I have a 91 Merlin Road that I have trained and raced on for 15 years. In early august, I suddenly noticed lots of flex and unexpected gear shifts when jumping out of the saddle. On close inspection, I noticed that the downtube had a crack in it. The crack had propagated about 2/3 of the the way around the tube.
downtube crack
I contacted Merlin and because I still had the original receipt they said it would be covered under warranty.
Unfortunately they said it would take 5 to 6 weeks to fix. Because the bike was 15 years old, and had the original proprietary BB system and downtube shifter bosses, and I just couldn't go that long without a bike, I asked if they could just cut me a deal on a new CR 3/2.5 instead. The said they would give me a discount on a new CR /2.5 AND fix my old frame too! So within a week I had a new CR 3/2.5 to build up. Here is what I ended up with:
Merlin CR 3/2.5
Well, I was expecting to get my old road frame back and see what I could sell it for. I got it back after about 6 weeks and I couldn't believe my eyes. The frame looked like brand new! The factory had replaced the downtube, replaced the bottom bracket shell, put new shift cable stops on the head tube, and refinished and re-stickered the entire bike. The only indication that is was not a new bike was the old style rear dropouts with the original serial number stamp on it.
91 Merlin Road reborn!
bottom bracket shell
head tube
Many thanks to the people at Merlin.
They really know what customer support is, and they really know how to make fine Ti bikes!
You really can't own too many Ti bikes can you?