Why did the Merlin thread get locked?

hugo15

infopete wrote:

hugo15 wrote:

So did ABG weld the head tube and sort all the other things that they claimed was wrong with the frame???

The headtube is untouched as there was nothing wrong with it.

The two drop-outs have been welded, nice job too

I'll post pics soon.

So in summary, ABG tried to fob you off and then lied and all the other things that were supposedly wrong with the frame when you challenged them? What a great company...........

Glad you managed to get it sorted in the end.

Percy Vera

infopete, where are the pics?

Monty Dog

Just to add to the general wonderfulness of ABG / Merlin / Litespeed joy of ownership my mate's Litespeed to CX frame snapped through the dropout weld the other week (FWIW classic ductile weld fatigue failure due to cr@p design that a junior design would spot). He said, "no worries, lifetime warranty" to which I just snorted and pointed him in the direction of this thread...anyway, we're in the process of spec'cing a custom frame from China. The Litespeed's off to Enigma for repair and will be sold.

Valy

Monty Dog wrote:

Just to add to the general wonderfulness of ABG / Merlin / Litespeed joy of ownership my mate's Litespeed to CX frame snapped through the dropout weld the other week (FWIW classic ductile weld fatigue failure due to cr@p design that a junior design would spot). He said, "no worries, lifetime warranty" to which I just snorted and pointed him in the direction of this thread...anyway, we're in the process of spec'cing a custom frame from China. The Litespeed's off to Enigma for repair and will be sold.

Aren't you gonna give the warranty a go?

Hoopdriver

What, and have a SWAT team turn up at your door?

TheYorkshireMan

Competitive Cyclist Buys Merlin Metalworks
March 16th, 2011

CHATTANOOGA, TN – American Bicycle Group (ABG) this week announced the sale of the Merlin Metalworks brand to Arkansas-based Competitive Cyclist. A pioneer in the production of hand-crafted titanium frames starting in 1986, Merlin will reach a wider audience at Competitive Cyclist. As part of the sale, ABG will retain the rights to manufacture and sell Merlin products to buyers in the Asian Markets through the year 2012. Brendan Quirk of Competitive Cyclist welcomed the addition of Merlin, saying, “Like many, I fell in love with Merlin in the mid-90′s. In my case, I was beating my head against the wall trying to become a real bike racer back then. My racing career stalled out, but I never lost my feelings for the simple elegance and precision of Merlin frames. We look forward to the endeavor of re-creating that magic.”

Peter Hurley, CEO of ABG, states: “While Merlin has been a great brand for us, this is a strategic decision to consolidate and apply our focus and capital to two brands, Quintana Roo and Litespeed, that have shown incredible sales momentum in the past year.” Hurley continues, “Competitive Cyclist will make a fantastic new home for Merlin by providing greater audience exposure and, at the same time, I’m certain the arrangement will allow us to better serve our QR and Litespeed customers.”

http://reviews.roadbikereview.com/tag/a ... ycle-group

Monty Dog

Valy wrote:

Aren't you gonna give the warranty a go?

I presume you've missed off the emoticon from your reply?

The frame is older than the 6 or so years that ABG now quality as "Lifetime" so there wasn't any point...anyway, poor design / execution means that there's an inherent weakness in the frame i.e. you don't weld a big, thick plate dropout to a thin tube - the Xi'an frame will have Breezer-style drop-outs which are a lot less succeptible to fatigue failure. Many years ago did some ti design and fabrication and we used to test the stuff to destruction and soon learned to know what worked and what didn't.

swimmerpete

I'm sorry to bring back this thread, but I created an account just to post on this thread. I was in the market for my very first triathlon bike. My local bike shop had a couple of 2011 models available at closeout, one being a Quintana Roo CD0.1. So I did a quick search on the manufacturer and after much digging, I found this thread. I don't think I will ever purchase a Quintana Roo, just because of the warranty process I read about here. I'm glad they eventually fixed your Merlin. I now will avoid any bicycles from ABG.

napoleond

Good decision. I sold my Litespeed and QR sharpish!