My brother rides a Mercier Aquila. It was $550 when he purchased it and is a Tiagra level bike. He bought it thinking the frame may be a bit sub par, but at that price could buy a nice frame and still come out on top.

So far (1000 miles or so) it has held up just fine. The components, mostly Shimano, are okay, though like any other bike they need tuning from time to time.

My only criticism is that the paint on the frame seems pretty cheap. The geometry is precise, but the welds could be better, aesthetically speaking, but it has been rock steady and survived a couple wrecks just fine.

As for the weight, if you care about that, it's comparable to other Tiagra frames. I would rank the overall quality comparable to the Trek 1200/1.2, etc.

I can think of no reason not to recommend a Mercier.

Read Dates Holy ****.

A good year and a half.

look what happens when you tell people to use the search function constantly :argh:

Thanks for bumping the first thread I ever started and making me look like a dumbass....again.