Benjamin’s 1970s Mercier 300

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Here it is the weekend once again. Another opportunity to bring home a gem from the (thriftstore, garage sale, curb, dumpster, (neighbor’s, friend’s, grandma’s (basement, garage, backyard, shed, unworthy hands))), but don’t spend too much time searching for perfection. Instead, why not dig out one of the (insert embarrassing number here) that you’ve already collected and go for a ride!

May your Cheng Shins be gummy, your center-pulls sure,  may the wind be at your back and may the sun shine brightly from your pie plate.  Happy Riding.

Benjamin in Santa Cruz
I picked up this beautiful old French Mercier with lots of patina and an intriguing Cambridge University license sticker. Original front wheel, shifters, brakes, and cranks! Built the rear wheel, both rims Wolber Super Champs. Added Weinmann levers, stem, sprung saddle. “Upgraded” with Japanese shifters. Unique handlebars from an infamous Viscount 10 speed. Gotta love those chromed Simplex dropouts!
Thanks OTSG

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  • T. Jarman

    That is a cool machine. I built up an older Nishiki with steel cottered crank and Mafac brakes and Simplex gears. One of my favorite rides. Thanks for posting!

  • Mark Lapakko

    Hard to find bike in the Twin Cities. I’ve seen a few on the road but can’t come up with one for myself. Old road bikes are getting rare. Wont be long before Magna or someone similar starts selling a Chinese junker in the chain stores. Grab them while you can. I’m keeping all the high end ones in my size I can find.I’d switch out the cranks on the Mercier to cotterless though. Just my preference. I do a fair amount with French so I’ve stockpiled axles for the conversions.

    • T. Jarman

      I’m doing the same thing in Phoenix, buying older road bikes and framesets in my size. I’ve got a ton of vintage cranksets, bottom brackets, brakes, levers etc. Stuff to keep going. Still quite a few bikes showing up here on CL and I have driven to LA and back in a day to get stuff. Lot of rusty junk in southern California though.

  • Doug W.

    Those are fantastic photos! Great light and composition. There’s calendar potential in that rear derailler shot – stunning. Awesome OTS!

  • http://reidsvillebicycles.com Bill D.

    Real nice, you’re right it’s got patina!

  • thorn

    Nice preservation effort, but I feel the need to correct your misidentification. This bike does not match the original equipment of any 300 model and if it were, would have the tubing identified as reynolds 531. The mercier font is the one they used from 74-ish onward, its definitely after ’73. The steel cottered crank pictured, came only on 200 and lower models. 300 had a stronglight 93 crank and simplex criterium derailleurs up through 73, so I doubt they would have stepped down after that. Id encourage you to ask around and do some research on the stuff you find. It can be very informative and rewarding and will give your salvaging a lot more credibility. Thanks for the post…