Re: Mercians: Bikefanclub.com

Re: Mercians

I am very late to this thread. However, I wanted to add my experience with Mercian as I had a touring frame custom made from them in 2004. My experience is that although their price seems reasonable at first when comparing other custom frame builders,(about $900 USD after shipping) vs. 1200-1300 for the US or Japan, their workmanship actually is not up to the same level.

I was excited when I got my lugged, steel touring frame from them since I had put a lot of work on details such as custom geometry, eyelets, color, etc. During installation, however, I discovered that the paint would chip off easily, and that key areas such as the bottom bracket threads, insides of the head tube, and where the seat post is inserted revealed poor workmanship. The threads/insides of the tubing were chewy like and would peel off easily.

I had the frame assessed by two well known steel frame builders/designers in Northern California, and they both agreed that the quality of workmanship was very poor. While the bike rode adequately due to it having the right geometry and lugged steel the longevity of the frame would be suspect. I eventually sold the frame for a loss.

If I could do it again, I would have rather spent another $400 for a lugged Japanese or American built custom frame. This I can say since I now own a 'semi production' Japan built Rivendell Romulus and the quality of this frame is far-far superior than the Mercian I had custom made.

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