. Placing the Ti against the granite is subtle w/ imapct. lightning and the right sharpening plus the grey on grey made for bike pics that stand out. It could easily make the FFlight catalogue of vintage bikes they want to publish.. :thumbsup:


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

colker1 said:


> exactly. want to feel the geometry.
> NIce photoshoot btw. Placing the Ti against the granite is subtle w/ imapct. lightning and the right sharpening plus the grey on grey made for bike pics that stand out. It could easily make the FFlight catalogue of vintage bikes they want to publish.. :thumbsup:


haha. I know because I'm the same way looking at a bike's profile trying to get a feel for its characteristics.

Thanks for the photo compliments. But since this was more luck than anything, don't get your hopes up for future photos from me.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

you guys want to cuddle now?


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

girlonbike said:


> you guys want to cuddle now?


Titanium does those things to men...


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

girlonbike said:


> you guys want to cuddle now?


They are giving new meaning to the term, "flipping a bike."


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## blueyes (Jun 2, 2008)

beautiful bike! 

absolutely stunning

wish i had a vintage Ti bike


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## silgot (Aug 6, 2010)

amazing, congratulations!


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## fat-tony (Sep 6, 2005)

I'll hand it to you FB, your build and photos make me just want to get on that thing and ride. I guess I want to cuddle too..............Awesome bike!


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## Inigo Montoya (Dec 25, 2007)

wow, outstanding!
love it!


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## mrw333 (Nov 7, 2010)

*Not As Clean, But Older Still*

Here's an older Merlin with miles on it. Mantis fork; Ibis Ti stem; XCR derailleurs, hubs and brakes. Light and strong. Top equipment for its time.


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## Loudviking (Oct 23, 2011)

Nice bike, very good photos. I am new to the forum but not Mountain biking.
Have a Airborne Lucky Strike, 1998 year. Just got the bike done with brand new
decals! Will post picks when I have posted enough to start a new thread.


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## 24pouces (Jan 8, 2007)

cool bike and sweet pictures too.
Except for the wheel with red rims (I hate red anodized parts on titanium… I would prefer gold and purple) and your shifters : (The first time I saw your pictures I thought "why these such modern shifters on such old bike" . It was before I read the text…)

I only saw that fork on catalog, and I thought that the litespeed fork were bent…
How does it work ? Comfortable or quite stiff ?


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

24pouces said:


> cool bike and sweet pictures too.
> Except for the wheel with red rims (I hate red anodized parts on titanium&#8230; I would prefer gold and purple) and your shifters : (The first time I saw your pictures I thought "why these such modern shifters on such old bike" . It was before I read the text&#8230
> 
> I only saw that fork on catalog, and I thought that the litespeed fork were bent&#8230;
> How does it work ? Comfortable or quite stiff ?


It's sort of an early 90s hodge-podge rather than something out of a catalog from a certain year...

There were two forks, this one preceded the curved blade fork. I think it actually rides pretty nicely. The large diameters keep it stiffer than your ave ti fork. I like it. Not as precise as the Yeti/Type II style, but good.


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## 24pouces (Jan 8, 2007)

perhaps, near of the work of a titanium project 2.
I don't have riden my litespeed but it seems quite stiff with the big tubes 

There's a big difference of the quality of the welds. Merlin are so fine and beautifull. Litespeed was not as fine…


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## bobcataville (Dec 13, 2011)

Hello...1st post...yea!

I was wondering how you looked up the frame number. I purchased two 90-91 frames and short of calling Merlin and/or Tom Kellog I can't find where the info is. I guess It doesn't really matter though, they're the non s-bend so it kinda says what they are. 

Thanks


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

did you try the dropout? It's there or the bb shell.


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## bobcataville (Dec 13, 2011)

Oh my bad, I know where the actual serial number is, I was asking where he "looked up" the serial number. The one I have here is 5185.


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## surfoverhill (Feb 8, 2008)

Try here:
//mombat.org/Merlin.htm]Merlin Museum


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