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Dan,

Was cruising along on the web today when I decided to check out the Merlin website. Discovered that you are looking for Merlin stories about how great Merlin bikes are. Ok... Let's see if we have anything good enough to make the web.

My husband, Bruce, has been cycling for 30 years and until two years ago was a confirmed "Steel is Real" man, that is, until I bought him a Merlin Extralight for Christmas (isn't he a lucky guy?). Now he proclaims to anyone who will listen, "Steel is Real, but Titanium is Faster". He's owned all kinds of steel frames including some that were custom made but that custom made steel frame doesn't see much of riding time anymore.

Bruce claims that I started him on the Ti obsession and it has become an obsession because he has now added a set of neuvo-retro lightweight wheels that start with a set of 1971 Campy Record 36 hole hi-flange hubs laced to 24 spoke tubluar rims( one cross on the front and three cross on the rear). He thinks that red sidewall Tufo Stealth Jet Tubular Tires are way cool and complete the perfect wheel for torturing me and all our other riding buddies. Oh, did I mention that the those hubs now sport Ti axles and Zipp Ti skewers and that he had to add an SRP Ti bolt kit to pare off a few more grams. The rest of his bike is outfitted with that cheap Campy Record stuff. I personnally think that the TNT hubs that I have with Dura Ace is the perfect way to outfit a Merlin. We do agree however, that there is no better frame made than a MERLIN.

We frequently ride with a group of friends who own Litespeeds. On one of our recent cruiser rides we stopped at our favorite Starbucks for a cup of rocket fuel. It was a nice Colorado spring day so we were all sitting outside with the bikes leaning against the building. A guy and his teenage son stop to admire Bruce's Merlin Extralight which was next to my Merlin Road bike. He turns to Bruce...easy to pick out the owner because he was wearing his favorite Merlin jersey, and say "Cool Bike" and walks off. All our buddies with the Litespeeds are moaning and groaning because there was no comment about any one of the three Litespeeds.

Since we moved to Colorado, Bruce, a confirmed roadie, had to get a mountain bike. When it came time to pick one out, he said that there could be no other choice . So we called our favorite bike shop (Excel Sports in Boulder) and they gave us a great deal on a Merlin Mountain bike that they had built up for a catalogue picture (and it didn't hurt that it was the third Merlin that we had bought from them). That brought our bike total to 9.....4 of which are MERLINS. We would add a fifth but since you guys don't make tandems, I guess that won't happen anytime soon.

Would send you a picture but we don't really have any great ones. I''ve been thinking that I'll get one of my Litespeed riding friends to take a photo of Bruce riding up one of the local hills with no hands (sometimes he just disgusting)...... you could then use a caption like....so light they float up the hill.... only kidding.

Hope you enjoyed the story.

Jean Downing & Bruce Hall

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