Road Cycling - Mercian Velocita

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Blackberry
07-18-04, 10:00 PM
Anyone have any experience with this bike--or other Mercians? I'm planning to be in the UK in a couple of weeks and am thinking of visitng the Mercian showroom. If I'm crazy enough, I might let myself be convinced to buy a Mercian Velocita frame.

OneTinSloth
07-18-04, 10:05 PM
pics? links?
oldcyclist
07-18-04, 10:12 PM
Haven't heard of this brand in many years. It use to be pretty good like Gitane. However last time I saw the Gitane web-site, in french only, there best bike was only outfitted with the 105 Group !




Anyone have any experience with this bike--or other Mercians? I'm planning to be in the UK in a couple of weeks and am thinking of visitng the Mercian showroom. If I'm crazy enough, I might let myself be convinced to buy a Mercian Velocita frame.

MichaelW
07-19-04, 11:39 AM
I know plenty of Mercian riders and they all love their mounts. It is one of the top UK custom workshops.
http://www.merciancycles.co.uk/
You cant compare Mercian to Gitane. Mercian is a tiny workshop, not a factory, and has always made bikes the proper way.

BTW, Mercian are available in the US through
http://www.gaansari.com/who.htm
halfspeed
07-19-04, 09:06 PM
Anyone have any experience with this bike--or other Mercians? I'm planning to be in the UK in a couple of weeks and am thinking of visitng the Mercian showroom. If I'm crazy enough, I might let myself be convinced to buy a Mercian Velocita frame.

I'm building up a brand new King of Mercia right now. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Mercian is a small UK custom shop. Most of their bikes are lugged and hand brazed over an open hearth. Every Mercian ever made has been built with Reynolds steel. They've been building bikes this way since the '40s. The Velocita is a notable exception. It is fillet brazed with a carbon fiber rear end. They've recently added an MTB to their line as well.

Mercians can be built to order to your geometry with your choice of finish or braze-ons or you can get a "stock" Audax model. Even with bad exchange rates for the US dollar, you can get a custom built Mercian very affordably.

If you know exactly what you want, you can order one shipped to the US.

Here's their web site:
http://www.merciancycles.co.uk/

Here's classic rendezvous' page on Mercian:
http://classicrendezvous.com/British/Mercian/Mercian_main.htm

Here's a picture of a 1973 model. Note how similar it is to current designs:
http://rydjor.com/bikecollection/1973mer.htm