I was at a LBS looking for a decent frame to build up. I wasn’t in the market for a whole bike but just then a kid rolls in an old Mercian. Kid says he wants to sell it, that it was his dads and he just wants to get rid of it. They guy behind the counter only did mountain bike stuff and had no idea what he was looking at. The guy said… alright, how about consignment for $100. kid said fine and left.
While they were talking I was looking it over and saw it had an old broken in Brooks saddle and nitto bars. As soon as it left the guys hands I picked it up, rolled it to the counter and said “I’ll take this for a hundred dollars.” By the grin on my face the shop owner knew what he had done. He looked at me and said “this is worth more than a hundred bucks isn’t it?”
Needless to say, I got a Mercian for 100 bucks!
this thread is worthless without pics
ps. good score!
this is a photo i took right after I paid the man. I’ll have better shots once I fix it up a little bit.
Who the fuck are you?
I know johnnyraja from before he went all international
Did your Catlike come yet? Drew says mine did. Post pics in the recommend me a helmet thread when it does.
I am willing to bet that kids dad is pissed. He probably spent the money on a video game and a meal at Taco Bell.
That is a great bike for the money. Enjoy it.
I don’t give a fuck if you “only do mountain/road/track… bike stuff”, if you work in a shop, you should know at least something about just about anything that could walk through the door. Or, at least there should be someone in the shop that you can tap that knows something. When I was working in a shop, I didn’t know shit about mountain bikes (or much of anything else until I’d been there for a year or so), but I could tell when something was nice. And we had people that did know their shit about them.
Sweet score on other people’s ignorance. Dude behind the counter should have bought it for $100 and sold it to you for $200. Probably still be a sweet deal.
What kind of stuff is on it? Looks like a TA crank.
^^Another story from this shop:
I found a NIB Jaguar Pro AA stem laying in their used stems box. I asked the owner how much and he was all, shrug, $15?
[quote=“TimArchy”]
What kind of stuff is on it? Looks like a TA crank.[/quote]
looks like a Sugino Maxy.
stronglight cranks, nitto olympiade 115 bars and the most comfortable, already broken in brooks saddle. I can’t find anything on the hubs or rims though.
dude. nice. NICE. 
the frame is pretty dirty. I think it was in a garage and forgot about for a while. Anybody know of something that might get off years of dirt and grease without hurting the paint job? I want it to look like a Mercian until I have the money to have it repainted like a Mercian.
Soap, hot water, a couple of rags and a toothbrush.
I’m not so sure that looking like a Mercian is a good thing. British paintjobs = bleh!
Polyurethane spray. Make it all shiny.
The hubs are Normandy, by the looks of the flange.
Do they have center oilers?
[quote=“johnnyraja”]^^Another story from this shop:
I found a NIB Jaguar Pro AA stem laying in their used stems box. I asked the owner how much and he was all, shrug, $15?[/quote]
fuck you…
After you saw off those shifter bosses its gonna make TIGHT looking conversion.