OMG,... That Polygon Zeta 2 is a looker,... 😁

There was a Polygon Zeta in the window of my local bike shop for a while - I passed it several times thinking that they can’t possibly be selling a mini velo surely? The shop mainly caters for the roadies, MTBers and the e-bike commuter crew so it seemed a bit out of character for them. I admit part of me was tempted to chuck gravel bars, the Microshift Advent super short groupset and some BMX tyres on one for a midget monstercross ride to confuse folks at the local forest bike parks but saner heads prevailed.

IMO the Thrill Volare FX4.0 looks marginally better due to a more refined execution of the seat-tube, top-tub and seat-stay execution. Plust it's got a Dahon- type front block and a basic headtube shock. Here is a specimen sitting in my storage shed...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e02e2a559c.jpg

Those wheels are not the stock wheels that came with it. Those were heavy crap so I discarded them and bought a set of MLX 406 pictured here. Still undecided as to whether to go 406 or 451.

I laughed out loud at this. The candy shell on an M&M is 100% accurate.

By the way, I foolishly ignored the many comments about how flat prone the stock tube / tire setup is. Rode 5 miles to my LBS. Got a flat a mile from the store on the way home. The presta tubes I ordered hadn't come in yet, so I didn't have one with me, nor does any shop around here stock them. So, it was a 4 mile walk home across town. It probably looked funny to passers by seeing a 50 year old guy walking a mini velo. I'll be carefully going over the rims for burrs and taping them before installing a new tube and better tires if they ever arrive.

Yep. Now that I realize how much coin I’m going to spend getting my Mercier to a decent level, I realize I perhaps should have ponied up and ordered a Zeta. I like the Merc, but this has been somewhat of a lesson in the old axiom that the pain of high price is felt once while the pain of low quality is felt many times over. This being said, learning to work on my own bike, being forced to by the M, is not without benefit. I can see the day potentially coming where I sell the M and use the proceeds toward a better quality mini. But the Merc is a decent way to dip a toe in the water if you’re willing to do some work yourself.

edit. Yikes. I just noticed the Zeta is even heavier than the Mercier, despite having an Alu frame. Surprising. Maybe the appeal isn’t quite as strong now that I think about pedaling around a 28 pound mini.

Just with the specs alone the Zeta 2 is worth it IMO. Plus that purple is gorgeous! :love:

I do love the purple.

Syn,

Not sure how much you have read this whole thread. (It is a lot). But a usual upgrade is to drill out the stem hole on the rims to allow for Schrader valve tubes as they are much more available.

Reading your BB story gave me a chill. A few years ago I removed mine to grease and could not get it back on.
Would not re-thread, took it to LBS, they couldn't get it to re-thread. Huh? A couple mechanics tried it.They didn't believe it came off my bike.
Sounds insane I know. I just kept walking away. Like WTF, WTF, WTF. Walk away, come back try it again. Look at with a magnifying glasses. Am I turning the right direction? Just nuts.

Then it just went on.

I will never remove it again.


BTW, put some miles on it. It will be fun.

:)

My new Mini Velo to upgrade!
 

I received today and built up my 2023 version mini Velo this morning. The frame & parts are the same as speced from the 2011 version save for the CST tires & cartridge bottom bracket.

I’ve already started upgrading the bike with a different stem, seat & pedals, the originals are junk. Fortunately I’ve a large inventory of parts to work with for further mods. I’ve a nos Superbe Pro crankset I’m tempted to replace the existing unit though I’m not sure if this bike deserves such an upgrade!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...50b969059.jpeg
Mercier Nano

Looks like the Nano is, once again, unavailable at Bikesdirect. Glad I grabbed one in the spring when they came back in stock. Mine's been a lot of fun for not much money.

I'm able to put a black 53cm in the cart. Which I'm tempted to do but the 53-ish toptube would require a long stem and riser bars to work for me.

Weird. It wasn't showing up in the Road Bikes section yesterday but I see it there now. I like to check every once in a while to see if any specs/components are updated.

Love this. I am thinking about a mini velo for this exact purpose. Not sure the Mercier is the best choice or if I wouldn't really mind the low end build given it would get beat up. Thanks for sharing. How to those racks affect the handling?

Currently, my mini velo is setup as a flat bar gravel bike.

I recently expressed some interests into British hill climb races (10 to 12% hills) and I am thinking I could convert the minivelo for than purpose. While the UCI weight restriction of 6.8kg does not apply and might be an ambitious target, I think the smooth hound weight winny could be and interesting build for hill climb.
The hammerhead was ~8.5kg so, if I swap the current wheelset for the kinetix pro of my helios, I should get something similar to the hammerhead.

Then, drop bar vs flat, I don't their is much weight difference there although I could may be fit a 40mm ritchey carbon bar... but it might not be in the budget.
Seatpost would be converted to a carbon component (spare from the "big bike")
crankset, I am looking into a praxis carbon or Force1 crankset... 1x as this is all you need for hill climbs and weight saving. Chainring, I have 2 spare Sram narrow wide in 42T and 50T (in the UK, std 700c bikes tend to use 34T XC narrow wide ring in hill climb). So 42T or 50T would work well with 406 wheel and would give me cassette choice. ideally, 42T with 11-32T.

Brake, it is rim brake but, what is lighter calipers or mini brake?

Tyres, there is only 30g difference between schwalbe 28-406 and 35-406 so I don't believe 60g would be advantageous vs added traction and comfort the 35c would offer.

Any thoughts? where else can weight be saved?

Rode my Nano last Saturday on the Amish Country Bike Tour out of Dover, Delaware.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...79cf88f1f.jpeg
Pie stop at Amish school house

Just to let you know I have a Mini velo for sale in the marketplace section of this forum. Thanks

Hello everyone, I’m looking for a used Nano small-medium bike for sale. Any condition as long as the frame is good. I’ll upgrade the components so basic version is fine, any colour. I’ll pay for shipping to Montreal Canada. Thanks

Don't these guys ship to Canada? Mercier Nano 2023

They ship to Canada more or less using a third party.. They send it to a US address and I have to drive to the border 1.5 to 2 hours and get it through customs (who knows how much time that takes) And then drive back home (1.5 to 2 hrs). I also need to create an account with cc info etc etc which I don’t trust just to get an idea of the shipping costs. This is just not a user friendly process. Ali express from Asia is a lot easier.

​​​​​​I wish I could help you out. We drove to Canada from Queens, NY 1 time, and the drive nearly killed me.

Thanks for the thought. It s indeed a long drive.

Since I could’t find a Nano frame to use during winter, I found a used Schwinn Loop. It works fine for my urban use.The studded tires are worth more than the bike.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6b8bbaf86.jpeg

Studded tires are amazing when u need them.

On account of people being boring, to no one’s surprise the local bike shop chain is now selling leftover 2022 models for 400NZD (a bit less than 250USD). So very tempted for that midget monstercross (midgetcross?) build…

Go for it! It's a solid price for a bike that's easily upgradeable. They even have a folder on their website with 9 speeds and HYDRAULIC disc brakes for a darn good price.