Introducing the newest addition to my stable

[ilima]

That is one helluva nice looking bike. Is that yours or are you waiting on your bike from Spectrum? Mine in a Kellogg designed Merlin and now you have me scratching me head over whether it has the curved seatstays.

[Ann G]

Wow!

[KatyLady]

Wow - what a great find and a great addition to any stable. Anxious to see pictures and to hear ride reports.

[melissam]

Thanks for all the well wishes! As I read your responses, so many things popped into my mind -- I feel like I could have a conversation with each of you.

BleeckerSt_Girl -- I've been meaning to tell you - your Luna is a mighty sharp bike! Hopefully you've been able to put many happy miles on her.

dachshund -- hey, I see you're getting a Seven from Chris Robinson. Have you spec'd it out? When's the delivery date?

smilingcat -- a Litespeed is certainly no slouch. I haven't had the chance to ride the Merlin after the test ride, but luscious is a great description for its ride and looks.

sundial -- I can't tell you how extremely fortunate I feel to have found this bike. Found it on craigslist. I rarely find a bike in my size (thank God, or I'd have a gazillion bikes). This bike was the right size, right material, and the seller was within walking distance of my workplace. It was pretty much meant to be.

KnottedYet -- I hear congratulations are in order to you & Trek!

Bad JuJu -- Delicious indeed! And luscious too!!

jesvetmed -- alas, no pics yet. Soon!

madscot13 -- Good job on building up your bike -- I see that you picked out some mighty fine components and hope you're enjoying your steed.

aka_kim -- welcome back from Colorado you slacker.

ilima -- what kind of Merlin do you have?

SadieKate -- The seat stays are shaped exactly like the ones in the picture you attached. Well, except they're a lot shorter. And they're a combo of ti and carbon. And there's a little bit of engraving right where the ti meets the carbon. But that pic! OMG - I want *that* bike too!

Oh, and tell Bubba that he can borrow my Merlin any time. He can fit on an XS frame, right?

indysteel -- sounds like you might be getting a Spectrum build. I'll watch for it right here on TE.

Ann G & KatyLady -- Pics and ride reports coming soon. (Work permitting.)

- Melissa

[SadieKate]

No, that is not my Spectrum and I won't post a pic here because this thread is about the glory that is melissam's new Camena which should have the same stays (edited to add) but in carbon and ti.

Indy, the discussions were on the Serotta forum where Tom and Dave Kirk have both articulated the merits of curved stays far better than I could. It's pretty easy to find them, but PM me if they don't show up on a search.

[melissam]

SK,

Feel free to post a pic of your Spectrum here! When I saw the pic you posted, I had to find the pic of your bike to remind myself of the color scheme, etc. that you chose. That is one gorgeous bike!

- Mel

[SadieKate]

Okay, here she is. Still without a name.

I might be swapping out the Record crank for a TA Carmina so I can run a smaller middle ring more appropriate to these hills.

[melissam]

Hey! What's this picture of the Spectrum doing in my Camena's thread?!?!

Just kidding!

SadieKate, I said it before and I'll say it again: that's one gorgeous bike! Tom Kellogg does beautiful work.

What kind of gears are you running? 52-42-30 in the front? What cassette?

The Camena has a 53-39-30 in the front and a 12-27 in the back. You know what else? She has a Dura Ace crank arm on the right side and an Ultegra crank arm on the left. The PO said she swapped out the double for a triple. When she did that, she may have gone from Ultegra to Dura Ace on the crankset, but didn't swap out the left crank arm.

[Trekhawk]

Melissam - congratulations on the new bike. That sure is a beauty.

[OakLeaf]

Ah, sweet!

Bummer about the crankset though - hope you get it sorted (or that it's innocuous and just something that makes the bike YOURS )

[dachshund]

dachshund -- hey, I see you're getting a Seven from Chris Robinson. Have you spec'd it out? When's the delivery date?

Yes ma'am I am, thanks for asking. We're about to put in the order for the frame. I guess it'll be done sometime in August. I have Chris's recommendations on the components, which I'm researching now. Campy for me, it looks like Centaur for the most part. I may try a compact double... or not. Fortunately I feel well-versed on this topic, largely due to the help of one SadieKate, who is a walking encyclopedia on gearing. Madame, thank you very much! Wheels are a different story. (I'm referring to my lack of knowledge, not SK's.) Wheels are just the big round things that decorate the ends of the bike. Now I'm reading about wheels.

Wow - Friday yours will be done? So we know what you're doing over the 4th!

[melissam]

OK, as promised, here are some pics of the Merlin and her stablemates. Disclaimer: the quality of these shots pales in comparison to the ones that SadieKate uploaded. Oh well, I won't quit my day job!

Shot #1: a profile view of my Merlin. I'm going to swap out the stem and find shims for the brake levers. We'll see how I feel about the saddle -- it might be in the TE For Sale section.


Shot #2: Seatstay - where titanium meets carbon. Look at the engraving!


Shot #3: Hourglass shaped seatstays. One day I hope to get a nice pic of this.


Shot #4: Camena decal. Engraved headtube in foreground and Merlin logo on the seat tube collar.


Shot #5: Napoleon - my faithful steed during the AIDS/Lifecycle Ride! Will be getting new handlebars and bar tape this weekend, as these hurt my hands when I brake while in the drops. (Yes, it took me 4 years to figure this out.)


Shot #5: My bonecrusher, er, I mean Bianchi. Faithful trainer bike. Look at that lugged steel goodness!


Shot #6: My stable of 3 road bikes.


Shot #7: A photo shoot wouldn't be complete without Gizmo!

[ilima]

That is a very nice stable of bikes you have there. And your pup is cute, too. I think you will love the Camena.

ilima -- what kind of Merlin do you have?

I have a Merlin Atreus. It was only made for 2005 and then morphed into the Works line. I got it for a pretty good end of the year deal.

[ilima]

Gorgeous, just gorgeous. Love the paint job; nice touch on the fork. She definitely deserves a nice name!

My Merlin is bare Ti, but I'd like to have the front end painted some time.

[SadieKate]

Hey! What's this picture of the Spectrum doing in my Camena's thread?!?!

Just kidding!

SadieKate, I said it before and I'll say it again: that's one gorgeous bike! Tom Kellogg does beautiful work.

What kind of gears are you running? 52-42-30 in the front? What cassette?

The Camena has a 53-39-30 in the front and a 12-27 in the back. You know what else? She has a Dura Ace crank arm on the right side and an Ultegra crank arm on the left. The PO said she swapped out the double for a triple. When she did that, she may have gone from Ultegra to Dura Ace on the crankset, but didn't swap out the left crank arm.

Nice stable there! The Camena is very, very classy.

Wow, weird on the crank. Did you contact the seller about that? I'd feel a little cranky about that (pun intended). However, if you post over on the Serotta forum that you're looking for left arm, someone just might have something. That group has an amazing collection of "stuff" stored up. Guess I shouldn't talk.

If you want to know more than you really want about my crank situation on that bike, read here:
http://www.serotta.com/forum/showthr...ghlight=cranky

I'm running a 26-40-50 Record crank and will probably be replacing it with a TA so I can run 26-36-50. I bet your custom crank will use TA rings because you can get so many sizes in so many BCDs.