Touring - New Bike!! (pic)

My first tourer: a Mercian Vincitore Special. Ordered the frame back in Nov and just got it Thur morning. Built it up right away and took it out for its first century yesterday. VERY plush ride compared to my roadies, but also ALOT heavier! Its first tour will be the Natchez Trace beginning June 16.

Looks nice

That Brooks seat is goning to kill your butt. LOL

Wrong. The Brooks (saddle and tape) are da bomb. I'll never use another saddle again, and the leather tape is soooo plush on the hands ...

At first I read it as a Mexican Vincitore Special. Seemed pretty nice for that.

Wrong. The Brooks (saddle and tape) are da bomb. I'll never use another saddle again, and the leather tape is soooo plush on the hands ...

Well, that's 10 lbs right there...or 4.5 kilos.

Nice bike! Get some higher res pics of the headtube. Interesting seattube graphics.

Very classy ride...nice job!

Beautiful bike!

Nic ride! No triple for ya?

~Steve

That's not proper touring bike until it's all scuffed up with the dirt os several countries.

Hop to it! : )

Great looking bike. Congratulations. Can you tell me what kind of handlebars those are?

Make sure that you do some riding with it. A Brit friend of mine has had his Dawes for well over a year now and guess what bike he is bringing to France next week? Yep, a touring bike well into its second decade. Sheesh...

Oh man. I love Mercian frames.

How was the ordering/fitting/purchasing process?

Thats a Purrrrdy Ride buddy,well done

Thanks for all the comments, guys. I'm loving this bike. I'll try to get some better pics posted soon, but you can go to the Mercian website to see details of the Vincitore frame. Here are the specs:

Truvativ "roleur" bars and Truvativ "team" stem (Brooks bar tape - honey)
Brooks B17 std saddle (honey) and Centaur seat post
Blackburn EX1 rack
SKS mudguards
Mavic A719 rims laced 36h, 4x to Centaur hubs - Panaracer Pasela TG tyres (700 x 32c)
Centaur compact crankset and Chorus FD (I hate triples, and don't plan mountainous tours for a while)
Centaur RD and 13-29 cassette
Shimano SPD pedals
Shimano center-pull canti brakes with Record levers
Record bar-end shifters
King headset
(not shown) Arkel panniers

The paint is British racing green with a white barber pole and headtube - lining on the lugs and barber pole is beige (very purty if I do say so myself)

Grant and the other folks at Mercian were great to work with. I simply spec'd a 59 cm frame based on the sizes of my other bikes, as well as the various components I intended to run on it. They did the rest. It took about 6.5 months from ordering to delivery. Total cost of the frame, fork, headset, mudguards and rack was about $2300 (including shipping).

So, why the Vincitore instead of the King of Mercia?

What is the total weight (without racks or panniers if you know it)?

My first tourer: a Mercian Vincitore Special. Ordered the frame back in Nov and just got it Thur morning. Built it up right away and took it out for its first century yesterday. VERY plush ride compared to my roadies, but also ALOT heavier! Its first tour will be the Natchez Trace beginning June 16.

Looks great, so including everything, shipping, taxes etc how much did the frame cost?

Very very nice. How long do you think it will take before cleaning it gets boring?

Same questions as others:
Why vincitore over king and why not go for the triple?

What a beauty, well done!

Cleaning and waxing bikes is never boring - it just makes 'em purtier.

I chose the Vincitore Special over the King of Mercia 'cause I liked the fancy lugs (especially the long pointed ones on the "special").

As for gearing, I have never liked triples and thus chose to go with a 50-34 compact along with a 13-29 cassette. I know it's not real low gearing, but I'm also not planning any mountainous tours for a while. I may buy a triple later and mount it for times when I'll need it.