Merlin Proteus ride reveiw: Bikefanclub.com

Sorry,
Work derailed this review more than anything else. First let me say that this is my first CF bike, and my first non-steel bike. I love this bike. The bike handles great. Initially it took a little getting used to. The head tube is almost 2 degrees sharper than the angle on my old Colnago, and the quicker handling was definitely evident. Not twitchy mind you, but definitely faster. The Proteus definitely show cased the neutralization of road buzz as CF has advertised, and it did so without the "dead" feel some steel purist have told me I would suffer. I now wonder if this "dead" or "wooden" feel is more of a prejudice, or if it is only associated with specific bikes. The bike was also obviously lighter than my old one (all of the parts were swapped over). I also see no BB flex, as I did on my Nag on climbs. The BB and seat stays do an excellent job of making sure everything goes to the rear wheel. Did the smoother ride, lighter weight and better power transfer make me faster? No, not really, only speed work will do that (a few seconds shaved on a climb really doesn't count IMHO), but it definitely made it so I can ride longer and feel more fresh at the end of the ride. One thing that was a little disconcerting at first was the "clunk" sound made when I hit hard edged bumps in the road. I have heard that noise from other's CF bikes in group rides but it still suprised me at first. I looked down and wondered what I broke.

No the look. The fit and finish was excellent. There is a spot here or there in the weave, but that happens with finished carbon lugged frames. Upon close inspection you will always find a spot (or tiny seam) here or there from the extra layer of finished fiber layed over top. I guess this is why many manufactures paint, its simply easier. You have to really look fo them though. I am also still trying to figure out how they joined the luggs though. I can't really see any joints, so I am trying to figure out if this was another reason for the TI bands on the frame, or if they simply wrapped CF cloth over the joints. The only small gripe I have is with the seamless look of the frame, I thought an additional TI band on the seat tube with a dearailure mount for a braze on would have made the bike look sharper, rather than having to resort to a clamp on. Well all in all its an excellent bike and there are no regrets on retiring the Colnago MxL. I would put this frame up against some of the best CF frames out there, including Calfee, Look, Colnago etc (tried an E1 before this).Would I have done it without the $1000.00 off? Probably not, just because of economic reasons. I do think though that I probably paid the real world value of the frame. You do pay a premium to get the Merlin name, just as I did to get the Colnago name before.

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