> I'm considering going to a nice lightweight titanium frame
> and really like what I've seen with Merlin. I am a little
> concerned about the durability of the frame, given I have
> heard titantium may not be as durable as steel. However, I
> do want something that is much lighter weight, without the
> durability issues associated with carbon. Has anybody ever
> seen a Merlin frame with cracks in it? Or is anybody aware
> of any other durability issues associated with Merlin?
I've personally seen several, including one that failed on a
ride (I suppose they all did, but this particular one made
itself known quite well by making quite a bit of noise!).
But that doesn't mean anything about Titanium, other than
the fact that they had tried to make those particular frames
lighter than they should have. Titanium is *not* the
material of choice if you want to go ultralight, but builds
a very solid frame somewhere just about 3 pounds+, from my
experience watching what happens in the real world. By the
way, I'm not trying to pick on Merlin here; they make fine
frames, and have been known to take care of problems when
they occur.
I wouldn't dismiss carbon durability though; we've got quite
a number of them out in the field, pounding out mile after
mile under very large riders, with no issues. If you are
that concerned about carbon, then you're going to have to
spend quite a bit of time trying to find an alternative
fork, since nearly everybody uses carbon forks these days,
and there's probably nothing more important (from a safety
standpoint) than your fork.
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
"Joe" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm considering going to a nice lightweight titanium frame
> and really like what I've seen with Merlin. I am a little
> concerned about the durability of the frame, given I have
> heard titantium may not be as durable as steel. However, I
> do want something that is much lighter weight, without the
> durability issues associated with carbon. Has anybody ever
> seen a Merlin frame with cracks in it? Or is anybody aware
> of any other durability issues associated with Merlin?