Hi Leon and list,
This Mercier frame looks exactly like mine, even down to the racing number tab under the top tube. I date mine as 1977 based on the date on the first generation Campagnolo Super Record derailleur that came with it.
This is a top tier frameset made with 531 butted tubes, forks and stays and the same date as mine, give or take a year. It is therefore significantly earlier than Peter's and would have the block letter decals like in the photos that you refer to. The bad news is that reproductions are not available, although H Lloyd Cycles make an approximation that has quite a few discrepancies from the original, which is why I am not planning to use them. The worse news is that the headbadge is a printed aluminum foil decal that is impressed with the frame number.
I am planning to restore my own frame and shall be contacting a local manufacturer soon about making some accurate decals and headbadges. Is there any demand for these from listmembers if I am successful in gettting them made up?
Factory bikes would have been built up to the same spec as the Mercier racing team bikes, i.e. full Campagnolo Super, or Nuovo, Record with Cinelli bars and stem and I am not sure what else. I am planning to build mine up that way. Mercier also made their top frames with Simplex dropouts and these were typically equipped with Simplex gears, Stronglight chainsets and Mafac brakes. I suspect that this combination would have been used by some sponsored amateur teams, as well as by private customers obviously, whereas the Mercier pro team used Campagnolo equipment for many years. I am finding it very difficult to get good information on Mercier product offerings in Europe - they don't seem to slot neatly into the 100, 200 and 300 model designations that were, as far as I can tell, particularly North American . If anyone has more information, please let us know.
Hugh Thornton
Cheshire, England
From: Peter Rogers <pjrogers@rogers.com> Subject: Re: [CR] Help! Trying to identify a Mercier frameset To: "Leon Gierat" <leon.gierat@gmail.com> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Thursday, 24 June, 2010, 1:48
Hi Leon, I cannot be 100% sure about the decals, but I suspect that they looked like the ones shown on the early 1980's Mercier that I have. It has the same logos on the top of the front forks and the seat stays. You will note also that it has same metallic pink paint finish.
Though I am not an expert, I suspect that your frame may be slightly earlier than mine. But, I think that your Mercier would be a top model, due to the quality of the forged drop-outs and the general details and workmanship etc.
You can see my Mercier if you scroll down my blog page:
http://petersclassicwheels.blogspot.com/
If you need accurate details of the decals, I can have a go at taking some photos and measurements etc.
I hope that this helps,
Kind regards, Peter Rogers
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Leon Gierat" <leon.gierat@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 5:44 PM
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR] Help! Trying to identify a Mercier frameset
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I think I was on this mailing list before, but quite a long time ago,
> so hello again. As a brief intro to myself, I ride road, MTB and
> cross, have raced all three, but am generally too busy with the family
> to take competition too seriously these days.
>
> I've also been hanging onto a few vintage (?) bikes and frames for
> years, thinking that one day I would do something with them, and this
> is the beginning of that journey. Tucked away I have a 1936 Claud Butler,
> and
> a 1950's or maybe 1960's Carpenter 531 tandem with lots of Campy bits
> (not a full
> set, sadly). Not sure when I'll get around to those though.
>
> So my first project? I am trying to identify a Mercier. I know it's a
> Mercier, because it has a nice embossed "Mercier" on either side of
> the Fork Crown, an an embossed "M & Crown" at the top of the chain
> stays. In fact, it basically looks very similair to this one here, but
> there
> are differences:
>
> http://www.wooljersey.com/
>
> It has the same drilled dropouts, and lugwork, etc. It has a 126mm rear
> spacing. It has a 26.6mm Campagnolo seatpost (original?). It's not a
> record, I don't think. It's not polished enough, but it's fluted with
> a nice anodized head. The flutes are not pink, like in the one above.
>
> Forks were chromed. The BB cable guides are Campagnolo.
>
> You can also see the original pink paint showing through under the
> nasty home respray. It's a sort of metallic, deep pink, which was a
> signature colour for Mercier, I understand.
>
> Can anyone help me identify the model, quality, and the sort of decals
> (or scans of decals)
> etc I should source for it. I'm going to restore it as a period bike,
> but not go for a "catalogue" spec (although if there was such a
> thing, I'd love to know what it was). It will be built as the sort of
> bike that someone of the time would have
> ridden (i.e. all my current bikes have a mix and match of contemporary
> equipment that I like). I've already got some simplex retrofriction
> shifters, a Mavic 501 rear mech, Mavic 501 hubs, campag brake calipers
> (not sure the model, but very shiny :-), so I guess I'm a third of the
> way there.
>
> Pictures here to help the identification:
>
> http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Leon Gierat,
> Bristol, UK