I bought my first road bike last summer and got what I believe was a great deal, $500 for an entry level Masi Alare (sora level components). I've quickly realized that I would like to keep up with the sport long term and value a smooth ride and smooth shifting and after calculating the cost for a new groupset (105 5800) and an entry level set of new wheels (something like Shimano RS21 or Fulcrum/Vuelta entry level wheels under $200) I'd be looking at easily $600+ to get everything I'd want, leaving my total expenditure around $1100-$1200ish. I like the bike in general, but don't love it and want something I can hang on to for years and years and still want to ride. I could sell my bike today for $400 pretty easily but only want to spend about $400 more which brought me to Merlin's bikes.

For about $800, shipped to the US, I could get this Merlin bike below which pretty much checks everything off my list, and just about every major component is an upgrade from what I currently have. I'm just curious if anyone has experience with these Merlin bikes, specifically this aluminum frame and the build quality overall. I read somewhere that it might be a rebranded Ridley Fenix bike since Ridley uses 4za components. Regardless, it has the 5800 components, Fulcrum Racing 7 LG wheels (which I know aren't great but definitely an upgrade from my terrible factory wheels), carbon fork, yada yada. It basically has everything I want. The comparable Ridley bike is $1200-$1300 so this bike is a steal at $800 unless there is something I'm missing here.

Just looking for thoughts on my situation and this Merlin / Ridley bike. Thanks!


https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-...ike-84204.html

pretty much the same bike as...
Ridley Fenix A10 Shimano 105 Complete Road Bike - 2015 | Competitive Cyclist

My bike has 4ZA components on it too, they sell them on Amazon. That doesn't make it a Ridley.

EDIT: Comparing the two frames they're not the same. Most obviously the shape of the downtubes are completely different.

Different geometry too.
Based on the material/butting specs, it might be made in the same factory though.

I actually noticed that as well after taking a closer look, the frame is different for sure, likely a little cheaper. Other than that the components seem to be nearly identical, Fulcrum wheels, 105 groupset for most everything but a the cheaper Shimano brakes and crankset. Might just be a coincidence being so similar to Ridley but either way I guess it's not very important.

Anyone have experience with this Merlin frame? I know nothing about Merlin as a manufacturer, up until yesterday I didn't even know they sold bikes under their own name!

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.

FSA and Tektro are tried and true brands that's why you see them on every major brands bikes. The Merlin bike doesn't have 105 cranks or brakes either. They use Shimano but they are cheaper OEM parts that are equivalent to the FSA and Tektro parts on the Nashbar bike

You can get 105 level Fuji from Performance for $1000

The frame you have is no worse and maybe better than the ones your looking at. You can upgrade to full 105 group and Vuelta wheels for under $600 if you wait for a Nashbar 20-25% sale for the wheels. I think that will be better than the bikes your looking at

FYI OP, beware with ordering overseas on high-dollar value large items that are shipped UPS (which bikes from Merlincycles are)....you WILL get dinged for customs and then UPS will ding you for "brokerage fees". Expect to add 10-20% to your purchase cost.

Being UPS, they will hold your goods hostage until you pay up.

That Shimano crank is way better than the FSA crank on the Nashbar bike, based on my experience with that exact Shimano crank, and a much higher end FSA crank.

That's not an indicator of anything.

Thanks for the input, I figured my frame might not be worse and very likely could be a step up from the Merlin if anything. I've decided to forgo these Nashbar and Merlin bikes and just play the waiting game to see if a really good quality used bike pops up that has long term potential for upgrades or just bite the bullet and eventually update my bike starting with brakes and wheels (my first rainy ride was quite scary with these crappy tektro brakes I have currently).

Can anyone recommend a few frames to keep an eye out for on the used market? I'm pretty new to all of this but know Caad10 to be solid. Are the aluminum Giant defy frames going to be a step up from my 2013 Masi Alare frame or would that pretty much be a wash?

What do you mean by "a step up"???


Odds are if I was able to pull a double blind test of you on your Masi and a CAAD10 or Defy you couldn't tell the which bike was which based on performance.

Maybe but I bet you'd be able to tell in comfort.CAAD10 is much more compliant than any other aluminum frame ive ridden. It's also much lighter. I would guess a stock CAAD10 with 105 would be 4 lbs lighter than his current bike.

Just looking for a quality frame that will will be comfortable and last for years to come and a couple upgrades here and there over the years. I don't LOVE my current frame, it fits me great but it's a little twitchy in my opinion (I think this is what I would define as twitchy... basically I can't ride no hands on this) so I don't mind selling my bike and spending a few hundred more to get a 2, 3, 4 year old used bike that would ride better. I wouldn't mind something with a little less endurance geometry either but it's more the overall ride quality that I'm concerned about.

I'll skim through a few existing threads about frames and start a new one regarding whether or not buying a used bike mainly for the frame is worthwhile in my case or not.