Sean and Paul.

Paul sent me these pics from Winter Hill the other day so I though I'd post them. A particularly rare shot of Sean actually going uphill clipped in I see........

Well, it has stopped raining quite so much, except down south where its been doing it more, very strange.

We had a mostly dry day at Llandegla on Saturday and did two laps of the black route. Sean, the lovesick puppy, was spent after one and took Mcloud home with him along with all the toys out of his pram. Adi and myself went for a second lap and managed it 1.5 hrs. I'm bored of it there now though, so probably off to the lakes soon for a more old school proper ride soon.

Roger T, you called me the today, but the idiot who took the call wrote the number down wrong, so please get in touch.

IS IT EVER GOING TO STOP RAINING!!!!!

WELL, IS IT?! THIS SUMMER IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE WORST OF MY 39 ONES ON THIS PLANET. DOES IT REALLY HAVE TO TORRENTIALLY POUR DOWN AT SOME POINT SEVERAL TIMES EVERY DAY?!!!

IS THE EMPORER MING SENDING CATACLYSMIC STORMS TO WEAKEN OUR FEEBLE PLANET OR IS IT JUST BROKEN DUE TO OUR SCANT RESPECT FOR IT OVER THE LAST FEW HUNDRED YEARS?

MY LAST DRY BIKE RIDE WAS PROBABLY IN APRIL, THIS IS REALLY BEGINNING TO ANNOY ME NOW. PLEASE SOMEONE, MAKE IT STOP RAINING.

How fit am I?

My stag do last weekend, though luckily I managed to not wear this delightful ensemble the whole night, just for a walk into town and a curry. I managed to escape Andy's zip tie and Kryptonite chain scheming as well.

Anyway, off to Llandegla this Saturday for a ride which should be fun and also not muddy as it drains really well. The black routes good fun and a good workout if you do two laps. http://www.coedllandegla.com/

Andy and Paul got back from 5 days in Morzine in one piece last Monday. Some cuts and bruises though not as bad as expected.

Workwise, we've got a 10% sale on all orders over £100, offer excludes Merlin and Rock Lobster bikes and our handbuilt wheels, but includes everything else including groupsets and Disc kits with wheels.

Plus, we're now a member of the Cyclescheme! So cheap bikes ahoy! Just make sure you actually use them for cycling to work. I've ridden in every day for the last three weeks and got soaked twice virtually every day. Oh to be in England in the summer time. Just seeing the pictures from Mountain Mayhem and the 24/12 makes me so relieved I don't race any more, it looked horrible. Lets hope it stops raining soon.

New bike!

Yup, its a new bike for yours truly, is'nt it pretty? Though perhaps a bit XC for some tastes. Very cool Commencal Nuts 5 disc frame, XTR and XT bits and a Reba fork.

Please ignore the state of my yard, its still knackered after the builder finished with it.

Other news; Sean, Paul and Andy Freeman are off to Innerleithen for some Freeride/DH madness and camping fun. Lets hope they are still all in one piece on Monday.

We also have a new Ebay shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Merlin-Cycles-Ltd so be sure to check out some crazy bargains that the wizard has conjoured up for you

Peej!

Paul came over on Sunday and we did a cool local loop with me and McLoed. A most enoyable time was had by all apart from two punctures. Paul completed the infamous Stacey dropoff with aplomb and style. I may post a video if I can work out how to do it.

Bike Show Part 2

Well, we had some great feedback and comments from customers and the stand was our best ever, but the general consensus was that the show was not all it should have been.

A big thanks to everyone who took the time to come and see us!

National Bike Show

We will be at the National Bike Show on the 28th/29th April. As well as our award winning range of Rock Lobster and Merlin bikes we will have some great bargains there to buy on the day. We will also have some Commencal bikes as well, so if you want to snap up a Meta 5 then come and see us.

It will also be a great opportunity to meet Andy, Lee, Sean, Nigel and Paul. There will be a hucking masterclass presented by Nige at 3.30 p.m on Saturday, so don't miss that! I won't be there (sorry ladies) as I have a gig on the Saturday night with my band.

If you want more info, directions etc. be sure to check out http://www.nationalbikeshow.com

Stainburn Forest

We spent an enjoyable and hot day last Saturday at Stainburn Forest in Yorkshire: http://www.singletraction.org.uk/stain_project.htm
I'd borrowed a Commencal Meta 5.5.2 for the day, Sean was on his Iron Horse Mk. 3 and A.O was on a Supreme Mini DH. We also met up with PJ from Leeds and Sean's mate Mark. The Warren Boulder trail is super technical and not very hardtail friendly, but great fun. Lots of big rocks and drop offs. Its certainly a change from the mostly smooth and not technical at all trails you can find at Coed Llandegla and Glentress.

There's some great routes over the road as well which are less demanding, so there is something for everyone. It was lovely and quiet as well, the car park was empty and we only saw one other rider in the four hours we were there.

My thoughts on the Meta 5, its a great bike and once I got the pressure in the rear shock right it climbed just fine as well as descending unbelievably quick if you let it.

Cracking the flags!

Was lovely and hot on Sunday and the view from Great Hill was just great!

Peter the Hairdresser

I was dragged out on my mountain bike last Saturday afternoon in the pouring rain with my brother in law Peter. I've been hiding on a road bike since last November so it was about time.

He was mad for going out as he'd just bought his new Malt 2 the week before. We did a longish lap of Tockholes woods and it was very claggy to say the least. We both got soaked, but Peter loved every minute of it. Its always a buzz to see someone falling in love for mountain biking for the first time and makes me realize that I often take for granted what a great sport it is and the great places it takes us.

He still rode like a hairdresser though.............

but give him time............

and he'll be fine.

Beatles For Sale

Well, not actually the Beatles. I was looking for "sale" images on Google and this came up. Its a cool album so I posted it, OK?. Its not as good as Rubber Soul or Revolver that followed it though. Its always seemed like a very quickly cobbled together album to me with lots of covers on it. Rock and Roll music is genius though with fantastic energy.

Anyway, back to work:

We've got an Online sale on this weekend with up to a further 10% of the Wizards already frankly crazy prices!

There you go.

Sean

Sean started last week and will be working mainly in the shop under the guidance of Nige. Nige has been keeping him happy with tales of freeride madness, why life was better in the 70's and endless supplies of Werthers Originals.

Welcome to the team Sean, may you live long and prosper.

Yes, I'm a slack git

No posts recently, though I'm not sure many people actually read this Blog so it probably does'nt matter. We've been very busy with bikes after the What Mountain Bike review, so much so that actually sold out of all the Tig Team SL frames apart from a few 13" and 15". They are back in stock early to mid April so just in time for the dry and sunny summer that we are going to have.

We've got some crazy bargains at the moment, a full set of 07' XTR disc brakes for £199.95! So be sure to check out the site.

Not been riding my Mountain Bike much, mainly road rides. I know there are people out there who like mud and rain and cold, but I'm not one of them anymore. After 20 years of Mountain Biking I've had my fill I suppose. So bring on the summer.

Anyway, Andy cleaned the kitchen the other day, so here it is in all its glory for Jill. Much to Paul Mc's dismay he was not wearing the pink marigolds he'd promised or the frilly apron.

Rock Lobster Tig Team wins What Mountain Bike review.

Our Rock Lobster Tig Team just won this months £1000 bike test in What Mountain Bike Magazine by what seems like a mile:

"Summary: Good bikes tick a few performance and price boxes, while great ones fill in the whole wish list. The Tig SL is light and agile for race work, yet surefooted and confident on the singletrack at all speeds. Add a smooth fork, spanky wheels and the best transmission and braking setup here for under a grand and you've got a truly top class trail bike that's ready for anything."

"Verdict: The Tig SL combines some of the surefooted chuckabout insolence of the Marin, with the easy speed, agility and lightweight spark of the purist race bikes here. As a result it felt just great ine every situation, weather or mindset we rode in. As well as being excellent initial value it's got a spec and frame pedigree that'll prove a superb investment as the years and miles roll by too."

The competition was a Commencal Supernormal, a Trek 8000 disc, an Orange Evo 8, Scott Scale and Marin Rock Ridge. The mighty wizard that is the Merlin slayed them all with his magic Rock Lobster potion and left them crying for mercy into their overpriced and underspecced pillows!