Merlin Cielo

Merlin have been building high-end bikes for well over 20 years now, and although the US brand has seen many changes over that time including a change of ownership and a move across the country, its frame material of choice remains titanium – custom drawn 3/2.5V ti, if you want the details.

Where the Cielo road bike differs most significantly from the rest of the Merlin range is that it comes with a unidirectional carbon top tube and down tube. Or rather, the central sections of those tubes are carbon, slotting into lengthy sections of titanium that act as lugs at either end.

Merlin Cielo gallery

Merlin alter the amount of manipulation and butting applied to the tubes according to the size of frame, but all the models double-butted seatstays that snake out, then in, then out again as they travel from the seat tube to the rear drop outs. We’re not convinced this S-bend makes a jot of difference to the ride-quality but, on the other hand, it looks cool.

The titanium tubes will last forever. They’ll never corrode and you’d have to whack them really hard to put a ding in them. If you ever scratch the surface, you just get out the wire wool and buff it out – good as new! The carbon fibre top tube and down tube add four extra joints to the frame, but we’ve got no reason to think they won’t stay the distance.

The frame is available with a Easton EC90 SL fork and a Chris King headset for £3,499 - reassuringly expensive, then. All Merlins use an external headset (where the bearings sit in cups that live outside the head tube and the Chris King unit just can’t be beaten. It’s been the best in the business for years providing superb performance and requiring minimal maintenance. Our test bike came with a Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork, SRAM’s flagship Red groupset components, and Reynolds Assault deep-section wheels. You’d be looking at upwards of six grand for that little lot.

It’s worth noting that as well as being available in seven sizes from 49 to 61cm, you can also get the Cielo made to measure if you're willing to pay more. In for a penny, in for a pound… an extra £420, to be precise.

The ride

When you spend this much cash on a bike you’re allowed to expect the ride to be a little bit special… and the Cielo delivers. You hear some right old nonsense spouted about the benefits of titanium (ti is whippy and springy? Yeah, right!) but the bottom line is that it can be built into stiff, strong, lightweight frames that perform superbly out on the road, and that’s exactly what you get here.

Tipping the Roadcc scales at 16.1lb/7.3kg (55cm model, built up, without pedals) with a frame weight of 1,330g, there’s not much to blunt your acceleration. The Cielo charges up to speed whether you’re coming out of a tight bend or you just fancy scaring your ride mates with a swift change of pace. You kick, the bike responds instantly. It’s a great feeling.

Get out of the saddle to jump on the pedals and haul on the bars and there’s really not a lot of noticeable flex between the two ends of the bike. Don’t worry, even if you’re an absolute hammerhead, the carbon centre section will hold everything together just fine – no bending, no creaking, nothing there to worry you at all.

Of course, a lot of the acceleration comes down to speccing the frame with the right equipment, especially the wheels, so choose carefully. The Reynolds Assaults on our test model weigh 1,550g the pair, so they’re not mega-light, but with 46mm deep carbon rims they are highly aerodynamic to help you eat up the flat miles effortlessly. They’re also very stiff – we had virtually no flex at all when jumping out of the saddle to crank it up or railing downhill corners as fast as we’d dare.

Back to the Cielo frameset, though, over rolling roads, it’s a delight. All that titanium and carbon does a good job of neutralising road buzz to keep you comfortable during long rides. You won’t get the Reynolds’ Ouzo Pro full-carbon fork that we had, but the full-carbon Easton EC90 SL blends strength and lightweight performance equally well. The result is a bike that you can just sit and pedal for hours in comfort; it would make a brilliant sportive machine.

Downhill? Again, the Cielo takes everything in its stride. Our Reynolds fork damped out the vibrations effectively to keep things from going blurry at speed and held its line when we threw it into sharp bends, and your Easton model will do the job just as well.

So, in terms of its ride, the Cielo is first-class. Stiff, light, comfortable... It’s hard to fault. But is that because of the carbon top and down tubes? It’s impossible to say for sure but we’d guess not, to be honest. We can’t help feeling that the carbon fibre is there more because carbon fibre is a Good Thing when it comes to boosting a bike’s appeal, rather than providing any performance benefits. That said, it is one gorgeous frame.

As for the price, well, if you’re looking for a bargain, you’ve come to the wrong place. Merlin don’t do cheap and cheerful. Try thinking of it as a long-term investment in your health and the price might not seem quite so steep.

Verdict

A fabulous frameset built to incredibly high standards... at a monster of a price