The now sold out Big Shot Mini Polo was double-butted cromoly but the parts were crap. It cost me as much to rebuild the bike as the purchase price. I have no regrets about the upgrade. Its light and fast for a mini velo bike. I imagine the Respect mini velo would have a comparable ride.

What would be a fair price for a used one in decent shape?

Thanks!
UL

You mean a Mini Polo?

Not sure. If one comes up on eBay, it will probably sell fast for more than its original $350 price.

The two bikes are of a similar form and material but they are actually quite different. For one, the respect is a single speed/fixie with a narrower rear hub and horizontal dropouts so it will inevitably be a bit lighter as equipped. The Nano has a multi speed system which adds some weight, also as stock equipment used in the weight the nano comes with heavier kenda Kwest 1.5 tires with treads VS the respect which comes with 1.375" road slick tires. Little things but they can contribute to the listed stock weights differing so much.
The key difference I see between the two bikes are this:
The rear triangles are very different, the nano having 130mm spacing, vertical drops, and a derailleur hanger. The respect having 120mm spacing, horizontal drops, and no acomadation for a derailleur.
The Nano came in two frame sizes to fit different rider sizes, respect comes in one size fits all which is closer to the small frame nano.
The nano had a 1" threaded quill type headset and the respect has a newer style 1-1/8" threadless headset.

Apologies but I was wasn't clear.

I meant what is a used Mercier Mini Velo (Bikesdirect) worth if it has no more than a couple hundred miles on it - if that? Are the components good enough to last a few thousand miles of regular riding? I obviously know very little about these. Just wondering about value and whether they are good to go out of the box.

And are they permanently discontinued or just temporarily?

Thanks!
UL

I would say the bike is worth a few hundred dollars. If the components serve you, no great need to replace them but as they wear out, you could replace them with lighter higher quality components. That would make a difference.

Sorry to bump this old thread, but I saw that BikesDirect had the Nano up for sale again and I wanted to order one. What size would you recommend for someone that is 5'7" with a 30" inseam?

That's my height and I bought a used 52 (53?) that works well with city bars, but I'd recommend the 48 if you want to stay with drops. Normally the 51cm top-tube on the bigger frame would be great for me with drops, but on this Mini the seat- and head-tubes are angled so that as the stem and seatpost rise from the frame, they grow in distance to one another. This put my shortish arms into too much of a stretch to the drops.

The Mercier Nano (2016 model) is back for sale at bikesdirect.com!!!

Save Up to 60% Off Mini Velo Road Bikes, Roadbikes - Mercier Nano Mini Velo Bicycles

Great it is back. Would have loved a 58cm model. Probably not geometrically possible.

How about if I ride on the hoods the most? I'm just afraid I'll feel to scrunched up with a size 48. I have a 51cm frame OTS that I would say fits me pretty well.

I'm not sure what you mean by the stem and seatpost getting farther apart as they're both raised. There's only a 2 degree difference between the head tube and the seat tube so wouldn't the difference be negligible? Would it change enough to make it fit like a bigger size frame?

I can only give you my experience, which is that the saddle-to-hoods distance felt like a 55cm bike to me. But I'm 53-year-olds and not as flexible as I used to be, so your results may vary. I ended up putting a long stem and pullback bars on mine, and it worked much better.

Are there any improvements in the 2016 model or is it basically the same identical bike?

Thanks!

Specs and pics look same.

FWIW I have one of the 1 off Bikes Direct bikes they did before they started making the Mercier mini Velo they sell now. It has 451 wheels and the geometry is a little different but I think my experience will be helpful. My Widnsor is a 48 seat tube and pretty much the same for the TT and I am 5'10" and I could have it a little shorter to the hoods actually but all in all its a great fitting bike for me its the one bike I love above everything I have ever owned and I have owned alot of bikes. These bikes just fit bigger than you would think based on the typical measurements. I have owned 3 minivelos and a number of folders. For your height I would think the 48 would be fine. You can probably go back through this thread and see what people said about he different sizes to get an idea of what you may want. I end up liking riding alot of 58 size bikes at my size so maybe I would like the 53 in this Mercier and maybe you would also. I am glad they are selling them again I was worried they were done. I love the mini velo bikes alot.

Wow!, these are the coolest fenders I have seen in a long time.
I think it would be cool to get bigger ones and cover most of the tires including the sidewalls so it looks like there are no tires, just spinning rims.
So long as you aren't running on/off curbs you could probably cover much more of the tires.

There is an orange 53 Mercier Mini velo on the Los Angeles craigslist for $225 with some upgrades... Mercier Nano Mini Velo Road Bike I have my 48 black on order and hope will be here in early July, I've already purchased some upgrades just from reading this thread a few times.

I have the same height and inseam as you. I would get the 48 cm model.

Got myself a nano over the holidays, 48cm.
perfect trunk bike to get me from my parking spot to office. .75miles each way.

I threw the bike on the stand right away. Discovered all of the usual issues with factory assembly. It is not the worst I've seen for sure.
cassette and chainring are of really bad quality, they were wobbling side to side.


threw on some random parts bin items. Flite TT saddle, mks pedals and toe clips.


some goodies to install. Kojaks, 11-32 cassette, campy chorus shifters 10sp, new chain since i plan to throw on a 53/39chainring.


installed the praxis chainrings, 11-32 cassette, chain, shimano downtube shifter adapters , chorus shifters, campy cables,



fits perfectly in the office =)


parked next to my parlee.

Got myself a nano over the holidays, 48cm.
perfect trunk bike to get me from my parking spot to office. .75miles each way.

I threw the bike on the stand right away. Discovered all of the usual issues with factory assembly. It is not the worst I've seen for sure.


threw on some random parts bin items. Flite TT saddle, mks pedals and toe clips.


some goodies to install. Kojaks, 11-32 cassette, campy chorus shifters 10sp, new chain since i plan to throw on a 53/39chainring.


installed the praxis chainrings, 11-32 cassette, chain, shimano downtube shifter adapters , chorus shifters, campy cables,



fits perfectly in the office =)


parked next to my parlee.

Do the shifters just work? You're sticking to an 8-spd cassette, and Campy 10's cog pitch is 4.2mm to Shimano 8's 4.76?

I'd look to a Tiagra 4700 gruppo swap.

campy 10sp shifter pull is very close to Shimano sti cable pull.
it works perfectly.

see, shimergo

For which speeds? Do you have 2 ghost shifts?

shifters- campy 10 chorus
FD stock claris
RD is stock sora 8sp.
8 spd cassette 11-32t


no ghost shifts . does the full sweep up and down normally.

i prefer campy cable routing, thumb lever,
over shimano 'low tier' sti shifters.

campy cranks from the parts drawer