Everything that we know about mountain bikes is built into the Merlin XLM. Every ounce of excess weight is gone. Every trick developed for our team frames is revealed. And every performance feature is standard equipment.
Sound impressive? It is. The XLM moved Mountain Bike Action to rave, "If this is an experiment in what it takes to make the best hardtail in the world, we would call it a success." And it inspired MTB magazine's tester to confess, "Until now I have never been adamant about the worth of one bike over another. But the time has come to speak out. The Merlin XLM is the best bike I have ever ridden. Period."
The XLM's world-championship-winning performance starts with a size-specific blend of custom-made single-and double-butted MTS325 seamless titanium tubing. For optimum strength and lowest weight, the top tube and down tube are single-butted, and the head tube, seat tube and chainstays are double-butted.
The Centermount seatstays, design-engineered to a beefy 7/8-inch diameter, are center butted--that is, they are reinforced at the cantilever bosses for greater strength and rigidity, but thinned at each end for ride compliance and low weight. Merlin's exclusive Centermount cantilever brake mounts, which place the machined 6-4 titanium brake bosses directly over the centerline of the stay, resist twist and flex, and, in combination with the center-butted seatstays, create a rock-solid foundation for any lightweight cantilever brake.
Updated frame geometry, including suspension-compensated head angles and bottom bracket heights, handles the longer travel requirements of the latest generation of suspension forks. At the rear, a lightweight 6-4 titanium vertical dropout design delivers fast, accurate wheel changes.
Available in the full range of Merlin sizes, the XLM is a pure performance racing design appropriate for any terrain and any conditions. And its low weight, high strength, and superb handling guarantee that the standards it has set will not be surpassed for many years to come.
Frame Size (in., ctr-ctr) 13.5 15.0 16.25 17.5 18.75 20.0 21.5 Head angle (degrees)* 70.5 71.0 71.0 71.0 71.0 71.5 72.0 Seat angle (degrees)* 73.5 73.5 73.5 73.0 72.5 72.5 72.0 Nominal top tube (in.) 21.00 21.75 22.38 23.00 23.63 24.25 25.00 Chainstay (in.) 16.75 16.75 16.75 16.75 16.75 16.75 16.875 Wheelbase (in.)* 39.8 40.4 41.1 41.6 42.1 42.5 43.3 Standover height (in.)* 27.6 28.6 29.6 30.3 31.2 32.3 33.9 Bottom bracket height (in.)* 11.6 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.8 11.8 11.9 Head tube length (in.) 3.38 3.75 4.00 4.25 5.00 6.00 7.50 Steerer length (in.) 5.00 5.50 5.75 6.00 6.75 7.75 9.25 Frame weight (pounds) 3.18 3.25 3.36 3.46 3.58 3.70 3.99