The Extralight's competition record is also impressive. In its first full year of production, the Extralight captured an Olympic medal with Rebecca Twigg. It was tested in over 200,000 miles of punishing professional competition in Europe, without a single frame failure. And it has been ridden to victories at the National Criterium Championship and the Race Across America.

The Extralight's front triangle features large-diameter tubing for high lateral rigidity. Steering inputs are transmitted instantly, and handling is razor sharp, whether heeled over through 35-mph criterium corners or coursing down switchbacked mountain descents.

Yet the Extralight, by virtue of its naturally resilient double-butted tubing, is also supremely comfortable. Indeed, in a comparison test of titanium bicycles, Bicycle Guide magazine noted: "If any frame were said to epitomize all of titanium's qualities in the way it rides, it would be the Extralight."

The Extralight's comprehensive list of features is almost overwhelming. Highlights include the oversize, laterally rigid 7/8-inch double-butted chainstays, individually selected custom-sized MTS325 tubing for each frame size, and Merlin 6-4 titanium dropouts with vertical slots for instantaneous wheel changes, all set into pure racing geometry designed by Tom Kellogg. Additional details include a precision-reamed super-durable extended seat collar; our exclusive lightweight internally relieved bottom bracket shell that is machined, faced and threaded after welding to guarantee perfect alignment and concentricity, and Merlin's welded tubular three-piece brake bridge with a machined center boss to eliminate brake chatter at any speed.

There's no finer racing bicycle made. And the Extralight is also available in custom-sized road racing, triathlon and cyclocross styles through Merlin's "Made to Measure" program.