What’cha ridin’ if not your ‘CUDA?

I’m with Mark, Oldschool’s Merlin is sweet! I’ve always wanted a Merlin… I did own a KGB, a poorman’s Merlin put out by Montrose Bikes in SoCal. I built it up as a get around town single speed with a Bontrager Race Lite carbon fork, a FSA Ti bottom bracket, and some Dura Ace bits, it came in at a feathery 14.2 pounds. I parted it out after awhile, it was a bit too “whippy” for my liking. It’s a good frame if you want Ti and you’re on a budget.

willywill said, “…best addition is the Fox Shock for the rear. If the front forks are just as sweet I can understand why a second mortgage is necessary to own one!”

I’ve owned a few Fox forks over the years, they are great forks, spendy with good resale value (used ones can fetch more than a lot of new ones by the other guys). For me, the White Brothers forks are king! They are every bit as good as the Fox forks, that’s how White Bros got started by selling dirt bike gear, and then improved on the design. The W.B. “Factory” forks were all CNC’d in SoCal out of Easton aluminum and their internals were overbuilt and bombproof. The best part W.B used common parts found at your local hardware store, like o-rings, washers, etc., no specialty parts… so the rebuilds are cheap! Used W.B. forks can be purchased cheaply too, I won an auction on Fleebay for a SC70UL air fork and it only cost me $59.00 plus shipping. Only $75.00 for an American made air fork! It even has gold fork lowers to match my ’93 A2Limited (gold/white). White Brothers is now in Colorado, their fork tech has replacement parts if needed or they’ll service/rebuild your fork. Keep your eyes peeled, if you come across one locally, grab it because you won’t regret it!

This is my 1996 Smorgasbord Country Style Buffet hardtail, it replaced my 1991 Stumpjumper that I started this thread with. When I stripped down the Stumpjumper, the buyer only wanted the frame, so I hung the grouppo on my 1993 A2L and rebuilt that bike. It’s taken a lot longer than expected to track down the parts I wanted for this build. That said, I’m really pleased with the build, I definitely think the frame design is a classic (can’t forget the Joe BREEZE dropouts). This Smor C.S.B. most reminds me of my brother’s WTB Phoenix, the tight triangles, knife-like maneuverability, and the giant seat post/frame geometry. It does have similarities with others from that era of steel frames like a FAT/I.F., to me those are classic steel frames. I believe Chris Daily (Smorgasbord builder out of Hershey, PA) was really putting out a great frame that’s every bit as good as any other steel frame. It’s a shame he made less than 200 hardtail frames in his short 5 year run!

Thanks for taking a look!

Here are the specs:

1996 Smorgasbord Country Style Buffet

FRAME – Reynolds 853 double butted
FORK – White Brothers XC-4
HEADSET – Chris King “Green Apple” (discontinued)
REAR DERAILLEUR – Shimano Deore XTR
FRONT DERAILLEUR – Shimano Deore XT
HUBS – Shimano Deore XTR (front) & AC/Hugi (rear)
RIMS – Mavic XC717
TIRES – WTB Moto-Raptor 2.4 front/rear
BRAKES – Shimano Deore XTR V-brakes
BRAKE LEVERS – Avid Speed Dial Ultimate
CRANK – Cook Brothers Racing 48/34/24
PEDALS – Time ATAC
SHIFTERS – SRAM X-Ray
HANDLEBARS – Cook Brothers Racing
FREEWHEEL – Shimano Deore XTR 12-32
STEM – Thomson 130mm x 5 degree
SEAT POST – Salsa “Shaft”
SEAT – SDG S-2000 Ti Kevlar
COLOR – Apple Green Metal Flake

Sweet ride! I’m only minorly familiar with Pesenti frames… it looks like it’s fillet brazed at the all the joints. Is that true? If so, I’m going to start looking for one!

Forever my hero!