General Cycling Discussion - Brand opinion

Anyone have, has had or can offer experienced /commentsopinions on Mercier Aquila AL


http://www.cyclesmercier.com/models_al2.html

Anyone have, has had or can offer experienced /commentsopinions on Mercier Aquila AL


http://www.cyclesmercier.com/models_al2.html

"Lifetime Warranty" means the lifetime of the firm who offers it. In other words, a bike is as good as the firm who sells it.

Major bike manufacturers generally just manufacture bike frames and buy all of the other components. They all buy their major components from the same few firms and stuff like stems from a slightly larger list of specialty firms.

Smaller bike "manufacturers" often go one step farther and either contract out the frame building or even buy generic frames from a frame manufacturer. Many medium to large size bike retailers offer a house line of bikes for sale. It has become common for a pure marketing firm to buy the rights to use an old brand name and hang it onto generic frames to sell at a low price point.

Typically, the marketing company doesn't have any manufacturing assets. Frame manufacturing may be moved to a different supplier whenever the current contract expires so frames may change from year to year. They may spec different components, expecially the less visible items which is pretty much everything but the shifters and derailleurs. Nobody has a vested financial interest in keeping you happy with your bike except for whoever you bought it from.

Bottom line is a bike is likely to be as good as the firm that you buy it from.

Mercier used to be a major French bike manufacturer whose bikes were ridden by famous racer back in the 70's and 80's. The company went down and the name has been sold to a company producing bikes in Asia.
I would think the new company has a pretty big production and sells the same bike under different names. As a result they have competitive prices and offer good components. The frames are probably not the lightest but might be quite solid.
As mentioned above the warranty is only good for as long as the Mercier name stays in business.

I own a Mercier Corvus which I have used as an all round Commuter/Road bike as it had rack dropouts. I have put 8100 miles on it in the last 16 months (most of those with a 20-30 pound Pannier on a rack). It has been a solid bike and I haven't had any problems with it other than the wheels (which I replaced with Mavic Open Pros, if I had properly tensioned the spokes before riding it the wheels would have probably been fine). The frame on my bike is Cro Moly but it is a solid frame that has held up to a lot of abuse as I am in no way a light person and have a tendency to ride dirt roads on it occasionally (hey their still roads!). I have not had any complaints so far. This bike has been a very good deal for me thus far. I don't know about they Aquila in particular but I am at least one satisfied customer of one of their models.

I own a Mercier Corvus which I have used as an all round Commuter/Road bike as it had rack dropouts. I have put 8100 miles on it in the last 16 months (most of those with a 20-30 pound Pannier on a rack). It has been a solid bike and I haven't had any problems with it other than the wheels (which I replaced with Mavic Open Pros, if I had properly tensioned the spokes before riding it the wheels would have probably been fine). The frame on my bike is Cro Moly but it is a solid frame that has held up to a lot of abuse as I am in no way a light person and have a tendency to ride dirt roads on it occasionally (hey their still roads!). I have not had any complaints so far. This bike has been a very good deal for me thus far. I don't know about they Aquila in particular but I am at least one satisfied customer of one of their models.

Thanks for the reply Paul. Reading the conponent list it comes with and your experience with Mercier
I am confident that for the money it is a good solid entry level bike.
Warranties don't mean much to me with anything - except my home!
Heck, even then you might still have to show up in a court to get it enforced.

I am of the mind set, that if it breaks, I can fix it, or someone I know can help
me fix it. If it is catasrophic, then it most likely it couldn't have been around very long
without falling into an unknown void. Hard lesson learned, but I believe that is of a rare occassion.

At entry level prices, there is a built in risk with almost any brand I would guess.
The old addage - you get what you pay for. I completely understand that concept.
I do not have any illusions about having a high performance road/racing machine.
I simply want a decent bike that can offer me some decent performance.
Medicro is ok with me for now. Heck, the bike will be better than me for a good while.
The day I can out perform the bike, is the day I move up, and that day will be
a long, long, long way off if at all. Thanks again for your feedback!

Dave

You may want to check out bikesdirect.com. They sell Mercier bikes at a discount.

In fact, here's a link to a Mercier Aquila AL...

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/aquila_al3.htm

I got mine from the in-town store associated with bikesdirect. I figure the components themselves were worth more than I paid for the bike. For a free frame it sure has held up well. Anyway, I probably wouldn't pay full price for the bike I have but you can't beat the bikesdirect prices. I should have mentioned that earlier.

You may want to check out bikesdirect.com. They sell Mercier bikes at a discount.

In fact, here's a link to a Mercier Aquila AL...

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/aquila_al3.htm

Yup, that is where I bought the bike from.
What a deal, I think anyway. 625.00 flat, no tax. No shipping.
At least 125.00 cheaper than anything in its class - 7005 AL frame, Triple ring, Tiagra/105 RD,
carbon fork, etc.

Yup, that is where I bought the bike from.
What a deal, I think anyway. 625.00 flat, no tax. No shipping.
At least 125.00 cheaper than anything in its class - 7005 AL frame, Triple ring, Tiagra/105 RD,
carbon fork, etc.
This Iron Horse is in it's class and comes with a slightly better component mix (I think so) but it's $75 more. Something else to consider.

http://www.getawaybikes.com/Detail.cfm?Categoryid=33&BrandID=11&ProductID=1123&CFID=3934348&CFTOKEN=23766119

55/Rad

This Iron Horse is in it's class and comes with a slightly better component mix (I think so) but it's $75 more. Something else to consider.

http://www.getawaybikes.com/Detail.cfm?Categoryid=33&BrandID=11&ProductID=1123&CFID=3934348&CFTOKEN=23766119

55/Rad

Thanks Rad, but there pretty close, they have the same
Front Derailleur: Shimano Tiagra - Rear Derailleur:
and Shimano 105 GS Shifters. Different stem, and fork and brakes
but I suspect they are similar in quality/performance.
As a beginner I highly doubt I would notice the difference anyway.
Once I get it and ride a few times I'll report my findings. Thanks.

BTW- with getaways shipping, and partial assy' costs the price is near 800.00 dollars.
So with bikesdirect, I think it is a steal.

i dunno. now i want a kestrel or a cervelo. but if i actually buy any new bike i would want a langster.