Fully Engraved Cyrene |
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This bike was the result of Merlin's foray into engraving in 2003.
What started out as an idea of offering an engraved bike without decals,
turned into a show bike that was taken to an absolute extreme. The cost
and man hours involved were incredibly expensive, and thus a design like
this is unfortunately cost prohibitive in terms of a retail offering.
Why engraved? The inspiration for this beautiful design came from high end
shotguns, fly-rods and reels. Very stunning pieces of equipment, meant to be
used, but pleasing to look at. The pattern we chose was a bit like the one you
would see on an equestrian saddle, and looked very nice covering the entire
tube set. This year this bike won best titanium bike at the North American
Handmade Bicycle Show.
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Bought in Nov.1994 from The Flying Ball cycle shop in Hong Kong , I was living there at the time.
The bike now lives in the North East of the United Kingdom up in the border county of Northumberland .
It`s been quite a well travelled MTB :
Atlas Mountains of Morocco - 5 times.
Winter Park - twice.
Vail, Slick Rock.
Pyrennes Mountains , Northern Spain .
Leh to Manali, Kashmir, Northern India .
Brochen Mountains , Northern Germany .
All over the U.K.
The bikes current spec:
Aria rims
Rockshox Judy SL+Judd springs (1995)
Chris King Aheadset
Ringle Stem
Ibis Ti Handlebar
XT Thumb shifters
XTR V-Brakes
XTR Front Derailliuer
XTR Rear Derailliuer+cassette
USE Suspension seat post+Selle saddle
Royce Ti Bottom Bracket
XTR Cranks+SPD pedals
All bolts now Ti.
No defects so far with the frame, just takes a wash and polish to bring it looking like new again.I`ve got a spare set of decals that I`m saving for a rainy day. I`ll never get rid of this bike, the latest full suspension types are great but just too heavy!!
Hope this has been of some interest to you.
Best Regards |
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| Just having a break - riding covered bridges in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Merlin Agilis.
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| Rinaldo with his XLM in Utah. |
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Vicious rigid fork
King headset
Ritchey WCS Stem
Bontrager Race Lite flat carbon bars
Sram carbon brake levers
Avid BB7 disc brakes
Paul Components Single Speed hubs
Bontrager Mustang tubeless rims
Bontrager XXX carbon seat post
Terry Ti Race seat
Shimano XTR 165mm 5-arm crankset with 34 tooth chainring
XTR bottom bracket
White Eno SS freewheel 17 tooth
Sram 8spd chain
Nokian Hakka WXC 300 Studs 26x2.1 tires
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| I dreamed up this bike out of the desire to have a road bike that would be comfortable and predictable on very long and adventurous rides. I am very sold on titanium, so that was a given, the Cyrene and its lack of decals and subtle engraving just fit the bill as the frame to start with. I wanted the frame to have the ability to accommodate large tires so I could ride on road, gravel, dirt as well as trails. In my experience of riding a drop bar off road, I felt that being able to ride in the drops for an extended time gave me more control as well as power up steep climbs, so I needed to extend the head tube length to make this possible. Standard road gearing is less than desirable for me off road, plus I like to pull my son in a trailer on rides, so I chose mountain bike gearing. What I lack on fast paved downhills I more than make up on steep, loose climbs or climbs with the trailer. The Reynolds Ouzo Cross fork is light and has fantastic tire clearance. Titanium st em and post, King headset and bombproof Ultegra hubs in Open Pro CD rims finish off this wonderfully fun machine. The tires are 700x38's and are a bit heavy, but flats are non-existent and they feel great in the woods. Both photos are taken on the same Fall ride, the nice dirt road was quite deep in leaves on this particular day. Thanks for looking. |
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I bought my 2005 Cielo last year. This is by far the best bike I ever ridden and is one of the nicest bikes around.
My story is that I always had Bianchi's and that is the reason why I got my nick name several years ago. When I purchased
My Cielo everyone made fun of me because all my bikes were Bianchi's and 100%bv racing machines and every one told me I was getting old because I bought this bike that looked more like a cruising than a racing one.. so I made a point prove them wrong and I prepared my Cielo to become a true racing machine. After a couple of weeks no one was laughing and the Cielo became a local legend.
My Cielo is a combination of comfort, agility, power and speed and among locals my bike is known as "The Sword".
Keep pedaling
Carlos "Bianchi" Ortiz
Team Director.
Team Paisa
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