Mercet X Campagnolo 50th Anniversary
08-18-22, 08:11 AM
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Thanks for posting. And a very cool story. I imagine it’s exceedingly difficult to take pictures of a black bike. I wish we could see the frame better. Maybe it’s worse because I’m looking at them on my phone.
Alexandre has posted here before. Folks here are interested in the bikes and had many technical questions about them for Alexandre, but because he is writing a book about them, he wasn’t really interested in answering many of our questions.
Alexandre has posted here before. Folks here are interested in the bikes and had many technical questions about them for Alexandre, but because he is writing a book about them, he wasn’t really interested in answering many of our questions.
Last edited by smd4; 08-18-22 at 08:21 AM.
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08-18-22, 10:50 AM
#4
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Maybe, (as you said) it's just that I am looking at the photos on a cell phone but the large crank wheel looks rather large. 🤔
It looks like an over sized ring like the ones installed on Bike Fridays. Is it a larger ring?
It looks like an over sized ring like the ones installed on Bike Fridays. Is it a larger ring?
08-18-22, 12:54 PM
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Wow! Giving that 50th anniversary laden bike for commutes to a train station by a grandchild was very kind unselfish thing to do.
The problem is, the beautiful precious bike will be stolen the moment she takes her eyes off it......
The problem is, the beautiful precious bike will be stolen the moment she takes her eyes off it......
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08-18-22, 01:16 PM
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I purchased the first issue and assessed additional we're not worth the tariff.
08-18-22, 01:43 PM
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Please. See your way out with your snobby 'tude. I for one have simply read enough of your drivel.
DD
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08-18-22, 02:28 PM
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Do you have any idea how many "cultures" exist in the US of A? Your generalization suggests nobody here can make a quality assessment of Mercet frames because we're separated by a large body of saltwater and all share a culture ignorant of what constitutes quality.
As Mr. 66 posted, the association of snobbery with this manufacturer’s products may have damaged the bikes’ reputation. Which is a real shame since many hold this man’s workmanship in high regard.
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08-18-22, 04:05 PM
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Personally, I love the workmanship (tho the fork treatment reminds me of lower-quality uni-crown examples, but that's just personal preference), and see plenty of quality; surely Mssr. Mercet deserves a less abrasive representative to champion his wares.
DD
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08-18-22, 04:15 PM
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08-19-22, 08:22 AM
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Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share this unusual bike. We are currently gathering information for our upcoming Cyclopast Volume 4, on this swiss builder Jacques Mercet.
The story is quite original too
We had the chance to catch up with Alexandre Bertusi (@cycles_mercet), which is now probably the most knowledgeable person about the story of Jacques Mercet.
Since our short article on a Mercet owned by our friend Pouf from Toulon, we kept in contact with Alexandre, who never stopped to share stories about these Jacques Mercet.
This Mercet mounted with a 50th-anniversary groupset has ( again ) an incredible story: This 1984 bike in Super Vitus with 50th anniversary Campagnolo. It was custom built as Mercet only did. The now elderly owner keeps it in his cellar and has been gathering dust since 1995 when it was last released. Then a year ago, a 21-year-old girl asked her grandfather if he still had an old steel bike to commute to Morges station. His grandfather told him no, I have nothing left but maybe one of my friends whom I will call. This friend said yes, and the girl and her grandfather went there to pick it up. The girl is 172 cm tall, so the frame is a little too big but a good gift, so we're not too picky. Before going back home, the old owner told her: "Be careful, this bike is very special. It's a Mercet which has more value than its complete 50th Campagnolo groupset. YOu will need to do a big service to be able to ride it. " said the old owner. So the girl took it and dropped it off in a participatory workshop. The next day, the director of this association asked him to come and pick it up right away because he didn't want/could keep such an object like this. Therefore the woman left it in the storage of his dad before Alexandre recently entered in contact with her to collect the bike.
The lines are obviously insane. Still unknown, Jacques Mercet will soon become a must-have; some collectors are already looking to add them to their collection. Problem Mercet did less than 350 frames; among those 50 were tests and are not listed in the Mercet archive. Finding them is a challenge, but buying them is another one because owners are usually well aware of their material and emotional value. Those bikes were reserved for a tiny number of people, a sort of Mercet club. A huge amount of work is actually done by Alexandre to collect them and share their stories.
Incredible moment shared with Gabriel Refait ( @dynamo.cr ) César Maillet-Contin (@molymanga) and Olivier Garcia, in the beautiful city of Aix En Provence.
Just wanted to share this unusual bike. We are currently gathering information for our upcoming Cyclopast Volume 4, on this swiss builder Jacques Mercet.
The story is quite original too
We had the chance to catch up with Alexandre Bertusi (@cycles_mercet), which is now probably the most knowledgeable person about the story of Jacques Mercet.
Since our short article on a Mercet owned by our friend Pouf from Toulon, we kept in contact with Alexandre, who never stopped to share stories about these Jacques Mercet.
This Mercet mounted with a 50th-anniversary groupset has ( again ) an incredible story: This 1984 bike in Super Vitus with 50th anniversary Campagnolo. It was custom built as Mercet only did. The now elderly owner keeps it in his cellar and has been gathering dust since 1995 when it was last released. Then a year ago, a 21-year-old girl asked her grandfather if he still had an old steel bike to commute to Morges station. His grandfather told him no, I have nothing left but maybe one of my friends whom I will call. This friend said yes, and the girl and her grandfather went there to pick it up. The girl is 172 cm tall, so the frame is a little too big but a good gift, so we're not too picky. Before going back home, the old owner told her: "Be careful, this bike is very special. It's a Mercet which has more value than its complete 50th Campagnolo groupset. YOu will need to do a big service to be able to ride it. " said the old owner. So the girl took it and dropped it off in a participatory workshop. The next day, the director of this association asked him to come and pick it up right away because he didn't want/could keep such an object like this. Therefore the woman left it in the storage of his dad before Alexandre recently entered in contact with her to collect the bike.
The lines are obviously insane. Still unknown, Jacques Mercet will soon become a must-have; some collectors are already looking to add them to their collection. Problem Mercet did less than 350 frames; among those 50 were tests and are not listed in the Mercet archive. Finding them is a challenge, but buying them is another one because owners are usually well aware of their material and emotional value. Those bikes were reserved for a tiny number of people, a sort of Mercet club. A huge amount of work is actually done by Alexandre to collect them and share their stories.
Incredible moment shared with Gabriel Refait ( @dynamo.cr ) César Maillet-Contin (@molymanga) and Olivier Garcia, in the beautiful city of Aix En Provence.
Knowing the rest of the story, I’m almost scared to know what he paid for the bike.
Last edited by smd4; 08-19-22 at 08:30 AM.
08-19-22, 08:55 AM
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Last edited by cb400bill; 08-19-22 at 10:09 AM. Reason: clean up
08-19-22, 02:31 PM
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08-19-22, 05:14 PM
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Been cleaning this out and didn't find a single bike.
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08-19-22, 05:19 PM
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08-19-22, 05:25 PM
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Having clear grey stained that barn as a teen I have no desire to paint it to conform to someone's idealistic notion of what constitutes beauty or value. I was told the barn is worth $20K parted out with the weathered wood and hand hewn beams.
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08-19-22, 06:50 PM
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This thread is deja vu all over again.
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08-19-22, 07:12 PM
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Where is that darn "ignore " button hiding ! (rolls eyes )
08-19-22, 07:33 PM
#25
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@smd4
You are still on the wrong line...
A normality with you...
And you don't seem to know what a barn is
You are still on the wrong line...
A normality with you...
And you don't seem to know what a barn is
There is no shame in being ignorant. Every human is infinitely ignorant and that will always be so, compared to the infinity of all there is to know.
But being too quick to accuse another of ignorance, now that is a character flaw. The fact that you are actually the ignorant one in this case doesn't even matter much, though it does compound the offense.
The problem is you don't know that "barn find" is an idiomatic expression, and doesn't require there to be an actual barn. In fact most barn finds come from basements, attics, garages or even outdoors under many years' accumulation of foliage turning to compost, as was my 1933 Excelsior, a bike I dearly love.
The expression probably comes from the car and motorcycle collecting world, where an actual barn is more likely. But anglophone bike people know there was probably no barn involved when we say barn find.
I's normal and understandable that you wouldn't know that. As I say, no shame in that. But jumping on smd4 , when you were the one with the lacuna in your understanding, is an embarrassment.
We all do it sometimes; I sure ain't perfect, but I am yet capable of feeling shame if I accuse someone wrongly of ignorance. It says so much more about the accuser than the accused, and it usually doesn't even matter who's right.
Now both of you please, I beg you, for the benefit of the rest of us and the health of the forum, please do not reply to each other any more. You both have shown an inability to de-escalate. It's tiresome! I'm getting PTSD, triggered by the name Mercet. That poor gent doesn't deserve that!
Mark B
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