2001 Rock Lobster
 Having
previously raced a Klein Attitude and a Gary Fisher Pro-Caliber
with £900 and £600 framesets respectively. I was a bit reserved
as to what I was going to make of the £300 Rocklobster frameset.
Probably the biggest thing for me was going to be the additional
weight as the bike came with Marzzochi Z2 X fly's which weighed
in 1lb heavier than the SIDs I was used to.
With a few tweaks I had the complete bike weight down to 22.7lb, well respectable! Especially with the Marzzochi's and disc brakes. The first thing I noticed on the bike was how fast it felt, although slightly heavier than what I had been used to, the bike actually felt faster! One explanation I have for this may be the shorter geometry in comparison to the Fisher? Who knows. Faster is better so I won't dwell on it. The other significant difference is the forgivingness of the Metal Matrix Frame, this was very noticeable on downhills where the back end seemed tame in comparison to the Klein or Fisher. When I first got the Klein it took me around two months to get used to the rigidity of the back end, I was over the bars more than my mate fast gaz, and believe me, you don't want to be better than fast gaz in that area!
All the usual Shimano bits speak for themselves but the big
change for me in this bike was the shift to disks (Formula
B4's) and the beefy Marzzochi's. After sorting out a warped
disk the B4's were the dogs dangley bits. Anybody still using
V's tell Santa to get it sorted. The difference is unbelievable;
any worries about not stopping on the steep stuff or losing
the front end when braking into corners are gone. Even in
the wet, the amount of front brake you can confidently grab
with these babies is amazing. Apart from the noticeable power
difference over V's, the continuity and progressiveness of
the braking is excellent. No more pulling like your going
to snap the cables and sudden lock up's, everything becomes
so much smoother.
 I
had always listened to people go on about how good Marzzochi
forks are, but due to the weight difference with Rock Shox
Sids I took no notice. It was the light guys for me every
time. How wrong can you be! The Z2's weigh in at 3.7lb but
you seriously don't notice it (unless of course you have to
pick it up and run) in action they are without a doubt for
me the best fork I have used, 5 minutes to set them up and
unless someone kindly rode them in for me, they worked straight
out of the box, no stiction easily tuneable damping and above
all No Flex, rigid as...well they are pretty stiff. You
can hammer them till the cows come home and then some more.
I have raced them a full season and haven't even looked inside
yet ! They still work like they did in March. I have raced
both '99 and '00 Sids and neither come close.
Overall, with the combination of the Matrix frame the Formulas and the Marzzochi's I reckon the guys at Merlin ain't far off the mark with this hard tail, not just as an XC race machine but a very low maintenance bike for thrashing single track throughout the year. The two Garry's make nice bikes but the Rocklobster with disks and Z2's gets 5 out of 5 from me. Some useful links - Merlin Cycles
Rock Lobster Frames
Marzocchi Forks
Formula Brakes
Easton (components and frame tubing)
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