Started working on the Mercier this weekend. It's a pretty interesting bicycle. Not particularly special, but still a cool piece of history to ride around. It's actually a rebadged Louison Bobet, or, I should say, I bicycle made by a company using his name. If you don't know who he is, He won the TdF 3 years in a row; 1953-55, and was known for being a bit "Hollywood", as compared to other French riders of the time. This was a time when the French were a major force in the cycling world.It needs some work, and the paint is pretty bad. I got it as a carcass that came with a Spartan derailleur, Simplex dt shifters (plastic), Mafac Racer (!!!) brakes, and Nervar cottered cranks. also, it has a braze-on dt shifter boss, but only on the right side, and the left shifter mounted with a metal collar that was made to accomodate it. Weird. I'll have more pictures when it's done. I'm building it up as a fixed/free singlespeed.
The plan is to make a fixed gear randonneur. This was originally going to be a portuer, but I changed my mind. The head tube geometry is a bit stout, and it should handle pretty fast. It weighs a ton, mostly because of the cranks, but I never care about weight anyway. I still need a seat and some tires. Maybe a cool seat bag from Velo-Orange.I'm setting up 40-16, and keeping the Nervar cranks on it. It has Nervex dropouts, that look nice chrome plated. I'm not sure what pedal threading the cranks are, but I do have a set of Lyotard pedals if it's french. Updates to follow.
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