Merlin Malt 4

egor

Have read the review on site and found that can get hold of one through works scheme slightly cheap, anyone have any direct experience of it?? cheers

Andy B

No direct experience, but all the owners I know love it.

Said owners can be found in the link in my sig.

egor

cheers for info, it does seem a good option, difficulty will be getting across to test one out.

Does anyone know which fork is the better out of these 3, marzocchi mx pro ETA (with lockout) or rockshox reba sl or magura laurin? Never heard of magura and while have heard of the MX and Reba i dont know enough about bikes to know which one would be better for xc-singletrack riding, cheers

The Spiderman

I`d go for the Reba out of those 3.Its stiff but light,very adjustable,reliable and easy to get serviced.

Andy B

Yup ,the Reba is the better fork out of the ones listed.

egor

cheers, for advice, just have to see if i can try before i buy

dunker

yep i have one and i love it hehe, get the Reba

Red Panda

I've got a 2007 Malt 4 and I really like it! No, honestly I do. If it was iffy I'd say so, but it isn't, it's a totally brilliant bike.

How about phoning Nigel at Merlin and asking his opinion of the fork options and your prospective use of a Malt 4? I've found him to be very knowledgeable indeed.

BTW people on here seem to cart blanche dismiss Magura stuff...not sure why. I've just upgraded my brakes to 2007 Louise's and they bloomin rock! superb power and modulation.

Andy B

Magura brakes are very good, but there forks aren't as good as some of the others out there.

Red Panda

Andy_B wrote:

Magura brakes are very good, but there forks aren't as good as some of the others out there.

What is it about them that isn't as good? I don't find people on this forum dismissing them cart blanche without saying why very helpful. On the same basis I could make sweeping generalisations that Marzocchi suspension's crap, Hope V2's are iffy or anything by Rockshox's dodgy. Without saying why they are iffy, crap, or dodgy, my comments just become unsubstantiated mud slinging. I wonder if there's a link between this issue and the bling factor in MTB'ing?

egor

cheers for info, nice set of pics as well, have rung them and reba sl fork will suit with deore/lx group upgrades and rim upgrades as well. its the size im unsure of untill i get chance to try, im 34 inch inside leg but have been told to got for a 19 instead of 21 inch frame, but im not sure.

Andy B

19" sounds right to me.

My mate has a 17" Malt , it fits me fine & I've a 32 inside leg.

supersonic

Merlins are short in the top tube, caz has the 18.5 frame and its on the limit of smallness for me and I have a 34 IL. Tough one. Have to err on the 19 side if unsure.

egor

had read on another forum that top tube is short, but when spoke to merlin bloke there said he was abt same height 6.3-6.4 ish and said he can ride both ok, but if its for manily off road xc-singletrack use to go for a 19 inch with the standard 120 mm stem, but only way to really see is go and try it out i suppose, have a trek at momenet and thats 19.5 inch and ok apart from changing handlebar to flat and lowering it a bit.