zepedrohenrique

Hello everyone!


i've been reading a lot of threads for the past year, but this is my first post.
I've just acquired this pink/purlpe Mercier but i still have a bunch of doubts about it!

i've only had 3 days with it, because i'm working abroad but went back for 3days, and had sometime to put it together.

Who's the expert on Merciers?

What are the differences on their tubes?
I own another blue mercier, which has a 28-23 i think, and the pink is 28-26. (picture below)
Definetly the pink one is a lot lighter!! I think it's around 10kg. (My peugeot is 1kg or 1.5 heavier)

equipment (correct me if wrong please)
- Vitus dropouts
- Weinmann side pull brakes
- Simplex derraileur
- and then a Spidel sticker on the side which doesn't make any sense to me
- Stem - Belleri
And i think the crankset is spidel, not sure. 52-38


An it only has ''gold'' paint around the edges on the front part of the bike!

So Spidel came out in the 80's, how come does it have a simplex derailleur, were they still around in the 80s?

Does anyone have the same bike, thoughts? Year, model ..

zepedrohenrique

So i guess i cant post URL's with pictures until i have 10 posts.
How can i go around this, so this thread aint useless?

bfuser10291295 

go into other threads and post 8 more quick ones. Easy

zepedrohenrique

Wel yeah, ive been trying that. Though im bringing back some older posts, not sure if that's the right thing to do!

Kevindale

Have you tried the "Go advanced" button below the posting window? Then go to the "Manage attachments" button below that, and go from there. That usually works even before the 10 post limit. Or use a photo hosting site like Filckr and post an edited link in your post (delete the "https://" part of the link until you get 10 posts).

khatfull

Subscribed for eventual pics

Hardrock23

You can upload from your computer/tablet by using the method Kevin told you about or rather than post on older threads, go to the introduction page ( Introductions - Bike Forums ) and say welcome to the new members.

Coleberr

Welp we won't here from him until tomorrow, having recently gone through this I will attest that after 5 posts he will be locked out for 24 hours, no editing posts either.

When he gets back he should post the urls with spaces in the http section and then one of us can host and post

AZORCH

I'll just throw in two cents here and say that pink Mercier bikes are absolutely classic as heck. There's something about a pink French bike that totally gets me every time. Can't wait to see the frame!

ThermionicScott 

Me too!

T-Mar

Spidel was a French marketing company formed by Mafac, Maillard, Stronglight and Simplexto promote a French "gruppo", to compete against those offered by Campagnolo, Shimano and SunTour. Typically, the components carried their native branding, though I have seen brakes, pedals and seat posts branded with Spidel. Simplex survived into at least the early 1990s, though they were never really a big player after their mid-1980s bankruptcy.

The Golden Boy 

Were Spidel parts kind of 'best of' the native brands?

zepedrohenrique

Hello guys!

Wow, so many replies!

Yes, you were right, i got 5 posts on a day, so i had to wait 24h!

And here are the pictures !

So my questions remains..
Yes i do know Spidel was created to fight Campagnolo and Shimano in the 80s, the thing is, it has a sticker on the frame, but no Spidel material?

The Vitus dropouts got me wondering as well about the 28-26 Mercier tubes.

Any information regarding this?


Yes, this purple / violet / pink is amazing. its the kinkiest bike i've ever seen, and i love it!


Its pretty cool to see so many replies in so short time for a new member! Thank you

Zé Pedro, from Lisboa, Portugal!

berkeley23

muito bonita!

unworthy1

Well it IS the Mercier "team color" (shades of pink or magenta) so that's a plus, but it looks to be lower than top-of-range, something mid-grade from late '70s to early '80s. Maybe those are Nervex "DuBois" lugs?

Aubergine 

Oh my, that's a gooood one.

Hardrock23

Gorgeous!!

T-Mar

Not necessarily, depending on your point of view. There was a rival combine called FREXA, consisting of Huret and some other partners.

T-Mar

To clarify my previous statement, Spidel was primarily a marketing name for a combine of French companies. The components were typically still branded with the traditional names of Simplex, Stronglight, Mafac, etc. Some time later in the life of Spidel, some parts started to be labelled with Spidel. I don't know the reason for this, though I suspect that some of the combine members got into financial difficulties and were being kept afloat by the combine.

I don't beilieve that Weinmann was a Spidel member. The presence of Weinmann, as opposed to Mafac suggests that they are replacement or possibly that the Spidel decal was an addition by the previous owner.

I concur that his appears to be an entry level model. It has bottle bosses but still uses a clamp on shifter that is a low level, metal reinforced Delrin model. These were entry level during the boom, let alone post boom.

I suspect the frame itself is some alloy of lighweight hi-tensile steel. This can be determined by the outer diameter of the seat tube in combination with the seat post diameter.

zepedrohenrique

_______

Cool! Thank you for the information. It makes sense that in the beginning they were still using their names on each material.
At least the whole bike is a little lighter than my orange Peugeot, and it has a 52-38, so i'm pretty happy about it.

But i would like to change somethings, such as the simplex plastic derailleur, the plastic shifters.

I've no idea what you mean by metal reinforced Delrin model by the way.


Do you guys have any idea on how to clean the tires?
As i said i didnt have enough time with the bike, which is driving me crazy since i only have a really ****ty 80s bike in brasil.
But i would like to bring those tires back, and i think its oil on them.

Thank you everyone!

zepedrohenrique

By the way, here are the two Peugeots I own!

3speedslow

Your Simplex shifters are metal reinforced on the orange Pug. Orange looks like a great city bike.

Is the seat post set for you on the Mercier? That's quite a hiked up distance!

T-Mar

Delrin was the commerical name for the Dupont plastic used by Simplex in their derailleur products. The shift levers have a Delrin body a sheet metal sleeve to reinforce them and reduce flex. Still ,they flex a lot, causing high shift effort. The best way to improve Simplex derailleur performance is to substitute more rigid, aluminum shift levers. Ensure the new levers have a drum of roughly the same diameter as Simplex, so you get roughly the same amount of lever throw per shift.

BTW, I found pictures of a Mercier 28-26 tubing decal and the text translated to 'fabricated light tubes', so it is almost certainly a hi-tensile steel.

non-fixie 

Welcome, Zé Pedro! Always nice to meet a fellow European on this forum. Especially from the country of Joaquim Agostinho, one of my childhood Tour de France heroes.

Nice collection of bikes you got there. Especially that Mercier. One of the very few regrets I have in my life is not buying a similarly colored Mercier frame in my size with Campagnolo ends when it was offered to me a few years ago.

zepedrohenrique

Thank you, thank you, for all this information.

Do you have any idea, where this 29-26 stand next to the cadre allege from peugeot?
I didn't have a scale with me, but my peugeot weights 11.5. I think this mercier is around 10.5.

Still, i wanna find a better bike in the future. But i can't get rid of the 3 beautiful colors.

And the one with the mustache guidon (previous owner changed), is good to ride with my girlfriend so i can look up and see around.


About the tires, does anyone have something to say, how to clean them?