bikemig 

I've had this Mercier 300 in the build queue for a while and decided it was time to build it up. The paint is a striking kelly green. The bike is in very decent shape cosmetically but it will need a cleaning and touch up. The bike came to me with a a hodgepodge of mainly Japanese parts: 27 inch Sun CR 18 rims laced to Shimano 333 hi flange hubs, shimano derailleurs, Dia Compe 500g hubs, an Ideale 39 saddle, a stronglight 99 crank, and a very nice velo orange bottom bracket.

I haven't decided on the build yet. It won't be factory spec but it will certainly be mainly French with some campy stuff thrown in. I know I want to be able to take it to the rides I like to do in the driftless region of NE IA, SE MN, and SW WI. There is some serious climbing there. The hills are unrelenting and grades of 15-20% not uncommon. So I'll want a low gear to handle those climbs. I'll likely keep the Stronglight 99 but run it compact with 48/32 rings. That will make those climbs a little easier.

It will take me a while to complete this build so I'll add to it as I work on the bike.

This is the bike as it came in the wild:

bikemig 

One neat thing about the Mercier 300 is that the catalogs are available on the internet.


Mercier catalog from Beacon Cycle and Supply Co. (early to mid '70s) lists the following specs for each of their models:

Model 300 ("Ultra Road"):
Reynolds 531 double butted frame, front and rear forks.
Chromium plated front fork ends.
Simplex Criterieum front and rear gear changers.
Simplex frame mount shift controls.
Normandy Competition Dural QR large flange hubs
Stronglight headset.
Stronglight professional crank set and chainwheel 46 x 52.
Simplex cable clips.
Dural pedals with reflectors.
Chrome seat post.
MAFAC brakes with hooded levers and adjusters.
Atom 66 competition freewheel 14 x 24.
Sedis chain.
Mavic Monthlery alloy rims.
Chromed straight gauge spokes.
Hutchinson tubular sew-up racing tires.
Ideale 2000 molded saddle.
Dural handlebar.
Dural AMC handlebar stem.
Tornade Dural ringed pump with AFA express connector.
Brazed-on pump clips.
Toe clips and straps.
Approximate Weight: 22 lbs.
Colors: Orange, Red, Sky Blue, White, Yellow, Kelly Green, and Purple
Frame Sizes: 19 1/2", 21", 23", 25"

bikemig 

I've taken the bike down to the frame so I can clean and touch it up. It looks good in the pics and will clean up nicely but it has its share of scratches I'll need to deal with. The chrome is in good shape. The bike has a stronglight P3 headset which has a very low stack height so it's tough to replace. The bottom cup was brinelled. Fortunately francophile came through big time and sent me a lower P3 cup. Plus he gets bonus points for a great (and I mean great) job of packaging the cup so it would stay protected in the mail. I recieved it today in the mail and installed it. The headset takes 25 5/32 ball bearings top and bottom.


Frame

Bottom cup in a box

Headset installed

non-fixie 

Love Merciers. That green is a great color, too.

I have a couple of Merciers myself, and when reading up on the brand some years ago I came across one of those stories that will always make me keep on reading about the history of bicycle racing. Apparently bicycle manufacturer Emile Mercier and Tour de France organizer and editor of L'Auto Henri Desgange were not the best of friends:

uncle uncle

So, first, great bike and surely a worthy project. 2nd, great color... it just screams "vintage classic" in a color too bodacious for the current buttercups in the bicycle stylist realms of the industry today. Thirdly... the build. So, do you have a philosophy of how you approach something like this? What's your driver? Euro-ish groupo, or function over country origin, or mostly current part bin availability? I ask, because I seem to always stumble and vacillate on every bicycle project I attempt. Looking for words of wisdom, so, no pressure, but yeah, some great inspirational insight would be great...

bikemig 

That's a great question. Thinking through the build is half the fun. One thing I always try to do is to keep some of the parts that came on the bike if I can. So I'll recycle that Stronglight 99 crank. It's a very good design that takes 86 bcd rings so I can run this as a compact if I want (50/34, 48/32, etc.) or as a triple with half step gearing. The inner chainring goes as low as 28. I'm also using the headset and bottom bracket that came with the bike. I had no choice but to make that P3 headset work. It has a low stack height and there aren't a lot of low stack French threaded headsets out there.

The second thing I think about is function. The hardest riding where I live is in SE Minn, SW Wisconsin, and NE Iowa. I love riding in that area. It's called the driftless region as the glaciers passed by it so it is hilly. Plus the Mississippi runs right through it. The area has beautiful roads, scenic countryside, neat towns, steep climbs, and fine pie (I'm partial to blueberry). At this point in my life, I need to get the gearing down to the low 30s to handle a 20% grade plus repeated climbs north of 10% over a metric century. That's a challenge when running 5 in the back (or an ultra 6). The easiest way to do that is with half step gearing. So I'll have to make a choice between wide double or half step. Half step gives you better gearing; a wide double ( like a 50/34) gives you an easier shifting pattern to remember but it won't give you the same gear range with only 5 (or an ultra 6) in the back.

The third thing I think about are the parts. That's why I posted the factory specs. I'm not going to build this bike to factory spec but I want it to be period correct or resto mod with mainly French parts. I know I want to use Mafac racer brakes. There is just something cool about those brakes on an old French bike. I haven't used tubulars in a long time but this bike might tempt me to do that. I haven't decided on the derailleurs. A simplex criterium is the obvious choice and it can handle a surprisingly big freewheel and take up a lot of chain:
VeloBase.com - Component: Simplex Criterium
But simplex FDs of this era had delrin and didn't survive. So we'll see. I'll sort out the gearing I want first before figuring out the derailleurs.

uncle uncle

Your answer was even better. Thanks for all the words.

I'm currently struggling through the build on a 1980 Fuji Gran Tourer SE, a unique one year model for Fuji. All-in-all, it's nothing special really, and has few original parts, so I'm not limited in that way. It's mission, if I ever get it built, it will hopefully be a 1X7 Kansas graveler, work horse, grab-for-whatever-we-might-find bicycle. $$$ and time are my usual hurdles.

bikemig 

Cheapest way to build a bike is to find a parts donor. That is a good platform for your project.

bikemig 

I finally freed up some time to work on this project. I'd like to wrap it up by the end of the month so I can take the bike on some longish rides late in the fall. The frame has some caked on grime that isn't coming off. I figure at this point, it is just part of the story of the bike.

I also was unable to match the paint. I tried mixing some kelly green. It is obvious I did not miss my calling by not becoming a painter. I can always try to get it right later. I may look around for some nail polish that is close enough to this color.

Now comes the fun part which is figuring out the components. I'll use Mafac racer brakes assuming I can get a hanger to fit. I'll likely use Simplex derailleurs but I may run a campy front derailleur since the simplex delrin front derailleurs are so so and prone to cracking. The aluminum ones are pricey. I have a simplex criterium rear derailleur and criterium shifters. The criterium rear derailleur is supposed to be able to handle a 34 tooth. The freewheel will likely be a 13-28 6 speed ultra six. I'll go with a stronglight 99 crank and run it compact (maybe a 47/32) to help me get up the hills.