Kilroy1988 

Hello folks,

For sale is a restored 1979 Mercian Campionissimo, with Reynolds 531 double butted tubing throughout and a seat tube length of 24" (center-to-top) and 22.5" top tube (center-to-center). The frame was purchased from England in 2020 in solid condition with worn paint, so it was sandblasted, powder coated, had fresh decals and hand painted lug lining, and was then given two coats of automotive glossy clear in a professional paint booth. It functions wonderfully and I rode it well over a thousand miles over the past couple of years, including a century event and a solo 150-mile ride. There is minimal wear on the powder coating except on the inside of the left chainstay, where the tire rubbed for a bit after the rear quick release came loose during a ride.

Everything shown in the photo posted below is included except for the bottle cage. The handmade leather saddle bag (which has one set of extra loopholes that were cut in error but are not noticeable when mounted), alloy fenders, Tornade frame pump, bell, large Christophe toe clips and straps, Brooks B17 Imperial saddle, and two of the red Elite bidons are included.

Otherwise, please view this Flickr album of the stripped bike as I had intended to sell it previously (while keeping some of the components shown below) for details:

Mercian Campionissimo (Full Restoration, 1979) | Flickr

The price is $500 + shipping within the Continental US. Cheers!

-Gregory

cocoabeachcrab 

uh-oh... somebody is going to be 800 bucks lighter real soon!

jdawginsc 

Beauty. I did not know that Mercian had an entry level offering for mass audience.

PhilFo 

Thank goodness it's too large for me.

rustystrings61 

First, you are invited to go trawl all the catalog scans at the bottom of this page. I just did and got suckered in once more, especially since at least one catalog goes back to when it was Crowther and Barker rather than Mr. and Mrs. Crowther. The Campionissimo turns up by the late '50s and used traditional horizontal dropouts that required an adapter claw for the rear derailleur - at least until 1981 when they are advertised as using Campagnolo Sport ends with an included derailleur mount. Earlier catalogs note "plain dropouts for use with any gear." For many years they came with stock geometry only, and were always listed as either a frameset or a complete bike - using classical British stuff mostly, your choice of Simplex or Benelux derailleurs.

One of the saddest bike stories around here for me is the lovely purplish Campionissimo that once belonged to a local car wash owner. He had purchased it new in Columbia, SC and had brought it in to the LBS circa 2001 to have it serviced. I saw it and admired it for what it was - full 531 DB, with plain ends, Simplex Prestige derailleurs and Weinmann Vainquer centerpulls, nutted large-flange hubs, steel seat post, cottered crankset ... and I lusted for it. Alas, the owner was not interested in selling. A couple of years later I was having my truck washed, saw him, and asked if he would consider selling. Apparently, the bike was on a carrier on the back of the family car and fell out on the interstate and was badly bent. He trashed it - had he still had it I would have figured out how to have it repaired ...

There was another one 20 years ago, maybe a 25-in, in the back room of Dixon's in Athens, GA with some dents I suspect could be rolled out. It was an earlier one with Weinmann 730 sidepulls. I was bummed it was too big for me.

Kilroy1988 

The price is now $550 + S/H without the saddle and frame pump (but still including the bag).

I forgot to mention that the sealed bearings in both the front and rear Avocet hubs have been replaced in the last year with high quality Italian SKF bearings, and I will also be including an extra pair of the bearing units sized for the front hub! The bearings cost $20 apiece so that's $80 on the bike and another $40 of spares. Cheers!

-Gregory

Whit51 

The Campionissimo was one of their off the rack non-custom bikes. I found one on Craigslist and converted it to a commuter bike for my son to keep at the Metrorail station. He took it in to a mainstream LBS for a tune up and it got lots of respect from the techs.

jdawginsc 

Yeah, even at that entry level, some beautiful work. Interesting dropouts. They look stamped but also pretty stout.

Kilroy1988 

Howdy, folks,

The price is now $450 + S/H without the saddle or saddle bag, as described in the edited initial post. This is changed from the previous $500 offer because the frame pump is now included again. It turns out it doesn't quite fit the other frame I had in mind to keep it around for.

Please note that if I get a buyer sooner than later, I would prefer to ship sometime just after the holidays. Cheers!

-Gregory

Sedgemop 

Is this 126 or 120 in the rear? Probably 126 by this time, yes?

Kilroy1988 

No, it was and remains 120. I purchased it in original condition from England and until at least the early 1980s Mercian advertised the Campionissimo as a 10-speed that came built up with Suntour or Shimano drivetrains directly from Mercian.

-Gregory

Sedgemop 

Ah, good to know, thanks. Slight surprise with that one.

Kilroy1988 

Most all of the accessories shown are now included and the price has been reduced. Cheers!

-Gregory