Originally Posted by
rms13
It's definitely not the same bike as already mentioned. Merlin doesn't make frames and neither do most bike brands. All frames by all companies are made by a handful of manufacturers in China and Taiwan. It's probably generic entry level frame. Probably similar in quality to Nashbar's bike which is 20% today
Nashbar 105 Road Bike
The Nashbar bike is a great deal and I have been comparing bikes to this Nashbar model but it's running slightly less ideal cranks, wheels, brakes and bottom bracket in my opinion, so I'd want to upgrade a few of those. I like the idea of a tried and true component list from the Merlin bike since it's ripped off from the Ridley bike essentially, plus the bike looks a lot better than the all black nashbar in my opinion.
If the my current frame and this Merlin frame are about equal (just your average cheaper factory built mass produced aluminum frame/carbon fork) does anyone recommend keeping my current frame and upgrading slowly for maybe $200ish more out of pocket compared to this Merlin bike? I'd pretty much be buying the 5800 groupset and a set of Fulcrum, Shimano or Vuelta wheels for under $200. I know most people say not to upgrade cheaper bikes yada yada but I'm not really willing to spend $1200+ on a name brand 105 groupset bike like Fuji or Cannondale, etc and haven't been able to find any used bikes in my area that are worthwhile.