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[ChromeChainstay]

 

[Ecurie Peril]

My 'new' bike is a Mercian super vigorelli in 853 oversize commissioned and built just before the old Mercian company went under a short while back. I had the devil's own job to get it off the liquidators and I believe it was the last frameset built and painted in house before the company went under

 

[sjcprojects]

My 'new' bike is a Mercian super vigorelli in 853 oversize commissioned and built just before the old Mercian company went under a short while back. I had the devil's own job to get it off the liquidators and I believe it was the last frameset built and painted in house before the company went under

Mercian didn't actually 'go under', they went into into voluntary liquidation because they had no-one to sell the business onto at the time – but then it (the brand/name at least) was subsequently bought after a gap in trading, so I'm not surprised it was all a bit messy and hard to get your frameset back, as the new owners presumably had no connection to it. I don't know what happened to the original fittings and equipment, as that went up for auction, I think?

Anyway, that 853 ad is quintessentially 90s, i.e tasteless

 

[Ecurie Peril]

Mercian didn't actually 'go under', they went into into voluntary liquidation because they had no-one to sell the business onto at the time – but then it (the brand/name at least) was subsequently bought after a gap in trading, so I'm not surprised it was all a bit messy and hard to get your frameset back, as the new owners presumably had no connection to it. I don't know what happened to the original fittings and equipment, as that went up for auction, I think?

Anyway, that 853 ad is quintessentially 90s, i.e tasteless

Yes it was voluntary liquidation but the net result was the same as the old Mercian company ended up being dissolved and the assets of the company bought by a newco. i went to the open day for the sale off of the fixtures/fittings/equipment and put a couple of bids in for a few bits and pieces but thankfully the new owners took almost everything on and luckily we the Mercian brand alive and kicking.

 

[sjcprojects]

Yes it was voluntary liquidation but the net result was the same as the old Mercian company ended up being dissolved and the assets of the company bought by a newco. i went to the open day for the sale off of the fixtures/fittings/equipment and put a couple of bids in for a few bits and pieces but thankfully the new owners took almost everything on and luckily we the Mercian brand alive and kicking.

Ah, that's good to know that the fittings and fixtures were all kept together. I got that sort of impression, and hoped it was the case, but I didn't know for sure. It sounds like the name is in good hands, let's hope so...