With Much help the King of Mercia is Rebuilt
03-10-13, 07:00 PM
#1
Brit Rider
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Bikes: Mercian King of Mercia (1983), Balance XR-550 (1993), Surly Cross Check, 1948 Condor British steel lightweight.
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With Much help the King of Mercia is Rebuilt
All
Having picked up a 1983 Mercian King of Mercia Frame a couple of years ago with the aim of quickly putting together a fun vintage ride it ended up up taking nearly two years. In the end It was still kind of thrown together but at least it is rolling and the aim now is to gradually upgrade the newer parts over the coming year with more correct vintage stuff. The Drive train is a Suntour Cyclone with a completely rebuilt 5 speed freewheel (which works a treat). Shifters are Suntour Power Shifters which also work well. The wheels are campag rims albeit slightly beat up and SunTour hubs. Brakes are probably mid-80s diacompe.
Anyway for anyone interested here are some pics.
Best
Arb
Having picked up a 1983 Mercian King of Mercia Frame a couple of years ago with the aim of quickly putting together a fun vintage ride it ended up up taking nearly two years. In the end It was still kind of thrown together but at least it is rolling and the aim now is to gradually upgrade the newer parts over the coming year with more correct vintage stuff. The Drive train is a Suntour Cyclone with a completely rebuilt 5 speed freewheel (which works a treat). Shifters are Suntour Power Shifters which also work well. The wheels are campag rims albeit slightly beat up and SunTour hubs. Brakes are probably mid-80s diacompe.
Anyway for anyone interested here are some pics.
Best
Arb
03-10-13, 07:07 PM
#2
Senior Member
Very nice - what do you have in mind to 'upgrade'? Suntour stuff is quality, the crank looks sharp especially.
Keeping the black shifter/post going?
In any case, a great frame, and nice to have it rolling!
Keeping the black shifter/post going?
In any case, a great frame, and nice to have it rolling!
03-10-13, 07:13 PM
#3
Brit Rider
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Bikes: Mercian King of Mercia (1983), Balance XR-550 (1993), Surly Cross Check, 1948 Condor British steel lightweight.
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Well the seat post and Salsa handlebars for sure - although I love the width of the bars. The wheels (particularly the rims) have seen much better days although it is amazing that these ended up being fairly true and not too rough. The cranks actually have a few decent sized dings but agree that they still don't look too bad. Still it comes in at 22 pounds which I was still pretty happy with.
Arb
Arb
03-10-13, 07:17 PM
#4
Senior Member
It's a sharp bike to be rolling with in any configuration, and that ain't bad at 22lbs!
Also wondering what that headset is, as I don't recognize it...
Also wondering what that headset is, as I don't recognize it...
03-10-13, 07:19 PM
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Never saw a KofM that I didn't like!
I'm with Mike M ^ in that I wouldn't all that fired-up to replace the Suntour stuff. It runs and looks pretty good.
I'm with Mike M ^ in that I wouldn't all that fired-up to replace the Suntour stuff. It runs and looks pretty good.
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03-10-13, 07:35 PM
#6
Brit Rider
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Bikes: Mercian King of Mercia (1983), Balance XR-550 (1993), Surly Cross Check, 1948 Condor British steel lightweight.
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The headset I picked up new from my LBS and is a Origin8 OR8 H671. For the price (around $35) it seemed to have a decent bearing and nice build quality.
[h=1][/h]
[h=1][/h]
03-10-13, 07:48 PM
#7
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