Mercian Paul Smith

Hi - for anyone remotely interested, Selfridges have two Mercian-Paul Smith's hanging just inside the door by the far West entrance on Oxford St.

Regardless of what everyone thinks about the partnership, they are bloody nice and worth a look!

J

ohh interesting......

Just inside the door.....Are they locked??

haha they *were *just inside the door..

they are pretty high up... but i didn't notice a lock. I also think that, unlike a bike shop, the average member of staff won't be watching them... not that i'm condoning anything...

i saw one in the window of the covent garden store a couple of months back. it did look good but it wasn;t until i checked the website that i realised they had a whole colour range...

I wonder if they sell many. you'd have to be a right ponce to get a paul smith fixie at £2,800 a pop

I'd guess its a matter of personal taste whether you rate the paint jobs on the Mercian Paul Smiths or they just make you want to gag, the one's I've seen (all in shops, none actually being ridden) have all definitely been distinctive and beautifully finished.

What I just don't get about these bikes is the way they've been specced, why oh why would you fit a tt brake lever to the drops of a set of road bars and an el cheapo Dia Compe one at that. It means you can only use the brake when riding on the drops, er, weird! Also the bike costs £2800 and must be the very definition of a boutique bike, but comes fitted with a Kalloy seat post. What's that about?

While the Phil Woods track hubs are real bling, to my mind they just don't seem to sit right in an otherwise all Campagnolo set-up. If they were speccing a Campagnolo groupset, but wanted large flange hubs and something a bit special, why not spec Royce track hubs?

Alternatively, if they wanted to build the bike around a set of Phil Wood track hubs, why not at the same time fit a Phil Wood bottom bracket and Chris King headset and if they were going for a more traditional feel match these up with a single ring TA Specialities Pro 5 Vis chainset. Another alternative would have been to fit the bike with a Paul groupset, hubs, chainset and front brake, that would look the business. It just seems these bikes more than any other should have been all about the detailing, yet the spec seems to have just been thrown together, with little thought beyond,"Oh, its a track bike, I know lets fit it with Phil Wood Hubs"

^ it's for the typical "enthusiast cum fashionista" who knows what phils are, don't know what royce pauls are, who doesn't know a damn thing about other things like seatposts and brake levers (might get taken off sometime anyway!)... it's all about looks, so whatever you can't see (bottom bracket) they wont give a damn.

Campy track hubs are loose ball and unsealed so maybe they went with practicality over groupset compatibility. Royce are nice but really race orientated (single sided, Ti axles etc) so I still think Phils are a better choice. Kalloy seatpost is just a bit crap.

I wouldn't buy one, but i also have to say, in the flesh, they are superbly finished. But they look more like pieces of art, especially in the shops, and I for one, think the paint jobs look wicked. Remind me of the Southbank's new identity, which I also think is excellent - if not always used in an interesting way?

have seen em in that window a few times, as well as the paul smith shop in westbourne grove. they look nice, but obvious, and completely lack any wow factor.

the paint job is horrendous.

no more paul component chainsets for the immediate future!! ;)

edmundane cum fashionista

sounds like a good idea for a porn site