posted by J. DeSalvo on august 14, 1998 at 06:21:41:
Just to put some people's fears to rest, I just took delivery of a new 51cm Extralight and it is perfect. Rides beautifully, every weld is gorgeous, the new red decals look snazzier than the old white ones, and did I mention the ride?
One question -- Merlin has remained true to form as long as I can remember in that it has made evolutionary progress with its bikes because fundamentally they are some of the best designed and produced machines in the world. With 5 new models coming out and a 50% larger sales staff are we going to end up with yet another "flavor of the year" bike company that is more interested in selling hype then building great machines? Buying a Merlin is a major investment on the part of any owner -- it took me 4 years to save for mine. However, I know that because of the way the bike is built and designed it will still be just as wonderful 4 years from now. Will that be true of your new models? I cannot figure out how you could add five new models to the line without either going down-scale, becoming redundant or falling prey to fads. I'd be interested in what the people at Merlin have to say about this.
Jason D.