# Help in buying a vintage Merlin



## 330CK (Mar 4, 2011)

Hi all, 

I'm mainly a mountain bike rider, but I will be moving away to college soon and wanted to build up a stealth single speed road bike that wouldn't draw as much attention as my mountain bike, and thereby hopefully would be less likely to be a target of theft. 

Anyway, I found and bid on this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=260742030002&si=emG87P07PPKqJKb3qRO4N6rhL1g%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

I sent the seller an offer after the auction's end, as my max bid wasn't enough to meet the reserve. He counter-offered with $320 shipped. It sounds like a reasonable price to me, but I don't have much experience with Merlin. In the research I've done, I haven't seen any of the Serial #s match the formula of the one he posted, and it's also not in the same location (ie rear drop out, etc) as the others. I'm also weary of the quality control issues Merlin once had, and since there is no model mentioned, I can't research if this model would be a problem. I don't care so much about the crack, I can fix that.

I would call Merlin, but their site is being revamped and there's no number. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'd like to reply to the seller quickly.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

330CK said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm mainly a mountain bike rider, but I will be moving away to college soon and wanted to build up a stealth single speed road bike that wouldn't draw as much attention as my mountain bike, and thereby hopefully would be less likely to be a target of theft.
> 
> ...


$320 for a Merlin frame with a cracked stay? No way. And if it's a really old Merlin with the old-style grease gaurd BB then even more no way. MIGHT be worth a hundred depending on how bad the crack is. I don't think a Merlin is actually very stealth either.


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## redmasi (Jul 14, 2010)

Have to agree.... I wouldn't pay $320 for it. I think you'd have a hard time recouping your cash on that one. 

There are some serial #'s posted at this site, but nothing close to the one on that frame: http://www.mombat.org/Merlin.htm


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## 330CK (Mar 4, 2011)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> $320 for a Merlin frame with a cracked stay? No way. And if it's a really old Merlin with the old-style grease gaurd BB then even more no way. MIGHT be worth a hundred depending on how bad the crack is. I don't think a Merlin is actually very stealth either.


It would be stealth enough, in that it would just be a bare metal frame with no decals and no extraordinary components. No 'bling' factor to attract the attention of anyone but those that know bikes. 



redmasi said:


> Have to agree.... I wouldn't pay $320 for it. I think you'd have a hard time recouping your cash on that one.
> 
> There are some serial #'s posted at this site, but nothing close to the one on that frame: http://www.mombat.org/Merlin.htm


Sounds like I'll politely decline his offer. Eventually, after not selling on eBay for a while, he'll be forced to lower his reserve and I'll probably pick it up then.

Thanks for the advice guys.


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## rx-79g (Sep 14, 2010)

You'd have to be nuts to spend even close to this amount for a broken anything. It broke for a reason - that might not be the only bad spot - just the first one.

I bought a Litespeed made Basso frame for $360 off ebay. A Merlin might be a tiny bit nicer, but a broken Merlin isn't even close.


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