Quill stem with the longest reach?

[bagpuss]

I have a 130mm ttt stem yours for a fiver plus post .

 

[Karl T]

Mirror your saddle position relative to the bottom bracket from your Raleigh to the Mercian and then that will determine the additional reach and height you'll need to adjust for with a stem for the Mercian. I once tried a smaller frame but it was the height difference that scuppered that idea rather than the reach.

I tried that today, put the Mercian upside down on top of the Raleigh, there is 4cm difference in reach. The bar height difference between the two is over 5cm. I'm definitely in the market for a bigger frame. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Karl T]

I have a 130mm ttt stem yours for a fiver plus post .

Through measuring the bike against one that fits its height as well as length that's the problem. The extra reach won't fix the problem. Thanks for the offer all the same.

 

[trailwright]

I tried that today, put the Mercian upside down on top of the Raleigh, there is 4cm difference in reach. The bar height difference between the two is over 5cm. I'm definitely in the market for a bigger frame. Thanks again for the info.

Exactly. You can only compensate so far if the headtube is much shorter. At least you've saved some ££ on a stem for now.

 

[Karl T]

Exactly. You can only compensate so far if the headtube is much shorter. At least you've saved some ££ on a stem for now.

Yeah, it's a head wrecking heart breaker though, a Mercian is the bike I've wanted since I was a kid, so much so that I never measured the top tube when buying, a mistake never to be repeated. I'm gonna give it a couple of days before I make any drastic moves.

 

[onegoodbike]

Yeah, it's a head wrecking heart breaker though, a Mercian is the bike I've wanted since I was a kid, so much so that I never measured the top tube when buying, a mistake never to be repeated. I'm gonna give it a couple of days before I make any drastic moves.

I wouldn't worry too much, a 56cm Mercian is a popular size/brand, so is going to be an easy sell and will probably make good money, certainly more than it should cost to bag a comparable 60cm+ frameset. Enjoy the search.

Matt

 

[Karl T]

I wouldn't worry too much, a 56cm Mercian is a popular size/brand, so is going to be an easy sell and will probably make good money, certainly more than it should cost to bag a comparable 60cm+ frameset. Enjoy the search.

Matt

I've been searching quite a lot, seems like 59cm top tube frames are very few. I searched through 75 pages on ebay and found two 59cm TT that were at the limit of my budget, (including postage), see below.
Are there any good sites for buying vintage frames? I've searched through the for sale section on this site but nothing so far.

 

[Nob]

Always a good place to look

Steel Vintage Bikes | Online Shop for Classic & Vintage Bicycles & Parts

Steel Vintage Bikes is your shop for vintage bicycles from the world's best brands! Colnago Super, De Rosa, Eddy Merckx & more...

steel-vintage.com

Hilary Stone The site for Classic and Vintage bicycles and their parts

Hilary Stone offering classic bicycles frames and parts for sale

www.hilarystone.com

 

[onegoodbike]

I'd have thought a dedicated saved search on eBay will throw up a suitable frameset (Mercian or other) within a couple of weeks.

If you fancied a project, there's this at the moment.......

1984 MERCIAN 59CM VINTAGE REYNOLDS 531 STEEL ROAD BICYCLE FRAME | eBay

59cm seat tube (c-t) / 57cm top tube (c-c). IT MUST BE A MAN-WITH-A-VAN TYPE SERVICE WHO WILL TAKE THE ITEM AS IT IS. I believe the paint is original. Wheel size 27 x 1 1/4". - COLLECTION IN PERSON IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Karl T]

I'd have thought a dedicated saved search on eBay will throw up a suitable frameset (Mercian or other) within a couple of weeks.

If you fancied a project, there's this at the moment.......

1984 MERCIAN 59CM VINTAGE REYNOLDS 531 STEEL ROAD BICYCLE FRAME | eBay

59cm seat tube (c-t) / 57cm top tube (c-c). IT MUST BE A MAN-WITH-A-VAN TYPE SERVICE WHO WILL TAKE THE ITEM AS IT IS. I believe the paint is original. Wheel size 27 x 1 1/4". - COLLECTION IN PERSON IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE.

www.ebay.co.uk

Yeah, I've looked at that bike, it's basically the same size as my own. Top tube 57cm, it's a couple of cm to short. Thanks for the heads up though.