So, this is my first thread on BF. I only found the forums recently, after getting more serious about doing some online research on Mercier bikes. My dad gave me a new burgundy red
Mercier (probably a model 100) in 1969, for my 13th birthday.
It was stolen in 1970, and unfortunately I never saw it again. A few years later, I got a Bianchi "Strada". It was sort of an entry level Bianchi, I guess (it was apparently of a type that was marketed at some of the big discount stores back in the day). I rode that quite a bit from the mid 1970's to the late 80's. It was a decent bike that I put a lot of miles on, and I had it far longer than the stolen Mercier, but to this day I still feel far more nostalgia and sentimentality for that Mercier that my dad gave me. After my wife and I started a family, I got a Schwinn cruiser and hadn't owned another road bike since... until a couple of weeks ago. Off and on for the past several years, I've had my eyes open for a Mercier similar to the one I had. I've seen some come up for sale locally, but none of them were right (model, condition, price, color, etc). To my surprise, I found one a couple of weeks ago via a local Craigslist ad which seems to be completely original except for new tires, and it's in very nice condition for its age (I think it probably dates to about 1970-72). It's not without a few flaws, but for $80, I couldn't say no. It's apparently been owned locally for it's entire life, and my sense is that it's been safely stored in a garage for most of that time.
I know Merciers are not all that desirable to most serious bike enthusiasts, but frankly I'm not really a road bike connoisseur (not yet, anyway!). I look at bikes in general as functional and useful works of art. I could elaborate on that, but for my purposes here I just would say that I think this bike is beautiful (and has a sentimentality factor that's pretty strong for me), and I look forward to getting it tuned up and adjusted at my LBS, and riding it soon.
As I mentioned in another thread, the CLB hoods are pretty toasty, so I'd love to find some nice NOS examples (caramel brown, preferably). I saw some on ebay in the Netherlands, but they're being sold on their original levers. Anyway, I know there are various replacements available (Cane Creek and such), but I'm kind of nerdy about things looking original on a vintage item like this.
Also, the saddle has been a bit of a puzzle. The guy I bought this from had two Merciers (the other one also from the period, but it had the Poulidor decal in the seat tube), and they both had this exact same style of saddle. It's Asian (black quilted vinyl over a padded cream-colored nylon frame), but I suspect that it's original to the bike (perhaps installed in the U.S. after the bike was imported). I've seen these on other French bikes of the era, including a few Peugeots, thus my suspicion that it's always been on there. Mine is in very good shape, and my plan is to see how comfortable it is before I even think about changing it. I think my '69 Mercier had an unpadded black leather saddle (maybe Ideale?), so that might be another option I'll explore.
I've cleaned the bike up a bit more since this photo was taken, but haven't taken any more pics as of yet. Thanks for looking, and for providing such an interesting forum.
