mercier

[winona_rider]

Hey guys, really sorry to hog the forum with another bike - but i got this today! (Thanks ukalipt for the heads up!!) It cost $112.50...absolute bargain! columbus tubing, mavic rims...
















Haven't ridden it yet (no pedals as you can see!) but sitting on it the height feels good, i can reach the hoods fine and can bend my elbows nicely in doing so. will even raise the saddle an inch or two...the handlebars are quite narrow so i'll probably replace them and the brakes don't seem that great. with the front one, the left hand side sticks to the rim...might just need the bolt at the back tightened cause the brake seems to be able to swivel a bit.

Rims! They are singles - tubulars! I know nothing about them so I am busy reading up on sheldon about these...the guy who sold it to me explained that the rims were really special - very light and the spokes were thinner in the centre. The rear wheel needs to be re-dished apparently and new tyres. how do you get the tyres off? can you get 27" tubulars new?

[Birdman]

Very nice...

Give it a little bit of a cleanup and it will be goods as new (don't forget the pedals, they would be handy).

I am sure you can get 27's from some bike stores. Mine has them in older stock.

Mitch.

[sogood]

That looked to be a real bargain.

[MountGower]

Amazing value there.

They have a website.
http://www.cyclesmercier.com/

[Kid_Carbine]

There is no such thing as 27" tubulars. In Australia they are called 'singles' & their dimensional clincher equivalent is 700C.
Yes, they are available new & there are many who still ride & race on them.

In Britain they are called tubulars & in the US they are sew-up's. This design dates back to the 20's & tyres were made with with cotton or silk thread cases.
A "6 silk" case with thin latex tube was about as light as they got & the tube bled air like a sieve, but was just strong enough to do the job & would hold air long enough to complete an event without serious loss of pressure, ... but hell they were light.

The tyre is glued to the rim & to remove, simply grip the tyre opposite the valve & peel it sideways from the rim [make sure it's fully deflated first]

The spokes are good old double butted types, & again, they have been around since at least the 20's. Steel ones are the best there is &, within certain parameters, the thinner the better as steel has elastic properties that stainless can't come close to matching.
At one time, just about everything that was better than a tradesmans bike or a basic roadster had them, but cost eventually drove them from these more utilitarian classes of bike & they remained in use in the better, more expensive models.

If the spoke is thicker at the hub end, but constantly thinner all the way to the nipple, then it is a single butted type.

Don't go replacing the handlebar untill you have some miles on it & become accustomed to the superior steering that they can provide. You wouldn't put a truck steering wheel in a sports car unless there was demonstrated need. Same with this bike, ... if it needs a different bar after some hours in the saddle, then go for it, but if not, then don't bother.

Looks like you have yourself a nice ride there.

[ukalipt]

hey i will offer you $115+shipping to SYD... all good winona - glad to see it go to a good home. next time i'm in QLD i will insist on taking it out for a spin.

it also goes to show there are still some serious bargins to be found on ebay.

[winona_rider]

the mercier is alive!
got her new wheels today - mavic G40 ($50, kinda gun-metal grey in colour with some reasonably good tyres included)
and yes, they're clinchers (phew)
i am not hardcore enough for tubulars yet...sigh

the six speed cassette that came with the pair works fine with the chain and dérailleur except i can't make it go into the biggest cog at the back. maybe that is just an adjustment thing... i went around the block a few times and it felt good. KC - you were right about the handlebars....they don't bother me at all now i am used to that width (from riding the 2* malvern). i am even more comfortable in the drops than the new school trek 1.7

to finish everything off i am waiting on a new stem from ebay z. will post pics when that comes. other improvements will include a new brooks saddle and some bar tape.

what do you all think.... white tape or black? personally my heart says white, my head says black

[cludence]

I initially thought white but looking again I reckon black is the go.

Karen.

[winona_rider]

yeah - i think that he colour scheme is deceptively "all white" but i think it is a black and white thing (especially now with the greyish rims) and the more black accents - the better. totally.

i am pretty particular with my colour. i have a design brain i think. it is all about balance and flow. i could write on this subject forever...but to distill it:

design is about the equality of form and function. on a page your eye enters the page at a key point and then your eye is up for grabs. if that focal point is well thought out - it directs your focus around the page - but NEVER immediately out. (EXCEPT when or if that OUT has some serious meaning like if it was a space poster and directed your gaze up and beyond.)

so with a bike's colour scheme it should be about a forward movement...that is my theory anyway. It should flow OUT of the page from the rear wheel to the handlebars...

[stryker84]

I'd say black too. I tend to match bar tape with the saddle colour.

[winona_rider]

I'd say black too. I tend to match bar tape with the saddle colour.

you are totally right strykz!
but you are more right cause now i think about it: the wheels are kinda black too. so there's a symmetry of black top, white middle, black bottom. that is a stripe pattern so thus - my fwd (or lateral) movement thing is complimented.

[il padrone]

Have you bought the Brooks saddle?

I have a bike from a similar vintage - well, maybe a bit younger at 1981. I replaced the saddle with the Brooks Swift. A good bit more expensive, but it has that trimmed down look that just goes so well with a skinny tyred road bike.

[531db]

Have you bought the Brooks saddle?

I have a bike from a similar vintage - well, maybe a bit younger at 1981. I replaced the saddle with the Brooks Swift. A good bit more expensive, but it has that trimmed down look that just goes so well with a skinny tyred road bike.

And a classy bike you have there! - complete with mudguards and Sanyo? dynamo.

Could of done with the 'guards racing out at WSID today....

[kukamunga]

Hmmm..... il padrone, hey? That bike looks familiar ! How's the elbow (and the bar tape)? Picked up a similar era (early 80's) Malvern Star 'XL600' today in Boronia with full, complete groupset, along with a Challenge 'Special Racer' with Bell leather..........

[il padrone]

And a classy bike you have there! - complete with mudguards and Sanyo? dynamo.

Thanks, I've had this bike since new. A Cecil Walker, custom made for me. A racing bike, but with clearance for mudguards, really like a racer's training bike, and I've used it for distance rides and Audax.

The dynamo is a Sanyo, yes. Mounted in the position where the dynapower is most effective, at the brake bridge. I found the BB mount clamp today, shiny new, in a box of bits, along with the original fork clamp for the Sanyo headlight.

The bike is still 27", with an early 5 speed cassette. Can't seem to replace this cassette now, I've been searching the net but no luck. I found a source of 27" tyres from Harris Cyclery, and rubber brake hoods for the non-aero levers via Loose Screws. Most of the bike is still original components - SunTour Superbe derailleurs and brakes, Ukai rims, DuraAce hubs and crankset (non-original but same era), Edco headset, SR bars and seatpost. All in excellent condition. It has had a 15 year period in the garage, with minimal riding, that has kept it in fine nick

Could of done with the 'guards racing out at WSID today....

That is Western Sydney?? Wet up there is it?

You can still get the skinny SKS guards, 35mm is the narrow width.

Cheers

[kukamunga]

Kmart sell 27" (630) tyres

[il padrone]

Hmmm..... il padrone, hey? That bike looks familiar ! How's the elbow (and the bar tape)? Picked up a similar era (early 80's) Malvern Star XL600 today in Boronia with full, complete groupset.....

Baaah!!!! Mah cover is blown boss.

Elbow is crap... but I can bend it a bit, just not enough to feed myself nor do up a helmet strap The bar tape is stil there, ruffed up.

So now you have two road bikes! A race/event bike and a training bike. One to keep stripped, one with lights, mudguards and bag for Audax or commuting. Book in for next year's Oppy now Don't forget I'll be running the Bendigo Double Century this September (should really go metric and call it the Bendigo Triple Century I guess )

I'll call you tomorrow. Why no Belgrave-Wrights Forest Ride?

[il padrone]

Kmart sell 27" (630) tyres

That'd be 27 X 1.25 (32mm). And heavy Cheng Shins at that. Mine are 27 X7/8 (19mm) and the biggest I could run would probably be 25mm at a pinch.

None of those around anywhere as far as I know.

[munga]

I saw a white mercier around eagle farm (fison ave, near the new gateway construction) on friday morning. I think this one had two black tyres tho.. wasn't you was it?

[winona_rider]

no - it wasn't me

but i did i ride it today out to griffith Uni...

Yesterday i went to bicycle revolution and bought 2 sets of shimano exage brake sets for $20 (on shaun's recommendation). I hoped to make at least 1 good set outta them. (they were a bit ratty and incomplete)
so i put the best one on the rear brake of the mercier which has been a problem and for the first time ever i managed to make to make something work. i lubricated the wire, i put all the best and shiniest bits together to make one awsm brake and then got the balance right to get the brake to tighten and crucially - untighten. it isn't the most secure brake - but it works.

Plus she has a new stem, new bar tape and a brooks saddle.
i so wanted to show you all pix of her complete but my GF refused to pose (fyxamatosis style)

sigh.

she will come around...

ps the mercier is taking on the mall 2 mall challenge from brisbane to ipswich this sunday!