1987 Steve Potts Signature

I recently had the opportunity to restore/overhaul this lovely bike for a good friend of mine. I'm fortunate in that I usually get to work on some very nice bikes, but even among those awesome machines things can get a little stale. So, I was very happy to have something different and unique in my stand for a while. I just wish it was my size so that I could take out for a quick spin.

This is quite possibly one of the loudest and most ostentatious Potts ever to come out of Marin...

What Potts would be complete without a drop bar setup?? Again, this one was too small for me so I can't really get a feel for the ride, but it is unusual.

Original Specialized "Flag" cranks with Shimano 600ex chainrings. The bike came with mostly modern rings, so these were swapped in to make it correct.

WTB Grease Guard hubs with  Sepecialized quick releases, a very appropriate look for that era of bike.

About the only option missing from this bike is a Type II fork, but the Type I does the job pretty well!

WTB Toe Flips on Shimano M731 pedals. The Toe Flips were designed to help the rider get the pedals oriented properly to ease getting their foot into the cage.

The B cluster is a work of art. A seamless joining of 5 unique tubes that appears to have no other way of looking than like this. Why aren't all bikes this pretty?

1990 Merlin Titanium

I think I may have finally solved the Merlin equation for myself (not that others haven't)... These bikes are notoriously hard to build up such that they don't look boring. By design are they are very monochromatic looking machines and don't fare well with many custom and blingy parts people often attempt to dress them up. More often than not they look best with traditional grouppos like XT, XTR or XC-PRO. But the moment you start tacking on the choice components things go wrong really quickly. I think the following build represents what a pretty much fully dialed in Merlin can look like without going over the edge and making it look like a Honda Civic with a big wing on the back...

You just can't go wrong with Cook CBRs, They look great on any bike and even better with Action Tec Titantium chain rings.

One of the hardest decision for any Merlin is what fork to pick. Made easy here by using an IRD Titanium expedition fork. Damn near impossible to find, but works perfectly!

IRD macaroni stems is one of the more recognizable components made by IRD back in the good ole days.

Such a beautiful union of metal... really doesn't get a whole hell of a lot better.

I wonder who had the job of forming these little brake cable guides and were they all mandrel bent?

Lucky wondering when I'd be done...

Bike looks sharp from any angle!

IRD progressive U-brake. This is a very neat design which actually seems to work rather well.

Another great build comes to a close. I will admit that this one will be hard to let go, lots of amazing parts and all of them coming together to make something truly amazing!