I am looking at buying a Merlin Cycles frame - has onayone out there used one? I am looking at using it from general XC riding - nothing too wild. Do you think their Malt 1 will be OK? merlincycles.co.ukMerlin Frames.htmlOpen ↗
"Simon Hawthorne" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
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I am looking at buying a Merlin Cycles frame - has onayone out there used one? I am looking at using it from general XC riding - nothing too wild. Do you think their Malt 1 will be OK? merlincycles.co.ukMerlin Frames.htmlOpen ↗
Thanks in advance
Simon
Have a look in google groups- there have been a number of comments about merlin cycles frames before. I rode a malt1 for a while and was very impressed. Quite a stiff frame but you don't get comfy aluminium at this price range.
I am looking at buying a Merlin Cycles frame - has onayone out there used one? I am looking at using it from general XC riding - nothing too wild. Do you think their Malt 1 will be OK? merlincycles.co.ukMerlin Frames.htmlOpen ↗
They are often mentioned in MTB forums like bikemagic or Singletrackworld. Hardly anyone ever has a bad word to say about them. For the price, they seem to be very good. There are a few equally good rival brands, but none of these do anything at quite the budget end as the Malt 1. The webpage says that this frame is built by Kinesis (all Merlin UK's frames are of far east manufacture). Kinesis are a Taiwanese firm that OEM frames for bike manufacturers. They also have a few that they sell under their own name, the best known of which is the Kinesis Maxlight. These are also popular and highly regarded in their price range.
A friend has a Rock Lobster 853, which is also from Merlin, and he thinks it's great. I've had a quick go, and would agree that it seems good for the money.
In short, you won't go far wrong with a Merlin. These are not the same as the tres expensive frames from a US company with the same name.
I have an old Malt1 frame that was used to build up my first homebuilt MTB. The model I have has round tubing thoughout as opposed to that disgusting looking current model ;o) . The only downside of this frame was the paint job (ice blue) that looked nice when I got it but if anything more than a leaf hit it, it would scratch. Contrary to Pete's (Fredster) comment, I actually found the frame quite forgiving (especially compared to my brothers much much more expensive Klien). For the price I don't think you can go far wrong and you may as well get a pair of wheels from them as well, as they are very well made IMHO.