Merlin (The King), je possède un Merlin de route 1995, et j'en suis encore merveilleusement enchanté. Je roule cinq jours semaine, aux vents des quatre saisons. Je possède deux autres vélos, dont un Fat bike (évidemment). Depuis le temps, j'ai eu l'occasion de rouler sur plusieurs montures. Mais rien de comparable à mon fabuleux Merlin, pour l'aisance, le confort et l'ultime plaisir de célébrer la vie sur un vélo. Vive Merlin.
Merlins are nice & easy to restore. I have a 1994 Road & Campag Record 9 speed. I raced it hard for years and then about ten years ago got some fresh transfers, a handful of Scotchbrite scouring pads, cut them into strips and buffed the frame. looks like new, the hard work was doing the groupset properly. Merlins are never museum pieces in that its just scoured titanium, you could do it over & over & over again. Bike always comes up looking like new. Easy.
Even the decals on mine have held up fine, and the whole bike looks fairly new. I bought a set of Fulcrum Racing 4s for mine (35mm deep, alloy rim brake, relatively narrow width as compared to everything else out there today, radial front spoking which I LOVE and you are verboten from using with rim brakes, and CAMPY freehub! YEA!!!) just to have a new set of wheels when all of these a**hole manufacturers drop the FINAL axe on rim brake hoops totally and forever, despite how many billions of bikes so equipped are out there in the world! 😡😡
I own a ~1999-2000 vintage version of this same bike as my only ride right now (one of the very last built in their Sommerville, Mass, facility, before the Litespeed/ABG buyout) . It is VERY similar to this one save for slightly different brake/shift cable braze-ons (shifter cable guides welded to the head tube, and rear brake guides run UNDER the top tube), and an unthreaded head tube. Mine is equipped with a Campy Record 10 gruppo of also a 2000 vintage, with a crank 'upgrade' (some would NOT call it that!) to a 2010 Record compact carbon/Ultra Torque BB (50/34, sold the old alloy 53/39 Record 10 cranks). It also has a King non-threaded headset, Reynolds Ouzo carbon fork, Mavic Cosmic Elite alloy wheels, Kestrel carbon bars, Ritchey WCS stem, Selle Italia Flite TT saddle, and a no setback Easton carbon seat post (but I still have the Record 10 carbon one). I love this machine, and the more I hear of problems with crunchy carbon shattering from merely falling over in place, and sh**ty, misaligned bottom bracket shells making the pressed-in BBs fall out of $15K+ USD bikes, the more I want to just keep riding this one! The only problem I ever had was my shoe's heel cup striking that chain stay mounted rear derailleur braze-on (same as on the vid bike's) due to it being positioned so far out to the edge of the stay, and me using Speedplay X pedals which allowed so much 'free float' that my shoe made contact with that braze-on. A set of 20mm pedal extenders (and yes, I know of the 'dangers' involved with carbon cranks and using these ;) ), and a switch to float limited Speedplay ZERO pedals solved that problem TOTALLY! :) My only other concern going forward is finding rim brake wheels which will work with this setup, due to the DEMAND that all (bike AND wheel) manufacturers are making on everyone to use disc brakes going forward. :( :( It is especially impossible when looking for the combo of; Campy 10 freehub, alloy braking surface, and aero carbon 50mm deep section in narrow enough widths to fit this frame/fork/brake caliper setup. :( I NEVER EVER should have sold those 2002 vintage Cosmic Carbones I once owned (and they looked sooooo great on this bike!), but who knew how totally INSANE the high end bike industry would become in the bear future!?!
I filmed this for a friend. I only have a tatty old Focus Carbon, but if money was no object I'd love to restore a show bike too. One of the toughest decisions is wether you'd restore a bike to such perfection that it would become a museum piece that was essentially too valuable to ride. Or take the restoration only to the point where you could still use it and enjoy it for what it was designed for.
@@nielskjr5432 The Merlin isn't actually my bike, it belongs to a friend. I have had titanium frames before but they always had either a steel, or a carbon fork. You'd think a titanium alloy would be ideal because if made correctly it can bend back and forth many more times than a steel fork (or so I'm told), I shall have to question it myself.
Carbon forks absorb vibrations very well, more than any type of metal. That's why most prefer this over light-weight. But yes, some carbon forks aren't great. For example, my 2005 Bianchi xl full carbon bends too much when sprinting. And it causes the rims to rub with the brake pad. I'm only 60kg...
The team I once raced for made a sponsorship deal with Merlin and about a dozen of these were provided at half price. My frame came equipped with an aluminum fork. My teammates all swapped it out for carbon forks. I kept the aluminum, so as to save a little money. Why I mention it is because the carbon stiffened the ride and the aluminum, I feel, sort of prevented my ride from ever feeling really snappy, like it compromised all that titanium. A year or two later we road Schwinn OS steel frames, and oh what a difference. I could bank that Schwinn hard over in a crit turn and the bike never flinched, The aluminum fork on the Merlin just wouldn't let that happen.
I got one but mine is with Dura ace 7400 down tube shifters,,,I’m afraid the bike is going to burry me because the more I ride her the faster she wants to go….new cyclists tell me that we are old(67) but the bike fits me like a glove…..
Nice gruppo, almost beautiful frame, but these miles of cable housing held to the frame by half a dozen cable guides looks so ugly. As a nod to modern times the bike features a carbon fork, so why can't the frame have an internally routed rear brake cable? Stuff like that was available by the early 1990s.
I agree it's ugly but I suspect internally routing on a Ti frame might have been considered a weak spot. Also internally routed cables can jitter around making noise. It's not my bike, I did the video for a friend so I'll ask his opinion
recalling else, recent months I've kind of been waiting for an apenail to pop up featuring this frameset, yeh its been a famous classic in massachusetts, there was/is? a shop of sorts in natick too, some of the cat boys had merlin, ive been most desire for cannondale caads, i'll likely yet make a top ten list of the great framesets
Beautiful time capsule.
I have a 1993 Original road merlin, Fantastic ride, Stiffer ride with carbon low profile wheels. size 59cm. 17.5 pounds.
Awesome,that is superlight at 17.5lbs.💯👌🏻🚴♂️
Moments in love, literally
Beautiful,polished Campagnolo parts look awesome.💯👌🏻🚴♂️
Merlin (The King), je possède un Merlin de route 1995, et j'en suis encore merveilleusement enchanté. Je roule cinq jours semaine, aux vents des quatre saisons. Je possède deux autres vélos, dont un Fat bike (évidemment). Depuis le temps, j'ai eu l'occasion de rouler sur plusieurs montures. Mais rien de comparable à mon fabuleux Merlin, pour l'aisance, le confort et l'ultime plaisir de célébrer la vie sur un vélo. Vive Merlin.
Merlins are nice & easy to restore. I have a 1994 Road & Campag Record 9 speed. I raced it hard for years and then about ten years ago got some fresh transfers, a handful of Scotchbrite scouring pads, cut them into strips and buffed the frame. looks like new, the hard work was doing the groupset properly. Merlins are never museum pieces in that its just scoured titanium, you could do it over & over & over again. Bike always comes up looking like new. Easy.
Even the decals on mine have held up fine, and the whole bike looks fairly new.
I bought a set of Fulcrum Racing 4s for mine (35mm deep, alloy rim brake, relatively narrow width as compared to everything else out there today, radial front spoking which I LOVE and you are verboten from using with rim brakes, and CAMPY freehub! YEA!!!) just to have a new set of wheels when all of these a**hole manufacturers drop the FINAL axe on rim brake hoops totally and forever, despite how many billions of bikes so equipped are out there in the world! 😡😡
I own a ~1999-2000 vintage version of this same bike as my only ride right now (one of the very last built in their Sommerville, Mass, facility, before the Litespeed/ABG buyout) .
It is VERY similar to this one save for slightly different brake/shift cable braze-ons (shifter cable guides welded to the head tube, and rear brake guides run UNDER the top tube), and an unthreaded head tube.
Mine is equipped with a Campy Record 10 gruppo of also a 2000 vintage, with a crank 'upgrade' (some would NOT call it that!) to a 2010 Record compact carbon/Ultra Torque BB (50/34, sold the old alloy 53/39 Record 10 cranks).
It also has a King non-threaded headset, Reynolds Ouzo carbon fork, Mavic Cosmic Elite alloy wheels, Kestrel carbon bars, Ritchey WCS stem, Selle Italia Flite TT saddle, and a no setback Easton carbon seat post (but I still have the Record 10 carbon one).
I love this machine, and the more I hear of problems with crunchy carbon shattering from merely falling over in place, and sh**ty, misaligned bottom bracket shells making the pressed-in BBs fall out of $15K+ USD bikes, the more I want to just keep riding this one!
The only problem I ever had was my shoe's heel cup striking that chain stay mounted rear derailleur braze-on (same as on the vid bike's) due to it being positioned so far out to the edge of the stay, and me using Speedplay X pedals which allowed so much 'free float' that my shoe made contact with that braze-on.
A set of 20mm pedal extenders (and yes, I know of the 'dangers' involved with carbon cranks and using these ;) ), and a switch to float limited Speedplay ZERO pedals solved that problem TOTALLY! :)
My only other concern going forward is finding rim brake wheels which will work with this setup, due to the DEMAND that all (bike AND wheel) manufacturers are making on everyone to use disc brakes going forward. :( :(
It is especially impossible when looking for the combo of; Campy 10 freehub, alloy braking surface, and aero carbon 50mm deep section in narrow enough widths to fit this frame/fork/brake caliper setup. :(
I NEVER EVER should have sold those 2002 vintage Cosmic Carbones I once owned (and they looked sooooo great on this bike!), but who knew how totally INSANE the high end bike industry would become in the bear future!?!
i love it crisp clean i want to restore & make my bike look like this clean
I filmed this for a friend. I only have a tatty old Focus Carbon, but if money was no object I'd love to restore a show bike too. One of the toughest decisions is wether you'd restore a bike to such perfection that it would become a museum piece that was essentially too valuable to ride. Or take the restoration only to the point where you could still use it and enjoy it for what it was designed for.
Chuladdddda. Nice I love campagnolo. And steel bike. Tha Best even columbus steel
Thanks
Esta es la auténtica bicicleta de carreras y no lo que hacen hoy día.
Absolutely beautiful.
Now this is REAL road bike. Not like all the modern shit we see out in the market nowadays.
True,Carbon fibre bikes have no character.
Spettacolo !
Subarashii ❤
OMG! My GF better not walk into the room or I'll have to slam the laptop shut! "Oh, nuthin' honey." 😅
Haha yeah I know what you mean, it's quite foxy isn't it.
Beautiful!
Delicious bike! Do prefer the later aheadaets tbh but this period campag is so pure
What amazes me is that it took so long for aheadset to become a reality. The bike industry worked very slowly.
Stylish stuff.
thanks
How fast does it go?
How fast does it go?
Is this a silly question?
0 - 60 in 9 seconds
Yes!!
Honestly!
Stay home chubby your body...
@@robertgutierrez761 I think the same. This is to beautiful to use it on the street. So clean 👌
what is the gold ak 47 james bond chain called? I only seen ones like that for fixies?
It's a KMC 8 speed.
@@And-rc9yy Reminiscent of the Regina Oro of old/way yesteryear. 😉👍
I need a cigarette after watching ❤
Good 👍
Beautiful bike, thank you! I'm not sure about the carbon fork.
I agree I'm not a fan of the forks either
@@And-rc9yy but what do I know? Maybe titanium is not the best material for the forks. Too stiff and unforgiving. Like aluminium.
@@nielskjr5432 The Merlin isn't actually my bike, it belongs to a friend. I have had titanium frames before but they always had either a steel, or a carbon fork. You'd think a titanium alloy would be ideal because if made correctly it can bend back and forth many more times than a steel fork (or so I'm told), I shall have to question it myself.
Carbon forks absorb vibrations very well, more than any type of metal. That's why most prefer this over light-weight.
But yes, some carbon forks aren't great.
For example, my 2005 Bianchi xl full carbon bends too much when sprinting. And it causes the rims to rub with the brake pad.
I'm only 60kg...
The team I once raced for made a sponsorship deal with Merlin and about a dozen of these were provided at half price. My frame came equipped with an aluminum fork. My teammates all swapped it out for carbon forks. I kept the aluminum, so as to save a little money. Why I mention it is because the carbon stiffened the ride and the aluminum, I feel, sort of prevented my ride from ever feeling really snappy, like it compromised all that titanium. A year or two later we road Schwinn OS steel frames, and oh what a difference. I could bank that Schwinn hard over in a crit turn and the bike never flinched, The aluminum fork on the Merlin just wouldn't let that happen.
1:42
Nice cars hey 😁
I got one but mine is with Dura ace 7400 down tube shifters,,,I’m afraid the bike is going to burry me because the more I ride her the faster she wants to go….new cyclists tell me that we are old(67) but the bike fits me like a glove…..
Nice gruppo, almost beautiful frame, but these miles of cable housing held to the frame by half a dozen cable guides looks so ugly. As a nod to modern times the bike features a carbon fork, so why can't the frame have an internally routed rear brake cable? Stuff like that was available by the early 1990s.
I agree it's ugly but I suspect internally routing on a Ti frame might have been considered a weak spot. Also internally routed cables can jitter around making noise. It's not my bike, I did the video for a friend so I'll ask his opinion
Okokokok.
recalling else, recent months I've kind of been waiting for an apenail to pop up featuring this frameset, yeh its been a famous classic in massachusetts, there was/is? a shop of sorts in natick too, some of the cat boys had merlin, ive been most desire for cannondale caads, i'll likely yet make a top ten list of the great framesets
I like your videos p you do me and my name is Josh
It’s a beauty but I don’t like the breaks 👎
they're garbage, but most people think they look nice. That was Campags priority
Mine is better