Hi Norris,
Thanks for the informative and detailed post. I have not spent anywhere near the time that you have researching this frame, or the marque, but I have found it difficult to find much real information on the internet about anything to do with Mercier.
I'm afraid I can't shed much light on the history of this frame. My wife was living in France when we were just boyfriend and girlfriend, and she was doing a bit of cycling with her local cycling club. She could only afford one bike, so she had a mountain bike, and spare slick tyres for the road.
One of the elder statesmen of the club decided that she needed a road bike if she was going to be road riding, and so gave her this bike that had obviously been "done up" for winter use, with a selection of cheap parts (i.e. unbranded wheels, mix of cheap sachs and shimano gears, etc). I think the only original part still on the bike was the seatpost.
If it is as you say, a top end custom frame (perhaps even a pro frame?), it seems surprising that it would be relegated to this status, however I wouldn't ever condemn anyone for taking a utilitarian point of view, after all these bikes were designed to be ridden, and it's fair to say that this one has had a lot of use.
Are there any further measurements of photos I could take to help in the identification? Would external tube diameters help, or were they all much the same in those days? I think some columbus tube sets had internal ribs that I could look for?
I've searched high and low for a frame number, but couldn't find anything, which agrees with Hugh's assertion that it would've been on the headtube badge.
If it was an 80's model, that would give me a dilemma - I have a pair of wheels; Mavic 500 hubs laced to SSC rims, which would be really fitting on a bike like this, however they are actually getting very good use at the moment on my perfectly modern and contemporary cyclo cross bike (well, I rebuilt the rear onto a Hope hub, but I could always put it back the way it was). Perhaps some parts are just too good for putting in a case and admiring, and I'll have to find something else.
Leon
On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 8:43 PM, Norris Lockley <nlockley73@gmail.com> wrote:
> Considering the long-term presence of Mercier bikes in the French Pro
> peloton, not a great deal has been written about the bikes that Poulidor,
> Bobbet ( at one period in his career), Leducq, Antonin Magne, Rene LeGreves,
> Francis and Charles Pelissier, Lapebie, Archambaud, Speicher, Zootemelk and
> many others rode. There are volumes about the riders but very little about
> the bikes.
>
> Mercier was an important company, and was considered to be one of the real
> movers and shakers of the French cycle industry in the period from the 1950s
> through to the late 70s. As late as the mid 70s the firm employed over 300
> staff and produced around 120,000 bikes per year of which 85% were
> models.orientated towards roadc racing. Although the Lejeune company from
> outside Paris had also a notable presence in the prloton it was a small
> company compared with Mercier from St Etienne. The two companies share
> another thing in common - the difficulty in understanding their range of
> models.
>
> For some time I have been trying to put together an article about Mercier,
> but apart from dozens of photos of pink (rose) coloured bikes, I have little
> text. However at just about the time that this enquiry hit the CR List, I
> had made an interesting discovery about Mercier..and I had also managed to
> overcome the computer problems that have dogged me for about three months
> now.
>
> In the 50s Mercier depended very largely on Rubis and Kromo tubing made in
> St Etienne for their lightweight frames..and then graduated onto Reynolds
> 531 DB for the next twenty years or so. Certainly the firm was still using
> Reynolds as late as 1976. However by the time the 1981 catalogue was
> published the company had switched all its lightweight frames to Columbus
> tubing.
>
> Around that time, perhaps the late 70s I recall cycling in the French Alps
> and calling in a lightweight cycle specialist's shop in the beautiful
> lake-side two of Annecy. We were discussing lightweight frames when he
> srung a surprising question on me. - In your country do many lightweight
> frames built from Reynolds 531 suffer from splits in their tubes?
>
> I explained that it certainly wasn't a common occurence..sometimes cracks
> around a tube, particularly with the new 753 tubing... He then proceeded to
> show me a Mercier frame whose seat tube displayed a two inch long split down
> its length. Apparently an increasing number of Mercier frames had been known
> to split..rather than crack. Does Reynolds make a type of seamed Reynolds
> 531 ? was the next question Like me he thought that all that type of tubing
> was solid drawn. He mentioned that Mercier had decided to start using some
> Columbus tubing sets...
>
> Back at my workshop after the holiday, one of the first repair jobs was a
> mid range Raleigh road frame..Reynolds 531 frame and forks, the head tube of
> which had developed a noticeable split. From a closer examination of the
> tubes it was evident that the tubes were seamed, so I concluded that TI -
> Reynolds were actually producing seamed 531 for the large cycle
> manufacturers.
>
> In the 70s all Mercier's Reynolds 531 frames were individually hand-built
> using small hand-held brazing torches. The firm also had a Service de
> Course workshop for its custom frames A feature of most of these frames is
> the treatment of the ends of the seat and chainstays and the fork blade
> tips, whereby they domed ends are filed almost to a point. This treatment
> can be seen clearly on the Mercier on Brad Stockwells' Wooljersey site. The
> same treatment can often be found on the frames of the Mecacycle company
> ,Cizeron, and Tonic Cycles all of whom were based in St Etienne, Mecaycle
> and Cizeron being in the same street as Mercier.
>
> However the stay and fork end treatment on Leon's frame - the scolloped out
> ends - is much more akin to the treatment adopted by most of France's
> craftsman-builders. That feature couipled with the reinforced fork crown and
> the number-plate hanger make me think the frame is very much a custom built
> Mercier..rather than just a high end model from Mercier. I have seen several
> similar frames from the mid 70s.
>
> The odd features of Leon's frame are the almost GIOS-like shouldered
> top-eyes. These are not at all like those used in the mid-70s which were
> pointed oval plates with the name MERCIER engraved into them.. Do we know
> that the frame is Reynolds ? or is it possible that Leon's frame is an 80s
> model, custom-built and made of Columbus tubing in which case it would be
> the Tour de France Recorde model - especially if it had a chrome-plated
> fork.
>
> As for transfers, Hughe...you can count on me as I need several sets.
> Durable transfers were never Merciers strong point.
>
> Norris Lockley
>
> Settle Uk...just getting back into the saddle both literally and
> metaphorically speaking.