Frame War: Rockhopper v Malt 2

zeropoint

Morning!

The Merlin Malt 2 Ltd Edition is currently £525

Marz MX Pro LO
Hayes Stroker Ryde
Full Deore etc etc

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... goryId=100

Bargain?

Seems to be a much better spec that the non-disc Rockhopper.

The question! How does the Malt 2 frame compare to the Rockhopper's M4 (quality and style)?

artillerydave

Malt 2 is a good frame, double butted, well built but more importantly handles great, not as flash as the hydroformed Malt 4 but a good one non the less. I'd have it over the rockhopper anyday, however I am biased toward Merlin in general!

Chaka Ping

Great bike for the price.

The good thing about Merlin is that they don't cut corners with the less obvious components either - you get a full groupset.

jammieeeee

merlin all the way, the spec is a million times better.

with the rockhopper you would end up upgrading compentents, you'd not need to with the merlin. If you felt the need you could upgrade the frame and you'd end up with a bike mile better than a rockhopper.

supersonic

No doubt in my mind, the Rockhopper is the better frame by some way, using the M4 tubing which is about 25% stronger than the stuff the Merlin uses. You can see it in the build too.

As for spec, its only really the wheels that are any better - the Tora is a better fork than the Zocchi, drivetrain is similar as are the brakes.

zeropoint

Never easy is it :¬)

BlackSpur

I agree with SS, spec isn't massively different. Bearing in mind the price difference (assuming you can still get the RH for £420) it would seem to me that the RH was the better deal (especially if you put a nice set of Stroker Trails on it later! )

averageguy

If u r prepared to haggle I got the 2007 non dics hopper over the weeked from evans at 400

Paul Sh

Rockhopper without a doubt, i would pay damn good money for the M4 frame, i simply love it, my missus has one (as said in other posts) and it's stunning in my opinion, the welds on this frame are faultless and has a very appealing shape to it, oh ands it's pretty light too.

batch78

Rockhopper probably is the best frame, quality wise, as for style, common as muck in my opinion so my choice would be the Malt.

Anonymous

The M4 frames certainly are very tasty.

Paul Sh

You can't grumble.

averageguy

Its very clean

zeropoint

BlackSpur: I'm hoping it's still in the LBS when I return from a 2 week holiday :¬) Might have to go for the Trails too!

Thanks for the help guys, think I'll stick with the RockHopper vs. Boardman Comp decision.

toasty

My M4 Stumpjumper frame is 5 years old and gets ridden most nights, out last night in the pouring rain, they're certainly not too fragile.

I'd have the Rockhopper by a long shot, the only corner Specialized really cut is the hubs on wheels and cheap stems generally, much like every other big brand. Their own brand components are top notch most of the time, saddles and tyres especially.

zeropoint

Toasty wrote:

My M4 Stumpjumper frame is 5 years old and gets ridden most nights, out last night in the pouring rain, they're certainly not too fragile.

I'd have the Rockhopper by a long shot, the only corner Specialized really cut is the hubs on wheels and cheap stems generally, much like every other big brand. Their own brand components are top notch most of the time, saddles and tyres especially.

Thanks. Could you recommend some lighter/better (cheap as possible) replacements for stem, hubs and wheels?

toasty

Ah, I didn't mean that exactly. I wouldn't worry about it

I was just trying to say that, in general, their finishing kit on bikes is all high quality, no massive cut corners. On higher spec bikes they'll often underspec the wheels down a bit and use bizarrely long, heavy stems from the lower range.

I wouldn't worry about replacing any on the Rockhopper!

zeropoint

Toasty wrote:

Ah, I didn't mean that exactly. I wouldn't worry about it

I was just trying to say that, in general, their finishing kit on bikes is all high quality, no massive cut corners. On higher spec bikes they'll often underspec the wheels down a bit and use bizarrely long, heavy stems from the lower range.

I wouldn't worry about replacing any on the Rockhopper!

Sweet - thanks again!

Surf-Matt

We have a 2008 RH Disk - only thing that urgently needed binning were the comedy Fisher Price pedals. The rest of it is pretty darn good.

clarkson

i would have said the rockhopper, as i love it, however ive just gone and bought the merlin malt 4 frame to replace my i-drive frame; so im on the fence

zeropoint

Malt 4 is a different frame to the Malt 2 though isn't it?

toasty

Very much so, Malt 4 is made by Kinesis. Much more on par with the Rockhopper.

zeropoint

Off to buy the RockHopper methinks. Can't imagine the Boardman Comp frame being as good as the M4. Thanks again for all the help guys.

Surf-Matt

Nice one - you won't be disappointed (as long as you change the pedals!)!

zeropoint

Surf-Matt wrote:

Nice one - you won't be disappointed (as long as you change the pedals!)!

About to order some - a set were mentioned that are very similar to the expensive brands. Wellgo M1 or something along those lines :¬)

Paul Sh

zeropoint wrote:

Off to buy the RockHopper methinks. Can't imagine the Boardman Comp frame being as good as the M4. Thanks again for all the help guys.

The comp frame is very light, i want the Rockhopper frame soley for it's looks.
Oh, and the wheels are light too.