1992 Mercian King of Mercia
- Thread starter Jamiedyer
- Start date
Out on the Mercian this weekend past with Brian (epicycle).
Once again it was supposed to be a 'road' type ride with me on the Mercian and Brian on his Andre Bertin, only I arrived to find that some bits hadn't arrived for Brian to finish the AB and so he was fettling a singlespeed titanium On One Lynskey built machine that weighed as much as a feather and was fitted with cyclocross tyres :shock: I ride with Brian all the time so knew beforehand that we would most likely be seeing very little in the way of tarmac road but still, this machine had me wondering exactly what sort of roads we would be encountering.
No need to worry as the route was to stay on farm tracks and walking tracks up the valley to Strathpeffer and then see where we are time wise.
We started at sea level and rose up the hills from wooded areas through farms to crossing the valley and climbing up Cnoc Farrel. The track when we crossed the valley and went upwards went from about 40feet to about 600 feet in one straight vertical ramp of a track. Walking or pushing only as the dirt was very loose.
We ended up doing a few detours and winding along dirt trails we had used before and eventually getting to Strathpeffer around 4.30 or so.
It was a quick coffee and scone before taking a slightly less circuitous route back down the valley on the more slightly less mountainous side of rolling farmland trails before climbing back through the woods to Brians.
In all we probably did no more than a mile or so on tarmac if that.
The Mercian handled it brilliantly and rode it all with no bother and while I may have fitted some cyclocross type tyres if I had known where we were going, the Vittoria Randonnuers worked very well, a lot of grass, mud and dry hardpack, though rough dirt.
I also ran with the rack I bought from Craig (Rustie Bodie) fitted so I could carry my trunk bag. Everything stayed perfectly solid and stable despite getting rattled severely. The only issue was right before we got to Strathpeffer my headset top nut loosened slightly. Had to tighten by hand but not surprised it came loose.
I hope that Mercian didn't expect a nice cruisy retirement
Jamie
DSCN3778 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
DSCN3777 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
1 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Nice smooth, fast track.
3 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
4 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
This is so much steeper than it looks, Brian has to hold my brakes on to keep the bike from rolling back.
DSCN3786 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Brian and his beast
DSCN3796 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Rough at the top
DSCN3801 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
DSCN3813 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
7 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
The view is always worth it
DSCN3806 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
DSCN3808 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
DSCN3810 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
DSCN3812 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
The King Of Mercia handles the dirt so nicely
8 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Once again it was supposed to be a 'road' type ride with me on the Mercian and Brian on his Andre Bertin, only I arrived to find that some bits hadn't arrived for Brian to finish the AB and so he was fettling a singlespeed titanium On One Lynskey built machine that weighed as much as a feather and was fitted with cyclocross tyres :shock: I ride with Brian all the time so knew beforehand that we would most likely be seeing very little in the way of tarmac road but still, this machine had me wondering exactly what sort of roads we would be encountering.
No need to worry as the route was to stay on farm tracks and walking tracks up the valley to Strathpeffer and then see where we are time wise.
We started at sea level and rose up the hills from wooded areas through farms to crossing the valley and climbing up Cnoc Farrel. The track when we crossed the valley and went upwards went from about 40feet to about 600 feet in one straight vertical ramp of a track. Walking or pushing only as the dirt was very loose.
We ended up doing a few detours and winding along dirt trails we had used before and eventually getting to Strathpeffer around 4.30 or so.
It was a quick coffee and scone before taking a slightly less circuitous route back down the valley on the more slightly less mountainous side of rolling farmland trails before climbing back through the woods to Brians.
In all we probably did no more than a mile or so on tarmac if that.
The Mercian handled it brilliantly and rode it all with no bother and while I may have fitted some cyclocross type tyres if I had known where we were going, the Vittoria Randonnuers worked very well, a lot of grass, mud and dry hardpack, though rough dirt.
I also ran with the rack I bought from Craig (Rustie Bodie) fitted so I could carry my trunk bag. Everything stayed perfectly solid and stable despite getting rattled severely. The only issue was right before we got to Strathpeffer my headset top nut loosened slightly. Had to tighten by hand but not surprised it came loose.
I hope that Mercian didn't expect a nice cruisy retirement
Jamie
DSCN3778 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDSCN3777 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr1 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrNice smooth, fast track.
3 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr4 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrThis is so much steeper than it looks, Brian has to hold my brakes on to keep the bike from rolling back.
DSCN3786 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrBrian and his beast
DSCN3796 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrRough at the top
DSCN3801 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDSCN3813 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr7 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrThe view is always worth it
DSCN3806 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDSCN3808 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDSCN3810 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDSCN3812 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrThe King Of Mercia handles the dirt so nicely
8 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrA couple of shots from yesterday afternoons ride. A lovely sunny evening after a cloudy, rainy morning.
Showing of my newish rack. A local ride so no trunk bag etc.
Jamie
DSCN4077 (2) by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
DSCN4078 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Showing of my newish rack. A local ride so no trunk bag etc.
Jamie
DSCN4077 (2) by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDSCN4078 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
fiveSixteenths
Senior Retro Guru
Those cross-country pics! Next time I'm on one particular route (between Newbury and Oxford) will take the footpath option that I've been avoiding - didn't look suitable for a road bike but now, now I'll tackle some of the Ridgeway as well!
Incidentally, tyres... what's recommended here as I'm assuming some tread would be an advisory?
cheers
Richard
Incidentally, tyres... what's recommended here as I'm assuming some tread would be an advisory?
cheers
Richard
Hi Richard
Well, while some of those tracks are just that, tracks, the Mercian is treated nicely will get through most things. Whether all these are kind to it or not, I don't know.
These are the places you will end up if you go on a road ride with Brian. I just rode accordingly and the gravel roads and dirt trails are fine, the handling is great considering, it's only when it gets really cut up or rough that I just roll through at a sedate pace picking the smoothest line. That last time up cnoc Farrell my headset came loose and I found out later so did my bottom bracket slightly, but it was rough in sections even when going slow. That singletrack stuff was a bit more than we would normally do on these machines.
My tyres are Vittoria Randonnuer in 700 x 32 and they work really well on all surfaces. Due to the larger size and being able to run them a good bit softer is also what makes it more capable off road. If you see Brians pics in the last long post he was supposed to be on his Andre Bertin but instead was riding a Titanium gravel grinder with cyclocross tyres! It's all relative though as we are not racing by any standards, just a couple of non younger gentleman cruising round.
I did toy with putting some Mafac racer brakes on and some 32 cyclocross tyres and entering a few of the gentler races this coming season. Still not sure about that.
It also is still running all the cobbled bits that it was originally put together with, supposedly temporarily. I have a set of gaurds for it that are a sort of grey/green colour so I do need to get a better set of brake calipers first before I cut them to suite. I do have my Nitto randonneur bars and stem to go on as well, though they will most likely wait a while.
It's a really nice bike to ride, and while it still looks rough, it has shown that it is definitely going to stay. Hopefully I will get it painted sometime in the next twelve months but that may realistically go well beyond that as other things, non bike are going on as well. Mercian have just increased their paint prices only recently so even more so now, as I told Brian, if I pay that much for a paint job there is no more rough gravel It will live a life of tarmac retirement Maybe
I really like it now so I imagine once I get it setup how I originally envisaged it will be even better. I already know that it will make a great fast audax machine and so will hopefully take it to the rough stuff audax in August.
I had to ride to work with all my gear the other week, I had everything, boots, full change of clothes, work jacket with fleece liner, my lunch etc. it weighed just over 5 kilo and I thought with that weight in the panniers I would definitely notice it, I did notice it but more so that the bike handled brilliantly, very surefooted and climbed and descended the couple of hills with ease. I was well pleased as well as surprised.
Bet your sorry you asked now
Jamie
DSCN4081 (2) by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Well, while some of those tracks are just that, tracks, the Mercian is treated nicely will get through most things. Whether all these are kind to it or not, I don't know.
These are the places you will end up if you go on a road ride with Brian. I just rode accordingly and the gravel roads and dirt trails are fine, the handling is great considering, it's only when it gets really cut up or rough that I just roll through at a sedate pace picking the smoothest line. That last time up cnoc Farrell my headset came loose and I found out later so did my bottom bracket slightly, but it was rough in sections even when going slow. That singletrack stuff was a bit more than we would normally do on these machines.
My tyres are Vittoria Randonnuer in 700 x 32 and they work really well on all surfaces. Due to the larger size and being able to run them a good bit softer is also what makes it more capable off road. If you see Brians pics in the last long post he was supposed to be on his Andre Bertin but instead was riding a Titanium gravel grinder with cyclocross tyres! It's all relative though as we are not racing by any standards, just a couple of non younger gentleman cruising round.
I did toy with putting some Mafac racer brakes on and some 32 cyclocross tyres and entering a few of the gentler races this coming season. Still not sure about that.
It also is still running all the cobbled bits that it was originally put together with, supposedly temporarily. I have a set of gaurds for it that are a sort of grey/green colour so I do need to get a better set of brake calipers first before I cut them to suite. I do have my Nitto randonneur bars and stem to go on as well, though they will most likely wait a while.
It's a really nice bike to ride, and while it still looks rough, it has shown that it is definitely going to stay. Hopefully I will get it painted sometime in the next twelve months but that may realistically go well beyond that as other things, non bike are going on as well. Mercian have just increased their paint prices only recently so even more so now, as I told Brian, if I pay that much for a paint job there is no more rough gravel
It will live a life of tarmac retirement Maybe I really like it now so I imagine once I get it setup how I originally envisaged it will be even better. I already know that it will make a great fast audax machine and so will hopefully take it to the rough stuff audax in August.
I had to ride to work with all my gear the other week, I had everything, boots, full change of clothes, work jacket with fleece liner, my lunch etc. it weighed just over 5 kilo and I thought with that weight in the panniers I would definitely notice it, I did notice it but more so that the bike handled brilliantly, very surefooted and climbed and descended the couple of hills with ease. I was well pleased as well as surprised.
Bet your sorry you asked now
Jamie
DSCN4081 (2) by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
fiveSixteenths
Senior Retro Guru
Wow, what a great read, cheers Jamie.
Ok, am going to check out a pair of Randonnuer's and see about strapping those onto my Bob Jackson once it's built-up and getting off-road (a bit). In fact, some of the Ridgeway would be ideal when dry, as then it's rock hard and I can pretend it's strada bianchi. There's a bit more tolerance on the BJ that the Battaglin and it's a trifle smaller (so not so much of a wobble-fest to threaten my confidence - as another not-so-young rider). Plus I've a pair of egg-beaters that are quite slack so my spd-shoes should be ok...
All the bikes I have are fairly, how should I put this, in an 'original finish'. So dents, scrapes and blemishes are par for the course so your Mercian looks top-notch to me!
Ok, am going to check out a pair of Randonnuer's and see about strapping those onto my Bob Jackson once it's built-up and getting off-road (a bit). In fact, some of the Ridgeway would be ideal when dry, as then it's rock hard and I can pretend it's strada bianchi. There's a bit more tolerance on the BJ that the Battaglin and it's a trifle smaller (so not so much of a wobble-fest to threaten my confidence - as another not-so-young rider). Plus I've a pair of egg-beaters that are quite slack so my spd-shoes should be ok...
All the bikes I have are fairly, how should I put this, in an 'original finish'. So dents, scrapes and blemishes are par for the course so your Mercian looks top-notch to me!
highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
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Posts like this send me right back to the golden days of my youth, when riding was fun and the sun shone all day.
Wow! Can't believe I haven't updated this in two years.
Well within that time the Mercian has seen a few adventures and was then stripped early this year in preparation for being repainted.
This refurb was delayed due to family stuff going on that meant I needed to watch the finances but also I found that once I pulled the other King of Mercia out the loft to tide me over until this one came back, I sort of lost the urgency to get this one done if that makes sense. Sort of does in my head
Anyway after sitting boxed for too long and the repaint organised ages ago it finally went off today. So will update upon it's return and then rebuild. I will no doubt have to put on the stuff I have been squirrelling away for it over the last few years and get those Wolber GTA2 rims laced up soon.
Will update more often in the future.
Jamie
two Kings
DSC_0289 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
DSC_0300 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
29664959_1466925393436200_4661197581199723852_o by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Well within that time the Mercian has seen a few adventures and was then stripped early this year in preparation for being repainted.
This refurb was delayed due to family stuff going on that meant I needed to watch the finances but also I found that once I pulled the other King of Mercia out the loft to tide me over until this one came back, I sort of lost the urgency to get this one done if that makes sense. Sort of does in my head
Anyway after sitting boxed for too long and the repaint organised ages ago it finally went off today. So will update upon it's return and then rebuild. I will no doubt have to put on the stuff I have been squirrelling away for it over the last few years and get those Wolber GTA2 rims laced up soon.
Will update more often in the future.
Jamie
two Kings
DSC_0289 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrDSC_0300 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr29664959_1466925393436200_4661197581199723852_o by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
