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Merlin Newsboy Frame


The Newsboy a is complex frame using Titanium tubing to achieve superior strength and resilience through the long arcing frame tubes that cantilever weight from the rear drop out to the seat tube, top tube and down tube. Most metal workers who look at it are impressed by its esthetic design, the choice, use and execution of materials and the way weight and stress are borne through out all the contact points of the frame. (As it happens your author's father is a noted metal sculptor, who appreciates a well crafted bike frame and he can't stop talking about this frame when ever he sees we have one.)

The downtube is 1 1/2" in diameter Ti tubing. It has a hole drilled near the head tube and the B/B shell. A separate piece of tubing is welding internally joining these two holes to achieve rear cable routing, for the brake and both derailleurs. The top tube and seat tube are made of 1 3/8" Ti tubing. The seat stays and S-bend chain stays are made of 7/8" diameter Titanium tubing and the vertical rear drop outs are machined from 6Al 4V Ti plate.

The stays will permit a 2.5" wide tire. The frame comes with a Wilderness Trails Bike Roller-Cam rear brake.

The Newsboy uses a fork with a 1 1/8" steerer and a 27.2mm seatpost.

Merlin Newsboy Frame
Frame Size (inches, center to center)*15.0"17.0"19.0"
Head Angle (in degrees)*71.071.072.0
Seat Angle (in degrees)73.573.072.5
Nominal Top Tube length (in inches)22.0023.0024.00
Chainstay (in inches)16.7516.7516.75
Wheelbase (in inches)*40.941.942.2
Standover Height (in inches)*30.031.433.4
Bottom Bracket Height (in inches) *11.611.811.9
Head Tube length (in inches)3.754.256.00
Steerer Length (in inches)5.506.007.50
Frame Weight (pounds)3.723.954.22
* with Rock Shox Judy SL or Manitou 4 and rider weight aboard

The Newsboy as you can see from the Table is made in 3 sizes, 15", 17" and 19".

Bike-Pro does not sell this frame
Merlin has the Suggested Retail Price for this frame set at $3000
It has a dealer cost of $2000 plus about $10 in freight.





In-depth Information About Metals

Aluminum
Aluminum is extracted electrolytically from bauxite ore. It is made by the electrolysis of aluminum oxide which is found in larger concentrations within bauxite ore. Bauxite is a mixture of the hydroxides of aluminum, together with other impurities such as oxides of iron, titanium, and silicon. Bauxite is produced by the weathering and change of aluminum silicate rocks usually found in tropical and semitropical regions where climate has produced an accelerated weathering process. Bauxite is not a rare ore and is widely available in the US, the Caribbean, and Europe. Approximately 4 pounds of read the full article...

Beryllium
Beryllium is a specialty metal that is steel-grey metal in color, with an extremely low density, making it very light weight. At 1.85 grams to the cubic centimeter, its density compares to that of magnesium. It is also a high strength metal, making it possible to design light weight, thin membered parts with ahigh stiffness. A column made of beryllium to support a load placed directly downward on top of it, will have a greater load carrying capacity, and be lower in weight than any other metal of equal size.

Until the 1950's beryllium was used read the full article...

Titanium
The element titanium was discovered in 1763 by an English cleric, William Gregor who was an amateur chemist with an inquiring mind. It was in the black sands of Cornwall that he discovered the new element that had up to that time, attracted little scientific interest. A few years later, an Austrian, Klaproth, extracted the same element from an ore widely known as "rutile", which is a mineral consisting of titanium dioxide (one titanium atom, two oxygen atoms), that is a reddish-brown substance with a slight metallic luster. While rutile is the highest grade read the full article...

Metallurgic Hardness Testing
There are three types of tests used with accuracy by the metals industry,they are the Brinell hardness test, the Rockwell hardness test, and the Vickers hardness test. Hardness is the property of a metal which gives it the ability to resist being permanently deformed (bent, broken, or have its shape changed), when a load is applied. The greater the hardness of the metal, the greater resistance it has to deformation. Since the definitions of metallurgic ultimate strength and hardness are rather similar, it can generally be assumed read the full article...


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