Hump Bike-Magic metal from days gone bye

I used to think that a Ti bike was the coolest thing in the world.  The last bike you'd ever buy.  Until I realized that it was the last bike I'd ever buy, unless I got rid of it.  Minds and bodies change, so should your bike. I got tired of the rakish angles. Ti bikes are so special that you're likely to go all out, like on this one:

Ahhh, yes, the Clinton era...the economy was pumping, and with a Democrat President the country was running a surplus (that's a nice little one to keep in your back pocket for the RIGHT opportunity) and, apparently so was this bike's owner, Ti anodized spokes from Union (not Marwi...still available here), real Salsa Ti skewers:

Wow! TNT crank,  this outfit out of Phoenix used to make all kinds of Ti and aluminum billet bits.  I remember their pah, pah, pinner hubs.  They were part of the Arizona Ti scene...Titus, Titan, TNT...these folks must have all been related...anyone?

TNT super post with hot ass saddle, in case you had to ask:

Bikes with King headsets are special:

Syncros stem, the thicker (not 118 gram) Bontrager Ti bar, and early Paul levers:

Rob Vandermark (name on the chainstay...hot ass saddle, again) still making bikes now at Seven: 

 It's a shame that Merlin got swallowed up in the Litespeed, Asics, Quintana Roo (really...Quintana Roo?) debacle, wherein this conglomerate thought they were taking over the world.  In the end the names are just shells of their former crafty selves.  Stay tuned for more info on Merlin and its rebirth.