1953 mercian

[Wikey]

hi further to my post ref 1963/4 red feather falcon here is a picture of my old 1953 king of mercian before strip and then frame down to metal

looking for ideas as to how to rebuild it , gonna build it up with all the bits then strip it and paint and rebuild, save messing up the paint

don't want to spend the money for Mercian respray , will do my own - i did the falcon myself
have wheels and some centre pull brakes and brake levers , have got a pair of downtube gear shifters

so need to sort out suitable gears / sprockets / gear changers cranks chain wheels. rear brake hanger and the yokes for the center pull cable on the brake calipers

wikey

 

[Wikey]

frame strip of parts other than saddle as seat stem is seized solid

 

[Wikey]

frame stripped of paint


seat stem still in , bit of inner tube over end of seat post as it has ammonia solution inside to attack the aluminium oxide ,

it came out 2 weeks later with a lot of work .. made special contraption to get it out

 

[Wikey]

various bits back on bike

wheels, alloy seat post, and brooks competition saddle, brake calipers and levers, alloy h.bar stem and bars and a pump !!

bb empty

 

[MercianMike]

That is looking great so far, Im interested to see the final result.

I am in the process of doing almost exactly the same to my Mercian, although I will be sending the frame off to Mercian to be painted.

That is once I have sourced all of the parts!

 

[Wikey]

nice looking bike

mine had some track wheels, fixed gear rear wheel, both 28 spoke and large flanges but not in great condition, i shall clean them up and check them out, they had tubeless tyres on them , probably worth a few bob to someone. i am setting it up for the road and want 12 or more gears on it ...

also a french plastic track saddle, it had a nice gb alloy stem but it had a small crack in it so i have fitted an sr stem not quite as good but still ok.
i have another pair of 27inch large flange wheels that are pretty good so will clean them up and see how they compare to the wheels i have on it at the moment

big challenge is BB cranks and 6 or 7speed freewheel

i also have a good cassette hub 32 spoke 126 mm so could build a freehub back wheel, not sure on that yet

 

[MercianMike]

Are you specific on the rest of the parts? i.e Shimano or Campagnolo etc?

I am trying to build mine up with Campagnolo and have taken off some parts you may be interested in.

I have Dura-Ace cranks and Dura-Ace front mech, band on shifters, wheels etc

Give me a shout if you need anything,

Mike

 

[Wikey]

hi mike

what length are the cranks?

i first need to see what size bb is best and what clearance i will have on the rings on the double clanger to the chainstay

i shall have to play a round with that a bit and the various piece i have got to see what the key measurements are going to be then i shall get back to
you

wikey ( mikey)

 

[MercianMike]

You have Pm mate.

Mike

 

[Old Ned]

mine had some track wheels, fixed gear rear wheel, both 28 spoke and large flanges but not in great condition, i shall clean them up and check them out, they had tubeless tyres on them , probably worth a few bob to someone.

How many bob? Given that they'll need a complete rebuild etc.

Please PM me.