I don't think so. The Merc has the sturmey archer 3 speed as you mention.

Whether you need large numbers of gears depends on what kind of riding you do. I have ridden mountain bikes for years before I bought the Merc. They usually had more than twenty gears and were often out of adjustment.

Sturmey archer gears are more or less maintenance free. They just work. As standard, the merc has gears of 45 inches, 60 inches and about 79 inches. If you want those ratios as metres of development, then the figures are: 3.6, 4.8, 6.2. I find that this is pretty suitable for most commuting and general riding. If you live in an exceptionally hilly area it may be a little too high, but you can change the ratios easily. I went camping on my Merc last year (2006). If you want to do cycle touring and if you need to climb a lot of hills, you can change the front chainwheel for a smaller one. You can even do a modification and run two front chainwheels so you can swap between them. I have done that to mine, but to be honest, I mostly only use the original gears that it came with. It is rare that I change down to the lower set of gears.

I mentioned the mountain bike before - since I got the Merc, I've hardly ever used it with its 24 gears. The Merc is far more agile and quicker around the city or on a journey of ten miles. I often ride it twenty miles in a day.

Merc only import the 3 gear version of the Flamingobike. Here is mine on a camping trip:




The bike also comes with the front luggage system and a carrying bag. It has a luggage rack, dynamo and lights, a propstand and mudguards. It is an almost exact copy of the brompton of the 1990s, but it is far better value for money.