I am new to this forum, but thought one of you might help me a bit. I am 50 years old and have been riding for exercise and enjoyment. I have a Raleigh C-30 that is about six years old. I am interested in moving to a road bike and recently talked to a store that is selling a Mercier Serpens LTD 20. First, what should I be looking at in moving from a hybrid to a road bike. Second, what can you tell me about the Mercier brand and this model in particular? Is it one to consider seriously?

Thanks

Bill

I think that is a good bike, at least it looks good to me and I read Lance Armstrongs book and he had a Mercier when he first started racing.
https://bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/serp_ltd20.htm

Ive also been looing at that bike,from what Ive been told that frame is almost the same as a Fuji Roubaix...Someone please tell me if im wrong...

I looked at that bike at a local Cycle Spectrum store. It seems pretty solid. The frame does look like a Fuji Roubaix frame. Not a bad bike for the price.

Did you get to ride it? How was it if you did?

I have to admit that I haven't had the chance to ride it yet. I too saw it at a Cycle Spectrum shop. They offer a practice ride one night a week where they let you try out the bikes and size it for you. I am thinking about doing that over the next couple of weeks.

Bill

I did not test ride the bike. It is very similar to the Fuji Roubaix that I used to own but with much better components. The Roubaix that I had was a great bike and was my first road bike. I rode the crap out of it then sold it to a friend who uses it for triathlons.

Performance has the Fuji Roubaix Pro for $950 on sale right now (2005 clearance). I bought one and its a real nice bike. Full 105, nice parts, carbon seat stays, etc.

Hi, I bought the 2005 Mercier Serpens LTD 30 from Bikes Direct about a month ago. I've since put about 500 miles on the bike and couldn't be happier with my purchase. As a point of reference, I've been riding a Cannondale CAD3 and beautiful 20 year old Reynolds 531, mostly the last 5 years. The ride on the Mercier is comparable to the Cannondale, maybe a little softer but the different wheels make it hard to really compare. Fit and finish is top rate. It took be about 45 mins to assemble the bike. The most complicated step being to connect the cables to the brake calipers. Components are fabulous - all the latest Ultegra stuff so how can you go wrong?

I had a couple of early flats caused by the rim strip not being centered. They use the ultra light plastic stuff. I contemplated changing it, but since I fixed the roadisde flats, it's been fine. The Kenda tires are OK, I inflate them to 120 psi, but that's a preference based on weight (204 lbs of muscle).

If anyone has any more questions, drop me an e-mail, I'd be happy to answer.

Peter.