Oooops I did it again and bought another frame :facepalm:
I was missing a TT specific bike from my fleet and as I have always been an admirer of Mercians, to have one come up on the bay at an acceptable price, my size (57cm c-t, 55cm top tube) as well as fillet brazed TT, It feels like winning the bingo twice. Its made from unusual Reynolds 731 OS Race - a tubeset with 4 internal ribs. This tubeset was produced from 1992 until 1999 only. Nicely light at 1790g.
Unfortunately its missing its original straight blade forks and it's in my least liked colour: YELLOW. But the seller was honest and vocal in that it needed a respray. I will do a mock build and ride as is before stripping down and getting it sent to the local powder coaters. I'm going with reed green (RAL 6013) with orange decals, bar tape and outer cables. Tyres are Continental Gatorskin with matching orange lettering. Velocals.com, like many of my projects, will again provide the decals. He's really good if a little pricey. Worth it though as they are top quality.
With the bought tyres, here is what I have dug from the parts bin:
- Shimano Ultegra (6500) from the latter part of the 90's (period correct); crankset, rear mech, cassette, octalink BB, spd pedals. Its single chainring build so no front mech or inner ring. Got a 55T stronglight ring from the parts bin as well. Selcof Aero seatpost: just bought off ebay for £7.00 (date stamped 1996). Microshift 9 speed indexed barcon shifter (scavenged from my Planet X Kaffenback touring bike; the touring bike now relegated to non-indexed friction shifters). KMC chain. Token clip on aero bars. ITM TT levers. Wheels are modern Planet X (deepish rim, sealed hubs... quite light at 1750g pair without skewers), they have been collecting dust for a few years. Got a few things to get including a 1" carbon fork (rare size but I have sourced one on aliexpress.com and its got aero-shaped fork blades).
Will update when I get it back from powdercoaters in a few weeks. Sellers pic not mine:
I was missing a TT specific bike from my fleet and as I have always been an admirer of Mercians, to have one come up on the bay at an acceptable price, my size (57cm c-t, 55cm top tube) as well as fillet brazed TT, It feels like winning the bingo twice. Its made from unusual Reynolds 731 OS Race - a tubeset with 4 internal ribs. This tubeset was produced from 1992 until 1999 only. Nicely light at 1790g.
Unfortunately its missing its original straight blade forks and it's in my least liked colour: YELLOW. But the seller was honest and vocal in that it needed a respray. I will do a mock build and ride as is before stripping down and getting it sent to the local powder coaters. I'm going with reed green (RAL 6013) with orange decals, bar tape and outer cables. Tyres are Continental Gatorskin with matching orange lettering. Velocals.com, like many of my projects, will again provide the decals. He's really good if a little pricey. Worth it though as they are top quality.
With the bought tyres, here is what I have dug from the parts bin:
- Shimano Ultegra (6500) from the latter part of the 90's (period correct); crankset, rear mech, cassette, octalink BB, spd pedals. Its single chainring build so no front mech or inner ring. Got a 55T stronglight ring from the parts bin as well. Selcof Aero seatpost: just bought off ebay for £7.00 (date stamped 1996). Microshift 9 speed indexed barcon shifter (scavenged from my Planet X Kaffenback touring bike; the touring bike now relegated to non-indexed friction shifters). KMC chain. Token clip on aero bars. ITM TT levers. Wheels are modern Planet X (deepish rim, sealed hubs... quite light at 1750g pair without skewers), they have been collecting dust for a few years. Got a few things to get including a 1" carbon fork (rare size but I have sourced one on aliexpress.com and its got aero-shaped fork blades).
Will update when I get it back from powdercoaters in a few weeks. Sellers pic not mine:
