Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Merlin Works 4.0

47K views 142 replies 32 participants last post by  Big Bad Wolf 
#1 ·
hi there,

are there any Works 4.0 owners out there or did anyone already have a chance to ride this bike?
Any experiences, pros and cons you could share?
Am interested to learn some details about this babe.
thx
Nick
 
#77 ·
Big Bad Wolf said:
I just put on another stem/handlebar combo. The Morati was only 110mm and I couldn't get the postion right.
This stem is an 120mm Hi-Light titanium one, and the handlebar is a carbon Race Face Next SL.. the combination weighs 30 grammes less than the Morati as well. :p
Here is a pic after the build. Bike is ready to roll now, but since they are predicting snow it will have to wait yet some time;)

I see that you have an 80mm fork on there. Does it feel balanced enough with the 4 inches in the rear?
Your bike is beautiful. Much fancier stuff than I have on my 4.0. I hope those 30 grams give you the edge you're looking for. :)
Sorry to hear about the snow. It's 55 degrees F here, I'm riding tonight!
 
#78 ·
morlysafer said:
I see that you have an 80mm fork on there. Does it feel balanced enough with the 4 inches in the rear?
Your bike is beautiful. Much fancier stuff than I have on my 4.0. I hope those 30 grams give you the edge you're looking for. :)
Sorry to hear about the snow. It's 55 degrees F here, I'm riding tonight!
The fork is a 100mm Reba :thumbsup:
 
#79 ·
Big Bad Wolf said:
The fork is a 100mm Reba :thumbsup:
I've never seen the reba with a carbon crown. Then again, I don't keep up with rockshox since I switched to fox. I will say that I have not been over the moon with my fox either though, as it has required a couple rebuilds and my original terralogic fork completely failed. Maybe I should give them another chance on the next go 'round. :)
 
#84 ·
It's finally done!

My dad gave me big $$$ for a new bike. My first in 8 years! So I splurged on my 3rd Merlin. My first was a used 1990 7 speed. The 2nd a 1994 with blue Judy's. Still runs great though!
They both do and the first Merlin is now my trusty commuter bike resplendent with fenders and lights and a rack and the whole geek commuter look!!
But this is my pride. It handles like a dream and weighs in at 21 1/2 pounds! No I'm not making that up!!
I was not at all fond of the large black graphics and after a few phone calls to Merlin, I was able to get some secure some white graphics from a great guy named Craig. I called back to see if I could get more and by then he's left the company. Their loss!
This will probably be my last mountain bike. I just can't imagine buying another. This is better than I could have ever dreamed about!!
 

Attachments

#86 ·
Here's a couple more. It's full XTR with Ritchy carbon WCS stem and seatpost. It also has a Seven 22" wide ti handle bar. That's what I use. 22" for 20 years now. Gets me between the tree's!!:thumbsup:
I'm 5'4" so it's a 15" frame which
helps for lighter weight. The wheels are Mavic SL disc.
 

Attachments

#88 ·
Wow, Dirtmistress, what a great looking bike.
Yeah, ze olde Merlin decals do it justice but I'll keep my new ones just the same.:thumbsup:
It took me a while to see where the Seven sticker fitted in. :eek: I nearly got a fit :D
Looks like you built it up with the quality stuff a bike like this deserves.. good job and for sure a 23 pound bike is the result.
Happy trails with it Amiga :)
[PS: Too bad we're on diiferent sides of this rather big pond.. our bikes should meet :rolleyes: ]
 
#90 ·
Very nice with the old school decals. I've been thinking of doing the same one mine. The big, poster-sized, decals are a little loud for the merlin brand. However, when I think about it being a ti ellsworth, I can understand why they upped the decal ante.
I hate to hear that Craig (Sutton) left American Bicycle, he was one of the last from back in the heyday.

Now that we've seen all of the bike, how about a shot of the mistress?
 
#92 ·
you're right about individual tastes for bike owners. I'm speaking from my experience when I actually worked in marketing for Merlin, or rather for American Bicycle group, way back in 2003 and 2004. The brand of merlin has a lot of heritage and has always carried a more subdued image. It is only in very recent years that this has changed with the "Works" brand that is supposed to appeal to the racer who wants to stay attached to that heritage. I will say that this new racer oriented brand feels a bit disjointed from the old, Cambridge, MA, brand because Tom Kellog, the merlin founder, was not much for bike racing and big logos generally have more in common with racers. When I say the decals are loud for the brand, I'm speaking for the overall brand image of Merlin, not that the bike itself neccessarily looks bad with them. My XLM 6/4 also has these same decals that practically scream MERLIN!! to every passerby when compared to my wife's XLM from 2001.
 
#94 ·
The large black Merlin decals were too much for me. I'm old school and prefer the old school look.As I said earlier, they were too much on a 15" bike.
They took up the entire frame practically.
Anyway, it's all personal preferance. If I liked lime green I could have custom made those and stuck them on. Hmm..maybe when these wear off.
I didn't know that was Craig Sutton. I don't know him but the name is familiar. No wonder he is so nice. He's been around awhile and he told me what you said Morley, they are trying to make it a bit more agressive and hard-core so they thought the decals matched the new look. He was very kind to respect the history I have with Merlin and send me the old style!
:p Either way, my friends are calling it a MerWorth! I call it EllMer! But they still all think it's Merlin all the way!!:thumbsup:
The handle bar is a ti bar from Seven that I got from a friend. KInd of odd but whatever,it's ti! We weighed it on two different scales after it was fully built. The first weigh-in came in at 21 and three quarter pounds, the second came in at 21 pounds so we are calling it 21 and a half pounds. I am putting some Ritchy WCS bar ends on tomorrow so I guess it'll go up a bit.
Take care!!
 
#95 ·
dirtmistress said:
My dad gave me big $$$ for a new bike. My first in 8 years! So I splurged on my 3rd Merlin. My first was a used 1990 7 speed. The 2nd a 1994 with blue Judy's. Still runs great though!
They both do and the first Merlin is now my trusty commuter bike resplendent with fenders and lights and a rack and the whole geek commuter look!!
But this is my pride. It handles like a dream and weighs in at 21 1/2 pounds! No I'm not making that up!!
I was not at all fond of the large black graphics and after a few phone calls to Merlin, I was able to get some secure some white graphics from a great guy named Craig. I called back to see if I could get more and by then he's left the company. Their loss!
This will probably be my last mountain bike. I just can't imagine buying another. This is better than I could have ever dreamed about!!
That's a darn fine bike! Love the pictures and all... but the only question that matters is: does your dad need a godson??;)
 
#96 ·
21.5 yikes thats light.. but then its a 15 incher and has top-notch stuff on it - light BUT dependable, the way it should be - so I figure thats a good weigth..
Mine is at 23.9 pounds/10.85kilos (17.5 inch) and its already lighter than my Moots YBB so I'm happy with that.
Well, about the handlebar.. My Moots has a Morati Ti bar :rolleyes: and my Litespeed sports a Moots Ti bar :madman: .. it's all interchangeable :)
Have fun with the bike
 
#97 ·
Hey. I wanted to give you all a heads up. I made a mistake about the weight.
My scales were off and when I took the bike to the shop for something, their scale said 24 pounds. So later, I weighed it somewhere else and it weighed 24 1/2 so i give up trusting any scale. It is not 21 1/2 pounds but it's still 5 pounds less than my Santa Cruz. I don't mind. Actually, the really depressing thing is that means I'm 4 pounds heavier than I thought I was.:skep: Just wanted to come clean so you all were not thinking somebody in Cali has a 21 pound Merlin! Ride report! I've been on it 5 times in some pretty technical places and it rides like buttah!!:thumbsup:
 
#98 ·
dirtmistress said:
Hey. I wanted to give you all a heads up. I made a mistake about the weight.
My scales were off and when I took the bike to the shop for something, their scale said 24 pounds. So later, I weighed it somewhere else and it weighed 24 1/2 so i give up trusting any scale. It is not 21 1/2 pounds but it's still 5 pounds less than my Santa Cruz. I don't mind. Actually, the really depressing thing is that means I'm 4 pounds heavier than I thought I was.:skep: Just wanted to come clean so you all were not thinking somebody in Cali has a 21 pound Merlin! Ride report! I've been on it 5 times in some pretty technical places and it rides like buttah!!:thumbsup:
Lol, so now mine is lighter :cool: unless your balance is right and the other is not :madman: :p
Weather is taking a turn for the better over here.. so it won't be long before it gets its maiden run :)
 
#100 ·
Nice pics

My Merlin had some setbacks this summer, I was rear ended on my way to Utah for some riding and the rear end of my Merlin was messed up along with other things. It took me a few month before I got the insurance money but I got it put back together for some riding up in Alaska and some in California before I headed back to Louisiana.





Also got a bike bag that I will be using for some bikepacking in Arkansas.

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top