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What is mercurius tensor tubing?

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What is mercurius tensor tubing?

Old 06-15-21, 05:05 PM
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Bianchigirll 
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What is mercurius tensor tubing?

What is mercurius tensor tubing? Anyone ever hear of this?



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Old 06-15-21, 09:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Bianchigirll

What is mercurius tensor tubing? Anyone ever hear of this?



I don’t know offhand, but its dimpled, and I’d assume it’s steel. Have pictures of the rest of the tubes?
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Old 06-15-21, 09:03 PM
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I'm not surprised this has come up, considering Mercury is in retrograde.
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Old 06-16-21, 05:23 AM
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According to the fine print it's just a high tensile steel. (acciaio alta resistenza).
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Old 06-16-21, 08:51 AM
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we still have me mum's Tensor high intensity lamp from the nineteen sixties -


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Old 06-16-21, 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Bianchigirll

What is mercurius tensor tubing? Anyone ever hear of this?

It's the preferred tubing for use in building the Hogwart's team bikes ....
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Old 06-16-21, 11:58 AM
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Interesting seat lug. Double lugged?
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Old 06-16-21, 12:23 PM
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It's what's known as marketing fluff.
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Old 06-16-21, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by thinktubes
I'm not surprised this has come up, considering Mercury is in retrograde.
I drove a Mercury Retrograde once. Ran rings around my Saturn.
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Old 06-16-21, 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by madpogue
I drove a Mercury Retrograde once. Ran rings around my Saturn.

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i'll wager it could have taken you all the way to another Galaxie,,,provided of course you were able to avoid hitting a Meteor


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Last edited by juvela; 06-16-21 at 02:29 PM. Reason: fix
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Old 06-16-21, 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by juvela
i'll wager it could have taken you all the way to another Galaxie,,,provided of course you were able to avoid hitting a Meteor
For that you'd need a Comet.
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Old 06-16-21, 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted by madpogue
For that you'd need a Comet.
Only if it’s boosted by a Rocket 88…
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Old 06-16-21, 03:27 PM
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Originally Posted by qcpmsame
Only if it’s boosted by a Rocket 88…

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yes indeed!

either that or a Starfire...

and if one needed a bit of a break on their way to that next Galaxie they could always stop off for a rest at a Starlet


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Old 06-16-21, 06:00 PM
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Didn't someone make "Vector" tubing once?
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Old 06-16-21, 08:45 PM
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Sure is kinda pretty, though
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Old 06-16-21, 08:51 PM
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Originally Posted by T-Mar
According to the fine print it's just a high tensile steel. (acciaio alta resistenza).
Looks awfully nice for hi-ten (very clean metalwork, cromovelato, etc).
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Old 06-17-21, 05:59 AM
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Originally Posted by rando_couche
Looks awfully nice for hi-ten (very clean metalwork, cromovelato, etc).
I'm just going by what the decal actually says. Also, notice that there's no mention of an alloy or butting (rinforzati). The marketing department normally wouldn't miss the opportunity to expound these attributes, so their absence implies a lower level tubeset.

By the late 1980s their were some quite nice frames being produced with less than stellar tubesets, such as Oria 0.9TT, which was a plain gauge tubeset with quite thick 0.9mm walls. You can find lots of examples from quite prestigious marques, with features such as brazed-on front derailleur hangers, investment cast fittings and lots of chrome.

Cromovelato is not exclusively the domain of high end bicycles. When I was wrenching at the LBS in the early 1970s, the entry level Chiorda and Torpado used cromovelato finishes.

Similarly, fluted tubing can also be found on entry level bicycles. Some early examples can be found on entry level Japanese bicycles from the early 1970s.

So, while the frame's attributes may appear inconsistent the level of tubing, there are precedents. I wouldn't rule it out, However, I also wouldn't rule out the decal not being OEM to the frame, though if it was a replacement, I would think they would use a more recognizable tubeset. Regardless, my original statement was made based on face value of the tubing decal itself, which is what the OP was inquiring about.
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Old 06-17-21, 06:05 AM
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Originally Posted by sincos
Didn't someone make "Vector" tubing once?
There was a Vector supercar.
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Old 06-17-21, 05:02 PM
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Originally Posted by juvela
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i'll wager it could have taken you all the way to another Galaxie,,,provided of course you were able to avoid hitting a Meteor


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We rode around in a Mercury Meteor wagon in the late sixties. The third bench seat faced backward.
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Old 06-17-21, 07:38 PM
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^^^^ A lot of late '60s American station wagons had a rear facing third seat, since you hopped in from the back. Some Fords (including that Meteor, probably) actually had a back gate that opened like a door and dropped down like a tailgate.
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Old 06-17-21, 07:57 PM
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We had a Ford like that. Don't recall the model. I'm not sure that kind of set up would pass modern safety standards.
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Old 06-17-21, 09:52 PM
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Originally Posted by madpogue
^^^^ A lot of late '60s American station wagons had a rear facing third seat, since you hopped in from the back. Some Fords (including that Meteor, probably) actually had a back gate that opened like a door and dropped down like a tailgate.

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and all of us of a certain age can recall the telly adverts with coach Ara Parseghian demonstrating Ford's 3-way option tail gate

"hand off, pass or keep"


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Old 06-18-21, 03:43 PM
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I’ve never heard of it, but in my opinion squashing the tubes like that would weaken them. Nothing is stronger than good quality round tubing. To be honest though, all steel has similar characteristics all dimensions being the same. You could make a frame from straight gauge high tensile steel, and straight gauge 531, or stainless and they’d all have “similar” ride characteristics if the thicknesses of the tube walls etc were all basically the same.
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Old 06-19-21, 02:50 AM
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Originally Posted by juvela
-----

yes indeed!

either that or a Starfire...

and if one needed a bit of a break on their way to that next Galaxie they could always stop off for a rest at a Starlet


-----


-----
This will all end up in a Nova!
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Old 06-19-21, 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Road Fan
This will all end up in a Nova!
And that's not going anywhere....
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