Kudo's to Merlin bikes: Bikefanclub.com

Terry, I think your conclusion is right on the mark. I have an Axiom Ti, CSI, and Spectrum Superlight Ti. I also rode a borrowed Legend Ti for 3 weeks while waiting for my CSI to arrive. One could debate all day the relative aesthetics of each of them - does one have smoother welds than the others, the shape of the seat stays, the quality of the paint - and at the end of the day, 3 different people could have 4 different opinions. The bottom line is that all 3 Ti bikes are made of top shelf materials and reflect top shelf craftsmanship. While there may be differences in the paint and welds, those differences are deminimus and in any event become very subjective.

I do think, however, that Seven, Serotta and Spectrum have distict signatures reflective of different design philosophies that impact on handling and ride characteristics and that transcend the "custom" process. This, I think, directly impacts on translating the customer's vision of the desired bike into reality.

When I had my Axiom, CSI and Superlight built, the bench mark that I used was a steel Independant Fabrication Crown Jewel that I had owned. I wanted a bike that had the CJ's responsive handling, without any twitchiness when hitting road imperfections and with more stability. I also wanted more stiffness through the bottom bracket and drivetrain but also more comfort and low level vibration absorption on long rides.

The Axiom gave me the additional stiffness and vibration absorption but sacrificed the responsive handling for greater stability. This seems to be due to a tendency to build Sevens with a higher center of gravity and slight understeering at the front end. I feel like I am sitting on top of the Seven and not immersed into the cockpit. In speaking to other Seven owners, this seems to be a common characteristic. It does not seem to reflect a strong racing heritage in the design characteristics.

The CSI is somewhat stiffer but not as stiff as the Seven but also provides more vibration dampening than the CJ. The CSI's handling is more neutral and responsive than the Seven but is not as responsive as the CJ's. I think this in part is due to the "over-square" design approach that Serotta has - top tubes shorter than seat tubes. The cockpit, while comfortable, is not as elongated and my body postion is not as stretched out as on the CJ. (It could feel a bit short if I focused on it but I don't so it doesn't!)

The Spectrum, however, hits the mark the best. It is the most responsive handler of the 3 but yet is the most stable. With its 1" chainstays, it is the stiffest through the bb and drivetrain yet the hour glass seat stays and tubing selection provide great comfort on road hits and great buzz absorption. It has the most aggressive upper body positioning but yet is ergonomically the most comfortable on long rides. It is a performance machine tuned to the ergonomics of my body. While Kellogg's direct involvement in designing this custom frame no doubt plays the controlling role in this, including a design approach that is clearly performance oriented, Merlin provides the tube selection and expert fabricating skills that turn Kellogg's ti designs into reality with fidelity to my vision and his design specs.

Whew, I'm long winded.

Edited by MichaelKatz (03/24/04 06:02 AM)