New pick up, Mercian Olympic 1982

[Dicky71]

No my lever is a Carbon Record, was told the internals are exactly the same.

I also happen to have a carbon Record. I have a pair of Mirage levers on a winter bike, so i've had the possibility to compare. My Record lever is a microshift version. In my opinion, the shift function is brilliant, very exact. No chainset rub. I think a new pair of carbon Record ergopower lever BITD costed över £200. The Mirage lever doesn't work as smooth as a Record lever.
I think It's ashame that you felt robbed but the fact that it is possible to repair Campagnolo products, up to a certain age, is much better than being forced to buy a new lever, simply because there are no spåren parts available. Try getting a watch repaired för that kind of money. In my opinion you got value for your money.
Have a nice weekend.

 

[Ian Raleigh]

I remember from when I was a lad, mercians always seemed to have a barbers pole seat tube paint scheme.
Is that due to preference or an expensive job to do?

The barbers pole in my eyes is an old fashioned outdated custom painted tube,
as for the price it's about £100 maybe a bit more if more coloured lines are required.

 

[3wheeler7]

A little bit of progress with the clean up.
The frame has been polished and touched up, it's not bad - certainly doesn't need a respray. Wheels cleaned, trued and polished, interestingly it's on 27" x 1¼" with 40 spoke rear and 36 spoke front, Suntour 6 speed block.
Bars, stem and seat post cleaned and polished and found a nice 80s saddle in the seat box.
All parts show a minimum of wear so I suspect it had been laid up for many years - the grease in the Miche pedals had set hard.
Put a few bits together this afternoon just for a look. I'm thinking black bar tape and black outer cables.
Frame size is 23.5" and that means too big for me so I won't be keeping it when it's finished but at least I will have saved it from an undignified end!

 

[3wheeler7]

Quick update, all parts now finished and ready for assembly but unfortunately I can't do the final build as I don't have any space to store it when done so it'll have to stay in bits for a while. Will post pics when built.

 

[3wheeler7]

OK, I finally gave in and put the Mercian together!
It's cleaned up remarkably well bearing in mind it's 40 years old, the only replaced parts are the seat, the cables and the bar tape - everything else is original, even the tyres and tubes.
The Huret Duopar rear mech is excellent, reputedly one of the best touring mechs of it's day but sadly had a short life span, they even made a titanium version.
Galli brakes and Stronglight chainset are like new and the wheels are the star of the show.

 

[Jamiedyer]

That has come together really nicely. Well done!
I am sure you will have lots of happy miles on this one

Jamie

 

[3wheeler7]

Hi Jamie, I knew when I bought it that it was too large for me but I saw the potential to save a very nice original bike for mainly just a few days labour. Now that it's finished I'm quite sad it's not smaller as I'd like to have a few rides out on it, but I'll just have to settle for lowering the seat and test riding around the local park to make sure it's all good before putting it up for sale.
Incidentally, just after I had bought it, a friend of mine said " I'd have bought that - and broken it to sell off in bits". That's not me though, it's a survivor and I'd like to think it will go to someone who appreciates it for what it is.

 

[zerogravitas]

That looks just lovely. Could have just rolled out of the shop door. Nice job.

 

[Jamiedyer]

Hi Jamie, I knew when I bought it that it was too large for me but I saw the potential to save a very nice original bike for mainly just a few days labour. Now that it's finished I'm quite sad it's not smaller as I'd like to have a few rides out on it, but I'll just have to settle for lowering the seat and test riding around the local park to make sure it's all good before putting it up for sale.
Incidentally, just after I had bought it, a friend of mine said " I'd have bought that - and broken it to sell off in bits". That's not me though, it's a survivor and I'd like to think it will go to someone who appreciates it for what it is.

I like your way of thinking, very similar to my own
It will certainly make it's new owner very happy, of that I'm sure.

Jamie