Jeff,
I still have an early 1970's Mercier 300 that I bought new ($208.00 wholesale) at a shop in which I worked and which sold lots of Mercier's. I think Beacon Cycle in Boston was the distributor. The bike is completely original except for the cheesy saddle which is long gone. Factory equipment as it came out of the box and as it still sits:
531DB tubes, forks and stays, 531 decal on forks Bocama lugs, Simplex Pro crown, Stronglight headset (P3?) Simplex forged rear dropouts with hanger that takes only Simplex, stamped front dropouts that puzzle me to this day but that's how they came and this was the top model at the time Normandy "Sport" high flange hubs, Atom QR, 36H, trois etoile? double butted spokes, Ava sew-up rims Delrin Simplex Criterium derailleurs, push rod not parallelogram front Steel seat post and clamp Cheesy quilted vinyl covered plastic saddle (gone) Pivo bars and stem Mafac brakes Simplex TT cable clips Cheap aluminum French pump (Solibloc?) Lyotard aluminum rattrap pedals, touring style not quill Atom block, 14-28 5sp. SedisSport chain Stronglight 93 crankset, 45-52, 175mm 75 degree head tube. Some were 76 degree Textured white plastic bar tape like the black tape on the Peugeot Px-10's
I'll getcha pics if you need them.
Steve Kinne New York, NY USA
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