The Mercian appreciation society

My Mercian was finished really well after a similar (but not quite so bad) experience. I did have to send it back to them to be re-done. I wouldn't use them again. My neighbor had his 90s Colnago restored by Argos and it looks great and he had none of the Mercian headaches.

Thanks, and to @dangeek. Reminds me of a bad experience with a builder a few years back. I’m sure they have plenty of happy customers, but still boils my piss when I think about them :D

I’ve had frames nicely restored by Argos. Nothing is ever quite perfect, but I also think that is due to starting material - 50+ year old frames that have been used are difficult or at least very time consuming to get back to perfect. Funny that vintage bike restoration attracts ocd bike geeks (me included). Like moths to the flame.

I am still leaning towards Mercian, just seems appropriate to get an old Mercian restored by them. I had a very pleasant phone conversation with them and they are also doing free collection and delivery if ordered in June. Guess I will just beg for a careful job upfront and promise a good write-up if I get it!

Thanks again for your advice.

Check out my Mercian Professional I have just put up for sale. Too many bikes and not enough time to ride them all

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I was going to wait until I had the wheels sorted - always nice to see a frame with wheels, bars and saddle, but I've just seen the Mercian blog post and couldn't resist sharing. Long story short, Mercian did an excellent job of the restoration of my 1960 Superlight.

The seat-tube lug had been bodged at some point in the past but they have managed to make that look respectable again - one of the biggest worries in the restoration. The dropouts were a bit chewed up and they have been filled and put back to good as new. The rust pitting is still slightly evident, which is a shame, but Grant at Mercian did point this out to me ahead of the restoration and recommended enamel (rather than flam) as the best option to cover up as much as possible. You have to really look though, and I think the paint job and decals draw the eye enough for that not to happen!

The paint job is really fantastic, I've never seen such flawless lug lining and the bands are very crisp. Jane (at Mercian) also spent many hours recreating the "3D effect" transfers from the 1950s - a labour of love! When I first received it I was actually a little disappointed here - they looked great, but were quite far from the examples I had found initially. I was in 2 minds about whether to raise it, but luckily I did, as Jane showed me the examples she copied - which were 100% verified as period and original. The examples I found must have been either later reproductions or another version. Anyway, they look amazing and are accurate, so I couldn't be happier!

First here are pics pre restoration ...

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Here's an example of the downtube decal Jane copied and the paint scheme requested.

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And here are the glamour shots :D

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Oof, lovely.

Great transformation

The lining brings out the fork crown lugs nicely. Would be scared to build or ride it :)

Thanks, yes it turned out very well.

@Squaredisk that is definitely a problem, it is hanging on the wall now waiting for the accumulation of parts nice enough! Nice to look at though and does inspire me to get on with polishing the hubs.

Beautiful.

Christmas present...

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Go on... :)

1976...

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Nice. Mercian Pro? Spearpoint lugs, right?

Hope so. Really ratty paint.

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Definitely a Professional check out the one I have for sale.
I would highly recommend Kev Winter if you want her renovated his work is amazing.

That’s rather nice. You’ve contact details for Kev?

Some news, the h/s and b/b came out pi*s easy thanks to tons of grease, so that’s a relief (and thank you previous owner :)
Both are in quite reasonable nick, so the bb will definitely go right back in, in due course.
Fork and frame weigh-in and quite svelte considering, 2050 and 692g. And there must be at least 40g of paint on the frame...
Fork has matching number stamp plus an additional digit which hopefully will reveal the builder.
Brake drops are maaaaassssssiiiiiivvvvveeeeee, any recommendations for callipers?

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Parts bin autopsy, need more things. Going to keep the paint and just protect it as is.

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good man. Always better to keep it original where you can I reckon

Buy 27 inch wheels to reduce the length of calipers?

Was thinking about that. Good sets are wayyyyyyy spendy though.
In the meantime, been trying to clean things up a bit. Turns out the d/t decals are completely intact under blobs of miss-coloured overpaint, most of which is now off.
So now it’s almost just two colours, the original yellow and rust. Used Hammerite gel to tackle the rust but it’s pretty shit, but kind to the remaining paint. Anyone used anything else?

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Could always try some drop bolts with your present brakes. The finest wire wool and light oil on the paint?

drop bolts

Not seen those before. Search reveals they're a. rare as or b. home made. Seen any f/s?