Well, I did a double take. My name is Pete and I ride a titanium Merlin and get called Titanium Pete by people that I ride with! Anyway, glad that you found a good bike that works for YOU and is not super expensive. I agree, that not being able to test ride a bike, particularly whent they are stupid expensive, is a real red flag, sort of like getting into a relationship too fast before you have gone away and done some travel with the person. My Merlin replaced a 1989 Cannondale 3.0 and it made a huge difference in how long my body could stay on the bike. I was actually surprized how well the titanium bike climbed. It was not quite the jack rabbit that the Cannondale was and did not respond quite as quickly to nudges on the handlebar when I wanted to go this way or that way, but it was not designed to be that. The Cannondale was really a bike for crits and other fast events where lots of jockying takes place. It had a short top tube and rode like it did. Also, the rear triangle was very tight and the head tube was pretty steep. The Merlin is what one would call European Geometry. I tend towards long all day riding and not towards 2 hour sprint fests any more. I would like to try out one of the new Cannondales though. I really don't care what others call them (cannonballs). They are a cool American company who bucked tradition from day one. In spite of some marketing blunders (can you say motorcycle?), they have developed a very strong following, amazingly so in Europe. Over there, a top end Cannondale is very desireable, and given some of the very hilly terrian, they do climb well.