Merlin Malt Gravel Bike
mr_eddy
Posts: 830
So no really a 'new' bike as I have had it for 6 months. Its is now my only bike so it can do everything, Pannier racks / guard mounts etc all present and correct.
Original purchase price was £649 from Merlin which I think was a bargain considering full Tiagra 4700 / Mavic wheels and Full tapered carbon fork.
I have made several changes over the months:
* Swapped strong but HEAVY Mavic XM119 29er wheels to SuperStar Arc 31mm wheelset (nearly 1kg lighter!)
* Changed non-brand QR skewers to Halo stubby QR skewers (this removed brake rub issue)
* Swapped to a carbon handlebar with nice deda gel tape.
* Swapped Tektro Lyra brakes to TRP Spyre - The Spyres drive from both sides so are imo much better
* Upgraded brake cabling to orange pro no-compression cables
* Removed Tiagra double to 40t Superstar narrow/wide chainring (40t with 11-34t cassette works fine for me)
* Changed Tiagra mech to GRX RX400 Rear clutch mech
* Changed naff Kenda Kwick stock tyres to Arisun Rapide 32c slicks (measure 35mm with new wheels)
Weight: just under 10kg with the above (stock was 11.5kg)
As it stands its in commuting trim (rear guard removed as it has just been cleaned) but most weekends I go on bigger gravel rides so usually swap to 38mm G-Ones although the Rapide's work pretty well even for light gravel.
Some of the upgrades were from old projects and other bits were on offer etc so all in I reckon I have spent about £250 for all the extra stuff. Total outlay then inc bike is about £900 which I think is pretty good.
Original purchase price was £649 from Merlin which I think was a bargain considering full Tiagra 4700 / Mavic wheels and Full tapered carbon fork.
I have made several changes over the months:
* Swapped strong but HEAVY Mavic XM119 29er wheels to SuperStar Arc 31mm wheelset (nearly 1kg lighter!)
* Changed non-brand QR skewers to Halo stubby QR skewers (this removed brake rub issue)
* Swapped to a carbon handlebar with nice deda gel tape.
* Swapped Tektro Lyra brakes to TRP Spyre - The Spyres drive from both sides so are imo much better
* Upgraded brake cabling to orange pro no-compression cables
* Removed Tiagra double to 40t Superstar narrow/wide chainring (40t with 11-34t cassette works fine for me)
* Changed Tiagra mech to GRX RX400 Rear clutch mech
* Changed naff Kenda Kwick stock tyres to Arisun Rapide 32c slicks (measure 35mm with new wheels)
Weight: just under 10kg with the above (stock was 11.5kg)
As it stands its in commuting trim (rear guard removed as it has just been cleaned) but most weekends I go on bigger gravel rides so usually swap to 38mm G-Ones although the Rapide's work pretty well even for light gravel.
Some of the upgrades were from old projects and other bits were on offer etc so all in I reckon I have spent about £250 for all the extra stuff. Total outlay then inc bike is about £900 which I think is pretty good.
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Comments
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I have done the same thing, but I have huge problems shifling down and up in the 3 small cogs, do you have this issue?0
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Looks nice. Not sure about carbon bars on a gravel bike though. Even an innocuous 'off' (heaven forbid!) could cause serious damage.Raymondo
"Let's just all be really careful out there folks!"0 -
Really? I had to ditch aluminium bars after coming off - they were bent and dented. I would expect carbon to resist bending better than that bar did.
That bike is nice. It was on my shortlist, but my work C2W scheme didn't cover Merlin.0
