hughes208

Don't know much about it...any little bit you could share would be nice. I love it though

DiegoFrogs

Pictures from the other side are preferable because they show the components. Looks like a nice bike, though!

hughes208

oh, lol i'll get some in a while...i just leaned it up against the house ans started snapping with the phone because I was excited

auchencrow

I don't know much about Mercier either, but I do know they were head-on competition for Peugeot in the 70s, and made three models: The 100, 200 and 300.
The 300 was a top-end bike -like a PX10.
Note that the name has been resurrected recently for bikes from China, but it's no relation to the old marque.

You have a really good looking bike there - even from the non-drive side!

OrangeHorse

Looks great!

schwinnderella

Looks to be the same color as mine. I believe mine is a 300 model.

hughes208

here are more from the other side

hughes208

hughes208

could anyone tell me what model it is?

oddjob2

Very nice! Start hunting for a replacement Huret or Simplex derailleur. Those plastic Prestige models crap out pretty quickly when you're the 3rd or more owner. You don't need the $1725 SImplex RD discussed on another thread.

hughes208

after doing a small amount of research I think it is a mercier 100

zukahn1 

Looks like 100 that some one has upgraded changed the wheels and crank on very nice bike. As said above you should consider changeing the DR's. You don't need to go with the cost of vintage Simplex stuff. You could pic up a set of vintage Suntour VX's fairly cheap which would go nicely with the bike. For now if everything works it looks just find tune it up and start riding.

big chainring 

I read over and over about Simplex derailleurs crapping out, exploding, breaking. Heck, its lasted 40 years! and its got more life in it. I have never had a problem with front or rear Simplex derailleurs, and actually prefer them on my vintage bikes. The biggest problem they had was never being adjusted properly at the bike shop. Into the spokes they would go. The one on my first 10 speed did just that. So did a lot of other peoples first 10 speeds with Simplex derailleurs. I would bet over 50% of bikes sold in the early 70's, when the Prestige derailleur was on almost all imported Bike boom bikes, never had the adjustment screws touched when the bike was built at the bike shop.

OP, your Mercier is the bomb! Fantastic condition. The style and flair of the Mercier graphics are about as good as it gets, and on an entry level bike to boot. I would venture thats the 200 level bike. It has nice dropouts and tubular tires which the 200 sported. Those are tubulars aren't they?

Phil_gretz

Mine back in the 70s was a model 100. Mine had an airbrushed Mercier on the downtube, not a decal. The decals were a bit less ornate. Yours may predate mine, which was a '75. The date stamp is on the backside of the upper headtube lug, maybe on the left.

Does the tubing decal say "LuxeTub" or something better?

The lugwork looks very similar to my Mercier.

That bike was faster than the bikes of my friends (LeTour, Gitane, Peugeot (UO-8), Merckxx, Raleigh), or maybe it was just me?

Phil

rootboy 

I agree. I wonder if we did a poll here, how many have actually experienced a delrin Simplex derailleur exploding or otherwise breaking.
Not many, I suspect.

oddjob2

The Simplex Prestige doesn't explode, but it's those elliptical shaped jockey wheels that are hard to find cost effective replacements for. Seldom do the U-O8s come with unworn jockey wheels.

auchencrow

+1

I can add that Suntour jockey wheels fit OK. (You could get a cheap Suntour like an Honor, and use the jockeys.)
IME the rear derailleurs themselves (the body) seldom have any cracking problem, and shift pretty well ( -if you upgrade the flexy Prestige DT shifters).

The FRONT Simplex plastic derailleurs however, are accidents waiting to happen.

rootboy 

Yeah. I understand they tend to crack, perhaps because of the two big bolt mounting method.
As for "elliptical shaped jockey wheels", I guess I'll have to take a closer look at my Criterium.

rootboy 

That's a very nice looking bike, Hughes 208. Nice find.

hughes208

Thank you everybody for the compliments!
I found this website that sells vintage parts that seem to be in great condition for fairly cheap. Anyone ever heard of it?
https://www.vintage-bike-shop.com/sim...intage-prod288
(the link happens to be on the page for new front derailer) If you look on the right side you can choose categories

puchfinnland

the cranks are no doubt an upgrade from the cottered 3 piece set
I detailed and sold a mercier just last year,
the front deraileur was cracked but I had a used one I put on.
at the end I started hating the bike as it swallowed up so much time to detail.
there was french issues also, the tyre clearence under the fork, I fussed for hours to get the new chain to work-I gave up and sold it with it rubbing.
consider a thinner chain if there are issues.

I would hunt down some french frog correct cranks- maybe a Stronglite or "TA specialities"-the 600's will fetch more then enough money to pay for them.
you are so close to having an all frog bike it would be mentally worth finding
French alloy handlebars, seatpost and seat
I am sure some forumites have these parts cheap.



my current project is so close to having complete campy g.s. that I decided to hunt down the few missing campy parts to make it complete.

nice find!

hughes208

Just went on my first (kinda) long ride with it. It was fast, faster than my crappy firenze gl5000. The rear derailer was giving me a little trouble so I am going to see how it is when I change out all the cables and lube it up. Very impressed though.

On a funny note I almost crashed into a parked car making a turn because on all my other bikes I switched out the front and rear brakes to the other lever so my front brake it on the right, and this one is normal I haven't switched it yet. I took the turn way to fast for my skill and went to brake and my rear tire started to skid and caught me off guard, I was expecting front brake.

Paramount1973 

I broke a Simplex plastic RD and it did not go into the spokes. Just broke and about 10 miles from home. I like aluminum.