Merlin Malt Gravel Bike

mr_eddy
mr_eddy Posts: 830
edited September 2019 in Your road bikes
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.

IMG_20190905_111629.jpg

Comments

  • tsarouxaz
    tsarouxaz Posts: 70
    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?
  • raymondo60
    raymondo60 Posts: 735
    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!"
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    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.