The Abigail experience
For many and varied reasons I now have a Merida 96. Not your blinged out carbon job,.just started with the basic aluminium frame although it does have carbon seatstays. I've had a lot of ideas I wanted to try and in building this bike a lot came together in the one place, hopefully more harmonious than the No 96 of aussie tv fame. So in this post(s) I hope to share some of my ideas and hopefully enlighten us all in some way. 2009 Merida 96 3000-D frame X-Fusion Velevet R Fork X-Fusion 02 RPV shock SRAM X-9 Shifters and front derailleur SRAM 2010 X-9 Rear derailluer medium cage Truvativ Stylo Team cranks Enduro BB Hygia Usagi brakes Maxxis Ardent 2.25 front Maxxis Aspen 2.0 rear TA Specialite chain rings 40 mid 28 granny The frame Apart from holding all the gear together the 96 frame has some interesting points. The main ones of interest to us are the rear end. The 96 is one of only a few bikes that use a 2:1 ratio for the rear shock.(most are like 2.6:1) it a...