Merz MFG. photos by James Mason 1977
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Merz MFG. photos by James Mason 1977
https://goo.gl/photos/1LZfa6acYue3cmsx6
James Mason took these great shots of my shop, 2115 NW Everett St. in Portland Oregon. Not positive on the year, but I think 1977. Mark DiNucci was working for me then, also Katie Larsel was my manager. Last photo (AX equipped bike makes this photo 1981 at least) shows Mark, Bruce Gordon and me going for a ride after work. Fun times! Jim Merz
James Mason took these great shots of my shop, 2115 NW Everett St. in Portland Oregon. Not positive on the year, but I think 1977. Mark DiNucci was working for me then, also Katie Larsel was my manager. Last photo (AX equipped bike makes this photo 1981 at least) shows Mark, Bruce Gordon and me going for a ride after work. Fun times! Jim Merz
Last edited by Portlandjim; 05-13-23 at 11:08 AM.
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There is something special about the grain of film. Nice scanning, too.
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The Simplicity of Vintage Cycles
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doo doo doo doodle ooo doo...
Nice, vice, baby...
Nice, vice, baby...
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Great photos that really illuminate the craftsmanship that went into your frame builds! Thanks for sharing. Your contributions to this forum are always worth perusing.
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Sorry. I had to say it. My apologies for the derail.
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Last edited by The Thin Man; 05-13-23 at 01:31 PM.
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Excellent pics!
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James Mason took a bunch of bicycle racing photos in Portland Oregon. Check out his Galleries here: https://pbase.com/zidar/root&page=3
He had a bike shop in San Francisco after he left Portland, in the Marina District.
He had a bike shop in San Francisco after he left Portland, in the Marina District.
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Nice pics, I like the compositions. You can tell they’re old because there is a full Campy tool kit and it’s not the center of the photo.
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Thanks for sharing Nice to see that you had a bike with Dura Ace Ax
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I really enjoyed these pics. Thanks Jim for sharing them !
/markp
/markp
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Yeah, for those indoor shots, the fastest you could get BITD was Tri-X at 400. Of course, ASA 400 was considered "fast" back then, and Tri-X definitely did have some grain. Nikon has downloadable picture controls that allow you to emulate specific film types; I know they have Kodachrome, Ektachrome and TMax, not sure if they've written one for Tri-X or Pan-X.
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I was one of the very few Shimano Dura Ace frame builders fans in the USA, That turned out nicely, when I worked for Specialized Bicycle. I gave Shimano input on the 7400 group, they seem to have followed it! Jim
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I don't think we've met yet but I've been hearing about you, seeing your bikes and occasionally riding with Merz inclined forumites. I believe you were building out here when I was racing back east. (Club mate Peter Mooney riding his frames at NEBC races before Belmont Wheelworks started. And my little claim to fame - I was the guy who put Bell helmets on Boston heads after my Lambert fork failure.)
Ben Jeffries
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Shimano Dura Ace EX and AX both required non-compatible braze on bosses. Even the screw thread is different than any other brand's levers. I made the mount for the AX bike you're referring to. Shimano did supply a top mounted AX shift lever, suitable for aero shaped down tube or round. Velobase shows the aero version: https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...ba7e7&Enum=104
Jim Merz
Jim Merz
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Jim, I see the D-A top mounted shifters on your bike. I didn't see any top-mounteds until ~'85 but wanted them from the moment I saw my first. I wanted them in 1977 when I was banging the Power Ratchet on my Fuji Pro into the 13t climbing any wall to be had. I've been running SunTour, both clamp-on Symmetric and braze-on (well ti weld) Superbe on my custom. So question - are the Shimano braze-ons compatible with SunTour? Could I use Shimanos on either my custom or on the SunTour DT strap?
I don't think we've met yet but I've been hearing about you, seeing your bikes and occasionally riding with Merz inclined forumites. I believe you were building out here when I was racing back east. (Club mate Peter Mooney riding his frames at NEBC races before Belmont Wheelworks started. And my little claim to fame - I was the guy who put Bell helmets on Boston heads after my Lambert fork failure.)
Ben Jeffries
I don't think we've met yet but I've been hearing about you, seeing your bikes and occasionally riding with Merz inclined forumites. I believe you were building out here when I was racing back east. (Club mate Peter Mooney riding his frames at NEBC races before Belmont Wheelworks started. And my little claim to fame - I was the guy who put Bell helmets on Boston heads after my Lambert fork failure.)
Ben Jeffries
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Here is a Browning "automatic" bike with shifting mechanism designed by Jim Merz.
this particular bike is owned by Mark Browning.
/markp
this particular bike is owned by Mark Browning.
/markp
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