Originally Posted by
santa fe 2926
Was that one of the Retrogrouch Mercians?
Indeed I did,
santa fe 2926 ! I had a '64 Mercian KOM in the same colors that I picked up in England back in about 2011? and took by the Mercian store. The owners were super nice and sent me down the road to the workshop where I was able to meet the the three frame builders, one of whom (Derek Land?) started building at Mercian in '64.
He could tell by the builder's stamp that my frame was built by Cyril Wagstaff, who had retired a few years earlier and was then riding his bicycle across Africa!
Kyle put a photo of my '64 on the Retrogrouch site as well as a photo that I took of the workshop, hearth brazing set up and all. Notably, Derek said that the three builders would each build individual frames from start to finish. There was a paint room behind the worship where two painters worked.
I sold the '64 when I moved to California (from Chicago) back in 2015, but picked this up from Kyle when he sold everything off (I didn't know why at the time). He had this '753 frame repainted by Mercian and I like to think that he was inspired by the colors on my '64!