£1000 HT choice

lee bee

I am looking for a good all round bike and have narrowed it down to a Merlin malt4 with 08 xt or marin eldridge grade. I am going to merlin next week to have a look as i have not seen a Merlin yet. Any advice or other bikes worth considering would be appreciated. CHEERS

dunker

doubt anyone will say a bad word about either bike, get the one that feels right for you

if i was buying mine now i'd get Merlin to build it with xm719 rims on dt db spokes instead of the xc717's as i find they just feel better and a bit stronger too, should'nt cost much more really i guess.

Captain Turok

When your in Merlin have a peek at the team tig RockLobster.

I've just returned from a ride with a smile, a mile wide! Best recomendation I can give.

If your a bigger chap go for the 719's, but I'm a little under 11 stone and I've had no probs with the 717's (XT and spokes).

Enjoy whatever you choose

lee bee

Thanks for your replies i will look at the lobster as well !!! I have seen a Merlin with a fox shock, yet on there web site it only lists the reba sl , team and sid. Wich is the best fork to go for? Thanks again.

Captain Turok

They are (or were?) doing a RockLobster with a Fox fork, not sure if they still are?.

Rebas get great reviews, and feedback of this forum. I went for the Team upgrade from Merlin, only £40.

But if you were buying the forks alone, you'd probably be better of with the SL.

SID about to be replaced and they are said to flex?.

curlyrobert

OK, I know you have narrowed it down to two, but I hope you have looked at this one

focus raven which is an awesome bike for the money, Fox 32RL forks, Sram x-9 and other bits, made by Germans so almost a guarantee of the build quality being superb and I think it llooks the fantastic

bikeperson45

My personnal favorite http://www.24sevenbikes.com/deviant_elite.html#

ride_whenever

not really the same sort of bike though

dunker

Captain Turok wrote:

When your in Merlin have a peek at the team tig RockLobster.

I've just returned from a ride with a smile, a mile wide! Best recomendation I can give.

If your a bigger chap go for the 719's, but I'm a little under 11 stone and I've had no probs with the 717's (XT and spokes).

Enjoy whatever you choose

9 stones here and yeah the 717's are very good, my original ones are still in great nik, i prefer the 719's though.