Seems like most Ti owners have the same tendencies: build a bike that is light but don't make any compromises to strength for weight alone. Hopefully this is not a bannable offense!
After 3 years of work I'm finally considering my Merlin Works CR 6/4 "feature complete" (for now!):
A few noteworthy parts:
- * King Cage Iris stainless steel bottle cages are awesome, though not purely WW. After breaking numerous carbon sets these are indestructible and don't scuff your water bottles. They're also have the easy-in/easy-out shape that you see in carbon cages
* SMC Selle Dynamic Carbon saddle is comfortable and dropped 1/3 pound off my bike
* While the Ciamillo Negative G GSLs were a hassle (http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=99665) I love the modulation, power, and immediate and noticeable weight savings
* Though I took most of the cheesy decals off, the Ti is 6/4 which is slightly lighter than the 3/2. iirc this was only in production for one year
* May not be carbon but I love how the Ksyrium SLs spin up and handle
* While the Garmin bike computers are HEAVY from a WW perspective, it is the first in it's family to make any sense to own as the navigation works as expected. I recently loaded up a bikely gpx file for The Longest Day http://www.linuxha.com/other/non-ha/bicycle/LongestDay.html and the alerts were flawless which is key--adding mileage onto an already 208 mile day is ungood
* Thompson stuff all around including seat post clamp. 'Nuff said
* Salsa Ti skewers are curvy and sexy, highly usable, and surprisingly leightweight
* Edge (now ENVE) fork was a revelation. The stock reynolds fork was a squirmy noodle and this is a samuri blade slicing where I aim it, while adding a little compliance
Tips the scales at 16lbs 12oz (or 7.59kg) for a size "Large" (56cm equivalent) with the computer on.
As a side note about Ti: Fell in love with the ride from the very first time I took her out. It was a spring day which meant roads were pretty beat up from the winter. After going hard for 50 miles I returned feeling rejuvenated rather than beat up. This was not at the expense of responsiveness or get up and go.
I did have to work on building some extra upper body strength, though, as the bike is so quick to try to jump out from between your legs that I had a tough time controlling it for the first month!
