My Bicycles
This is the only extant photo of my beloved Mercier 300 in its original blue period. I bought
her in the Spring of 1972 for $275, after saving for almost a year for a Mercier 200. When I
went to the bike shop and ordered the 200, she was displayed up on a shelf and I admired
her greatly. After months of waiting for the 200 and being told repeatedly that it would arrive
in another two weeks, I talked my mother into lending me $60 to augment my savings so I
could buy the 300 instead. Come to think of it, I still owe my mother $30 or so.
The Mercier 300 in the Summer of 1977 after repainting in bright red Imron. She had a 24" c-t frame, full Reynolds 531, and
originally had the typical suite of French components: Stronglight headset, Pivo stem and bars, Ideale saddle, Stronglight 93
crankset, Lyotard pedals, Simplex Prestige derailleurs, inimitable Mafac brakes, Normandy hubs, and Hutchinson sew-ups.
Check out the head tube angle: 76°! By the time of this photo, I had upgraded both derailleurs to better Simplex models
including the alloy rear and cut away the innermost ring on the chainrings so they were lighter and looked like the 105 bis.
Later, I changed to Universal sidepull brakes, from sew-ups to 700C clinchers in the early 80's, and to Look compatible
Campagnolo clipless pedals in the early 90's. She succumbed on August 24, 1996, after 24 years of the most faithful
service, to creeping rust, metal fatigue, and the unavailability of French threaded parts. She is sorely missed!
Here is the LeMond Alpe-d'Huez that I bought in September 1996 to replace the Mercier. It has a 62 cm c-t (59 c-c)
frame of welded double-butted True Temper cromoly tubes, and full Campy Mirage with an 8-speed cassette and
Ergopower levers. Although I tried to find a bike that was close to the Mercier in geometry, the LeMond has a
longer top tube, lower head tube angle and much wider handlebars than the Mercier and that plus the
different geometry of the Ergopower levers made it feel like a bus compared to the Mercier's sports
car. However, I got used to it and it certainly is stable at high speeds (I've had it up to 53 mph!).
This is the early-90's Bottecchia that I picked up in 1998 for $90 at a garage sale because I had never gotten over
my unrequited love for the Bottecchias of the early 1970's—so sleek, so exotic, so Italian! It has a 59 cm c-c frame
of double-butted Columbus Cromor tubing, Campy cranks, rear derailleur, brakes, and wheels, Shimano front
derailleur, and Look pedals, and needed new tires, brake cables and housings, and handlebar tape. I have
hardly ridden it since getting it all in running order, but it looked great up on the wall in my UB office.
I bought this 2003 KHS Flite 100 in January 2004. The 60 cm (c-c) frame is welded of butted Reynolds 520; aero
down tube, oversize top tube, round fork blades brazed into a flat crown. The paint is a pearlescent orange—by the
way, I have not sought out orange bikes; it's pure coincidence that both the LeMond and KHS were orange. It came
with 48:16 gearing, but I switched to an 18 tooth cog (=70 inch) and clipless pedals and added Universal CX brakes
handed down from the Mercier—yes, I know, purists don't believe in rear brakes, but I'm impure and I don't want
to have forgotten how to brake when I get on the LeMond, and anyone who rides fast and goes brakeless is an
idiot. However, fixed is unlike freewheeling and the KHS has influenced the way I ride.
The Thruster 20" dual suspension mountain bike that I found broken in the trash, and reconfigured as an Urban
Assault Bicycle. I put on Tektro brakes, 400 mm Poverty seat post up all the way and then some, Vector Pro
racing saddle, Dotek 165 mm cranks with a 54 tooth Sugino chainring, 13-21 SunTour Winner freewheel
giving 83 to 51 inch gearing, Duro Basket Case 1.95" 120 psi tires, and maxed out the spring preload.
The seat is a bit low, but it's okay with a fast spin [100 rpm=24.7 mph]. The ride is weird and fun!
Dan putting the Urban Assault Bicycle through it paces: wheelie and endo.
The Gitane Tour de France I bought on Ebay in early 2006. The seller claimed it was a 1974, but comparison to
sales brochures (http://www.gitaneusa.com/catalogues01.asp)
suggests it is a 1968 or '69, which is fine with me.
The Tour de France was equivalent to a Mercier 300 and has full double-butted Reynolds 531 and came with
the typical French components of the era. It still has the Pivo stem, Mafac brakes (note the neat short levers),
Stronglight headset, Stronglight 93 crankset, and Lyotard pedals, but some previous owner had subbed Sakae
bars, GT saddle and no-name seatpost, Sun Tour shift levers and front derailleur, Schwinn Le Tour wide-range
rear derailleur, and 27" alloy clinchers. I plan to swap on a NOS Ideale 80 saddle, and the alloy Simplex rear
derailleur and shift levers and Campagnolo 700c clincher wheels with 6 speed narrow-range freewheel
handed down from the Mercier, but even in its present incarnation it feels a sports car.
Look at the lustrous metal-flake paint; ooooh! Look at the chromed fork- and stay-tips; aaaah!
Look at the classic hand swaged and raked fork blades; ooooh-aaaah!
Want to take a look at my Lowracer Project?
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