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!

I visited the shop sometime around 1990 or so. Had a great little tour, and was delighted to see where my Mercian was built. I have no recollection who I met that day, but Derek build my 1987 Pro.

Update on my Mercian: I built a new wheelset with 28-hole Ukai rims (recently on 50% off sale at SomaFab), a rear 28-hole Sturmey Archer AW hub, and a front 28-hole Novatec cartridge bearing hub. Total weight with steel-shelled hub, fenders, bottle cage and pedals is 22.8 lbs. Took it for a 20-mile test run today, and everything felt good. I do wonder if the gearing is too low as I did a lot of coasting on any descent and only used the low gear once (at which point my rear wheel slipped in the dropouts), but my plan is to take it for a 70-mile ride this coming week and see how it all works out.

^ I’m loving that build, Neal!

Since I rode it yesterday, here’s my KOM.