What is the history of these two and Merlin? Were there others that left and started their own companies after the purchase of Merlin to ABG? I was just curious of the history of old Merlin titanium frame builders. Have a friend who is considering a Merlin Extralight.

My dad owns an Extralight, great frame. Tom Kellogg is still part of Merlin, custimized type of stuff.

Tom's Spectrum web site has this "time-line" including his relationship with Merlin:
https://www.spectrum-cycles.com/1.htm. He was building bikes before that.

You may know that, as I understand it, Tom designs for Merlin and Merlin welds his Spectrum ti frames. I have a Spectrum, now almost 2 years old, and I love it. I think Tom is a genius in fit and design, and he also happens to be a nice guy, too.

I too am a fan of Tom Kellogg -- I ride a Magia. Had the pleasure of visiting Tom at his Spectrum shop in PA last summer.

I have seen Extralight frames with a "Geometry by Rob Vandermark" decal. I believe Vandermark left Merlin in the late ninties to start Seven Cycles.

Tom was kind enough to email abck-and-forth with me with info about a Ross Signature I have that used his geometry. Nice guy, nice bike, especially for a Ross.

Kellogg is very responsive to dumba$$ questions (mine). Was all set to get a Spectrum when I found a ridiculous bargain on a Merlin Agilis, which is itself a Kellogg frame.

If I ever get an S and S coupled travel bike, it will be a Spectrum.

Kellogg ROCKS. Great guy. Beautiful work. He's refinishing my Ibis Titanium Road frame as we speak. Well, sooner or later. But when it's done it will be killer.

I'm pretty sure my Extralight , circa 1999, has a geometry by Tom Kellog decal on it. I'll look tonight.

I would highly recommend the Extralight. The neat thing about the Extralight is that with shaped and butted tubes, they end up with a bike that is both stiffer and lighter than many other titanium frames.

I like mine enough that I put a new 10speed D/A group on it this year and essentially have a new bike.

I'm sure that the Extralight design has been through a series of modifications, so it is quite possible that earlier Extralights carried the Vandermark signature while later ones (post Vandermark departure) carry the Kellogg signature.

Bottom line -- all great bikes

I gotta give props to Kellogg as well.

(disclaimer) I absolutely DON'T know the guy at all, but I frequent another forum where he posts regularly. Very cool cat, good sense of humor. Always reponds to peoples' inquiries (and it's not a spectrum/or/merlin web forum even). I always click on threads of posts with his name.

Rob Vandermark left Merlin in '97 as their head designer and started "Seven" with a group of colleagues.

I have heard it rumored that "Seven" took its name from the original seven people who started the company.

Curious: what forum is that?

- tks for posing this question (and to a poster for the link)... i love my Merlin Fortius! (just did a 30-miler from downtown Dunedin to the sponge diver docks in Tarpon Springs, Fla. today - what a ride on a great bike!)

Tom Kellogg is a super nice guy and he is also very smart and passionate when it come to bikes and bike related topics. Plus he is actually a very strong rider.

Herbert