Sunday, April 29, 2007

Blackbird — custom Merlin track bike



Terminaut's vintage titanium track bike, "Blackbird":



Custom, ultra-short wheelbase, Merlin titanium frame.





Passoni titanium handlebar. Titanium fork, and titanium toe cages. (For the uninitiated, track bikes do not have brakes. The rear cog is fixed to the hub. I.e. you can't coast, so you control your speed with your legs.)





Merlin titanium quill stem. Titanium stem bolt. 1" Chris King Titanium GripNut™ headset.





Morati Titan titanium crank arms, Boone titanium chainring. Titanium chain ring bolts. Regina Titanio titanium chain, Boone titanium rear cog.





Araya Titaace Gold titanium rims. Titanium spokes.





Custom Italian titanium saddle with titanium seat rails. Titanium seatpost, and titanium seatpost bolt.





Weight: unknown.
Price: unknown.






A nice video.





Another bike Terminaut is building up: the Merlin Newsboy (info).

Some of his other bikes in his living room  0_o





Another Ti beauty (off-road): the Amaro Lollobrigida (info).

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi, I saw a Merlin Titanium on craigslist for $2500, but I still don't know the weight

-ben said...

The seller should furnish details of the model and year; those, together with the component groupset, you should be able to estimate the weight of the bike.

Another method is to get the serial number off the seller and reference it with Merlin.

Anonymous said...

any idea of what those araya rims weigh?

-ben said...

Nope, unfortunately :-(

Multi Grooves said...

The arayas wieght approximately 340g each

-ben said...

Thanks, festus!

:-)

G.S.GUCCILIFE said...

Is there a source for titanium rims?Any help much appreciated....

Unknown said...

what kind of fork is that?

-ben said...

Good question, Steve.

I don't think it is a Sibex fork.

Anonymous said...

I just want to know the weight and cost?

-ben said...

I haven't the slightest idea, Anon, but here's more information on the bike:

It was manufactured in the early 1990s by Merlin Cambridge for world record holder, Vic Copeland, of the USPS Masters Cycling Team.

Bio:

Licensed Racer since - 1987
USPS Teammate since - 1988
Prestige selection - 1992, 1993, 1995 USCF Masters Rider of the Year
World Titles - Current Masters World Record Holder; Former Masters World Track Champion; Former Masters World Games Champion
World Year(s) - 2003 (4); 2002 (3); 1998 (3); 1995 (4)
Nationals Titles - Current Masters Track Champion; Former Masters Nationals Road Champion; 6 time IronMan finisher
National's Year(s) - 2004 (4); 2003 (3); 2002 (3); 2001 (3); 1999 (4); 1998; 1996 (2); 1995 (5); 1994 (5); 1993 (4); 1992 (3); 1991 (3); 1990; 1988

Picture.