Merlin Malt

secretsam

I have a NOS CX Kinesis frame, but 1+1/8" steerer limited fork options, and the one I have is flexible as anything. Was looking for a cheap gravel-ish frame, stumbled upon the Merlin Malt - anyone got any experience of this???:
https://merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-g2x-gravel-frameset-197832.html

akh

I bought one back in Feb.

The design has changed somewhat from the photos on the website. The headtube now has a large badge (which I don't particularly like) and the cable ports have changed to removable inserts. I posted pics at the time in another tread, you might be able to find them if you search.

Overall it seems OK, no issues with the bottom bracket when on mine, threaded in smoothly and spins nicely. Overall finish was fine.

On my copy, the top bearing seat on the headtube is slightly wonky, it's an IS42 headset, so the bearing sits directly in the frame. No amount of preload or adjustment will prevent movement. The solution is probably to have it reamed but I've not tried to organise that yet. For me, it was a cheap frame to take some spare components, so I've not bothered to sort it. If it were my main bike I'd have rejected it as unacceptable and been in touch with Merlin about a replacement.

secretsam

Thanks, not altogether reassuring but I guess you get what you pay for, it's very cheap.