Couple of things here, sorry if it's hard to follow! I just picked up this Merlin for a couple hundred and overall am very happy! Seller said it was a 2001 Merlin Iliad, medium frame (though it honestly feels to small for me, thought I'd be fine at 5'11 with tall torso but I'm going to have to find someone help me with fit to see if I can make it work).
The main worry regarding the frame is some tire rub wear- I can feel where the metal has rubbed away with my finger, and I'm worried it might be a weak point to worry about? It does feel very minor, i'm just asking here for peace of mind. 2.25 rear tire was aired up at 45 and was *very* close, but it's a lot better in terms of clearance at the 35PSI I like so I'm not worried about further rubbing. I'm also wondering if the rear chainstay is supposed to be bent as shown in the last photo? It makes sense they'd want to make space for the chainring, but why not make it symmetrical on the other side? Is there anything else I should worry about on this bike? Seller said they got it from a shop where a customer disappeared after paying the order deposit, and they did OTB it once (there's a nasty crack down the stem, no extreme riding til that's replaced) but otherwise it seems in great shape with no gouges dents or cracks. They really seemed to care for this bike and I'm very hopeful it'll be my forever bike and want to do everything I can to be a good owner for it
by Nelo390
1 Comment
The wear on the frame is probably fine but that stem is not ok.
Asymmetric chain stays are a quite common design feature. At least one of the bikes in my garage has them.