Folding Bikes - Merc

Hi everyone,

Virgin poster on this forum so apologies of errors or omissions or if this is in the wrong place.

I have just had my 2nd bike stolen from somewhere in London and so have decided that a folding bike might be the answer (for a commute from train station to the office), and i dont leave it in london overnight.

A friend is thinking of selling a Merc they have in their garage. I have read through these posts and can see most of you are obviously using your Mercs regularly but just wanted to check a couple of things.

Do you feel the Merc rides as well as the Brompton? Also, i note some concerns about the spokes on the Merc and wonder if i will be too big for the Merc (im over 6ft over 15st).

The friend doesnt want much for the Merc, just wonder if i should keep saving for a brompton.

Any advise much appreciated.

As you can see from the thread, Brompton parts are compatible with the Merc. So you will have to spring for a telescoping or extended seatpost. Otherwise, if the Brompton would make you happy, so will the Merc.

Think you both made my mind up. I did have a querey on it that it looks like the rear mech is deralieur and not the sturmey archer style one from bromptons - guessing these are still fine and useable (albeit iwth a bit more servicing required).

Many thanks I think what you are probably seeing is the chain tensioner, if it was a deraiieur Merc - definetly snap it up, someone on this forum will no doubt buy it off you !

many thanks. Just said would have it, he only wanted £100 for it so even if it doesnt last me too long haent lost much. Thanks for your help.

Will be back for tips once picked up!

That's an absolute steal. You could ebay it for more than that straight away, so you really can't lose.

Wow, get it! You can't go wrong, I suspect the frame is worth almost that!

many thanks. Just said would have it, he only wanted £100 for it so even if it doesnt last me too long haent lost much. Thanks for your help.

Will be back for tips once picked up!

Congrats on a great find!!!!

There are many tips in this thread already. The aptly named EvilV is our resident Merc guru. He's been through the gamut with this bike. It would pay to read his comments.

And I hope to steal EvilV Merc in the dead of night along with a molten hot Moulton! :D

Not so fast EvilMuleady. My Merc is programmed to fire a long spike up from the saddle the moment an unusual backside lowers onto it. It will nail you to the seat - a suitable punishment for such a wicked plan as you have conceived sir.... In fact when we meet, I will slap you with my cycling glove and my second Sir Alan will call on you at dawn on Sunday where you will be offered the choice of weapons in our duel; bike spanners or multi-tools at ten paces.

That price for a merc in decent condition is astonishing. Grab it while you can. The bikes are robust and tough in my experience, so no worries that it won't last long. It will probably take all that you throw at it if it is anything like mine has been.

Congrats on a great find!!!!

There are many tips in this thread already. The aptly named EvilV is our resident Merc guru. He's been through the gamut with this bike. It would pay to read his comments.

I just think I have ridden mine more than most people have.

Morning all,

Just to let you know that I picked up the Merc this morning so watch this space!

Thanks for all comments and advice, very much appreciated. (BTW - yes - what i mistook from a photo was i guess a chain tensioner and not a rear deralieur - the bike is def sturney archer).

I need to work on my folding i think, getting a bit brake cable tied and also the chain seems to work a bit loose on folding, think it might just need a bit of a check over. Theres also a bit of 'ticking' when running through the gears.

I have found a link to how to fold a brompton - am i right in thinking the Merc should fold in exactly the same way?

Thanks again

Adam

yes it folds identically. Hope to see some pix!

Adam:

On my Merc, I found that I had to remove one link from the chain to make the fold easier. Before I removed it, the chain dropped easily in the folded position. Took one link out and I can fold with confidence now.

As a reference, the two guide pulleys on the tensioner were just about parallel to the ground after I removed the link. Works well. :thumb:

Also, the biggest improvement on my bike was changing out the brake cables and pads. You may have already found out how awful the brakes are. But don't despair, they are easily fixable....

I thought the stock brakes on the Merc were quite good?

Sesame it's crunch time soon! :)

I thought the stock brakes on the Merc were quite good?

Sesame it's crunch time soon! :)

T minus 2 days......

Beware the Geordies are coming to town! :P

I thought the stock brakes on the Merc were quite good?


Nyet! Nein! Non! No!

Stock brakes are not good, but easily remedied....

T minus 2 days......

The Grandest Pootle of them all....

Thanks guys.

First real commute in this morning and despite the drizzle absolutely fine. Got in quickly and no hassle.

I can def see the need for some new pads for the brakes.

My main issue is the the chain keep slipping off the lower of the 2 rear tensioners. The chain still goes round. the issue appears to be that the lower of the 2 cogs seems to be offset from the one above - im guessing this isnt quite right and that replacing the rear tensioner will solve this. I wonder if your other suggestion of shortening the chain might hold it all together as well.

Thanks guys.

First real commute in this morning and despite the drizzle absolutely fine. Got in quickly and no hassle.

I can def see the need for some new pads for the brakes.

My main issue is the the chain keep slipping off the lower of the 2 rear tensioners. The chain still goes round. the issue appears to be that the lower of the 2 cogs seems to be offset from the one above - im guessing this isnt quite right and that replacing the rear tensioner will solve this. I wonder if your other suggestion of shortening the chain might hold it all together as well.

The tensioner cogs run at slightly different angles and that's the way they are designed to be. Mine would occasionally come off when I had the plastic tensioner, but not often. I found that after folding and unfolding, the chain would sometimes come adrift on riding off. The trick was to unfold, lift up the rear wheel and carefully rotate the pedals in the normal direction while watching that the chain was tracking correctly. This sounds time consuming and complex, but it only takes a second and it allows you to correct a minor issue before the chain comes off and jams. Hope that is a help. I would also explore the solution of slightly shortening the chain. To be honest with you, I rarely fold my bike, so Sesamecrunch probably has the better solution to this problem. Thinking about it, this would increase the spring tension in the tensioning system, which would be more likely to keep the chain snug on the rear cog.[/quote]

top stuff, thanks

Hi all - just some tweking thoughts on my Merc - has anyone out there removed the rack from their Merc? I cant see a time when i will use it and is just seems to add weight. Do you reckon its required for when its in the fold position? I see plenty of Brommies without them, wonder if the Merc is any diff?

Also looking at shelling the kick-stand - cant see this being required either. Any thoughts?

Why not just try it? if you take the rack off - the mudflap is attached to the rack, you might like to add a brompton mudflap/fender with strong stays and a wheel to allow the bike to stand and be rolled on the fender/wheel (but it will still be standing and rolling worse). You will save about 445gr for the rack and if yo decide to go without mudflap another 75gr.

Hi all - sorry to disturb you all...

After a couple of months of use of the merc i have developed a couple of small issues..the right hand pedal has broken so that it doesnt stay unfolded and in the correct position.. the other is that when i pull the seat up from the unfold position the sleeve that holds it into the frame comes out with it and have to push this down again - anyone else have this prob?

Thanks

I too get a bit of the sleeve problem - I'm sure you could use a good hi-end glue to sort this out. I don't use the stock pedals so can't comment on the fail yours have suffered beyond recalling the 'quality' of the original items and not being hugely surprised. For my money - I'd look to replace them with something a bit more hardwearing (and less likely to injure as mine did when trying them out), either with a pair of Brompton folding pedals, or a set of KHS ones from foldingbikes.co.uk; You should be able to arrange a like-for-like replacement if you get in touch with Merc, though my opinion is that an upgrade would be a 'stitch in time' thing and worth the few quid it's going to cost.

Link to range of folding pedals for you:
http://www.foldingbikes.co.uk/accessories_pedals.htm

great - thanks little pixel. Looking at those MKS FD-6 ones for example - would the thread be the same for the Merc (without any modification required?). I agree on the quality, would like an upgrade, otherwise its ebay for the little merc.

I think the FD-6 would be a perfect upgrade.

I think it's accurate to say all pedals are threaded the same so you shouldn't run into any issues installing them.

A word of warning though - left and right pedals are threaded in opposing pitches (clockwise, counterclockwise) so that they don't loosen during use so

a) this might be why one of them seems *really really* hard to remove and...
b) make sure you are definitely putting the new left pedal in the left crank, or you may cross the threads and enter a whole world of pedal pain! :)

I've never had any problem with my seat post sleeve, but I don't often fold my bike. The stock pedals are atrociously cheap. Mine wore out in a few hundred miles and I replaced them with some non-folding ones from my mountain bike. Last week, I bought some aluminium folding ones from MKS which seem very nice indeed and don't look like they were made for 50cents in China. You should expect to replace the stock Merc pedals they are trash indeed. MKS pedals seem very nicely made so far, but I've only just got them so they haven't had a lot of testing.

I think the FD-6 would be a perfect upgrade.

I think it's accurate to say all pedals are threaded the same so you shouldn't run into any issues installing them.

A word of warning though - left and right pedals are threaded in opposing pitches (clockwise, counterclockwise) so that they don't loosen during use so

a) this might be why one of them seems *really really* hard to remove and...
b) make sure you are definitely putting the new left pedal in the left crank, or you may cross the threads and enter a whole world of pedal pain! :)

Yes, the MKS FD-6 pedals are a pretty good upgrade. Mine came with an allen wrench for installation; the usual 15mm wrench doesn't fit them.

The simple rule for pedal installation is: to unscrew a pedal, put the wrench on it and pedal the bike forward. To screw a pedal in, backpedal.

Hi all - just some tweking thoughts on my Merc - has anyone out there removed the rack from their Merc? I cant see a time when i will use it and is just seems to add weight. Do you reckon its required for when its in the fold position? I see plenty of Brommies without them, wonder if the Merc is any diff?

Also looking at shelling the kick-stand - cant see this being required either. Any thoughts?

I recall that the kick stand doubles as the "lock" washer for the internal hub. I think that the rear rack also doubles a few functions on the Merc. All are easily addressed with a good bike shop.

Is anyone selling a Merc, or something small? I'm doing a project at the moment at Uni and I am interested in buying something that will fold up small to work with. I'm in the UK

Is anyone selling a Merc, or something small? I'm doing a project at the moment at Uni and I am interested in buying something that will fold up small to work with. I'm in the UK

I thought that Anita was still selling new Mercs via EBay.

No, I mailed with her, Anita stopped selling the mercs. She only has a few spares or maybe some bikes but she keeps for warranty issues.

@ivisible: my buddy is fine ;-)

I didn't really want new as it'll be used for a project - no Mercs on eBay. I'll have a look in the paper when I'm in London

I didn't really want new as it'll be used for a project - no Mercs on eBay. I'll have a look in the paper when I'm in London

There's a Merc for sale on eBay, the auction has another 6 days to go. It could be a good price for a decent bike with upgraded parts and a few spares:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220296158846