Mercian track :(Last of the) Super Vigorelli.

Hello and welcome to this new project.

If you have followed my three year Alfano Saffron Lane project you will know that it has come to a very 11th hour and abrupt end.

When it happened I was incredibly disappointed and depsondent that after 3years my dream bike wouldn't happen and I thought about just giving up on it. However, as you only get one spin of the coin in life I've decided to go ahead with local frame builders Mercian.

A couple of emails have been exchanged with Bob at Mercian and I'm popping over on Friday at 9 a.m for a chat. At the moment my starting spec is a Super Vigorelli in oversize 853 pro with a green paint job and white barber pole to reflect the colour choices that were going on the Alfano. Bob has also suggested a Vincitore with track geo. Not gonna lie I am drawn in by the super fancy hand crafted lugs and so perhaps a bit of a combo may be the result. Let's see...

Nice. It's gotta be a Vincitore Special with an enamel head badge. Given how long your legs are, a forward-sloping top tube and longer seat tube would look the business.

Agree re top tube will suggest tomorrow. Definitely considering Vincitore lugs they look so beautiful

Do you have a picture of what we can (kind of) expect of the frame?

Went to Mercian today for a measure up. Had a good chat with Bob and concluded that just Super Vigorelli lugs would be the best way forward. He's going to draw up a version with a slightly declining top tube to see if we can make it look a little bit aggressive

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Not yet @kjlem will post when available

Plenty of frames coming out the paint shop...

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This will be used on track only right? Not on the street? Which track bike do you use now?

Yes track only. This is something I put together as an interim

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Nice! And I understand the downward sloping top tube now

I like this black green barber pole

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Not yet @kjlem will post when available

It may well be that green with a pearlescent white barber's pole

Bob sent through some designs for perusal. Based on a 60 x60 (ish) to keep the headtube intersectoin of the top tube and down tube a bit tighter would mean quite a considerable upstand of the headtube above the top tube.
what I'd failed to take into acount was that an old fashioned quill can give you 2-3 inches of rise in a far more elegant way that a stack of spacers. As a result I'm going to look at going 62-63cm seat tube 3-4cm of headtube above the top tube and about an inch of height variability with steerer spacers.
Sory about the metric -imperial mash up here.

a considerable upstand of the headtube above the top tube

I dont really understand this... Why?
If i look at your Tokyo Fixed its the opposite, you need a longer seattube and small headtube? Negative sloping toptube with a headtube thats sticking out 4cm would look quite weird right?

I'm trying to visualise this, too. Will the position be more or less the same as the Tokyo Fixed? A zero-rise ahead stem might look cleaner for the same stack height. Plus it can really augment the look of a sloping top tube (Gazelle pic to show the aesthetic).

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Or will it be a higher position than the Tokyo Fixed, more like Big Mig's '90s 'high profile'?

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I think more Big Mig than Gazelle....that Pinarello looks sweet!

TBH Kjlem I'm probably a bit too big for the Tokyo Fixed. I get away with the drop from seat to bars but I could do with a reduction and some in built flexibility. I'm 196cm and 60 this year!

Ah okay! So why not get a longer seattube and headtube and a perfectly horizontal toptube?

Nice pictures. The yellow has a cutout BB shell?

I think that is where we will end up. Going back in on Friday

If only

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What's does £19-19-0 mean??

I'd guess that the cost is 19 pounds, 19 shillings and no pence.