Mercian Cycles to close

[Jameshow]

Good morning,

Sadly it appears to a forced sale/closure rather than a planned retirement so it is quite likely that a lot of people are going to lose out.

As mentioned above Bob Jackson doesn't seem to have been resurrected, https://www.woodrupcycles.com/bob-jackson/ appears to be a holding page despite there being a lovely picture

View attachment 731899
I think of myself as a 62 year old steel fan, I have a two and a bit year old Taiwanese made 753 frame but I also look at the prices of UK made steel frames and just don't see the value. Just out of curiousity I looked at the Mercian page

View attachment 731897

.... and in many ways thought wow that is pretty cheap, just over £1,000 (ex VAT) for a 631 frame, so I can see how they could run out of money but it is still a lot of money for anyone not "into bikes". Even for those "into bikes" it is still a lot for a state of the arc (sic) frame.

SPA have some nice imported frames, sub £500 for Reynolds 725, and there are a lot of people selling some great Taiwanese frames using unbranded 4130 or for a bit more if you want a brand using Reynolds 520.

However I can see the logic in Ribble buying Mercian,

View attachment 731898

Although there are quite a few reductions in the sales of these so maybe selling them at this price is hard.

It appears that Ribble are trying to establish themselves as a premium brand, so selling steel with a different brand name doesn't seem out of the question, IF there is the demand. This could massively reduce the average cost of order acquisition, give Mercian access to shared management resources, I would say reduce maketing spend but I am not sure if there was any anyway.

Bye

Ian

That would make sense having Mercian / BJ as a vintage sub brand so long as it's not diluted like planet x did with Holdsworth....

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

 

[geocycle]

Part of me would love a bespoke steel frame from the likes of Mercian but I know that after lots of measurements and testing I’d end up with something with nearly identical geometry to an off the shelf frame. That’s the downside of being average! So for me the likes of Spa and Thorn are all I need. It is sad to see the traditional names go.

 

[Illaveago]

That would make sense having Mercian / BJ as a vintage sub brand so long as it's not diluted like planet x did with Holdsworth....

My brother has a Planet X Holdsworth and it is a lovely looking bike . He often gets a lot of good comments from other cyclists when he is out riding it .
We drove all the way to Dartford and back to pick it up.
I can see why some people would spend thousands of pounds on something really special. It might be a once in a lifetime thing for them to own something really special to their design. For myself I'm quite happy buying old bikes , riding them and sometimes discovering something really special.
I hope that someone can rescue the company .

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

That would make sense having Mercian / BJ as a vintage sub brand so long as it's not diluted like planet x did with Holdsworth....

One of the first Planet X Holdsworths was a 753 in Orange and Blue made in the UK by
https://www.reillycycleworks.com/blogs/news/145008903-reynolds-753-holdsworth

For some reason the search engines references and sites all seem to have gone, but there is
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/planetx-calls-in-the-administrators.292254/post-6996408

and followed it up with a few should have been classics like this (@Illaveago )
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/ti-raleigh-40th-anniversary-edition.264758/post-6829119

Yet after the ho-has no more were made, presumably because of slow sales, I looked at them, said that's wonderful and promptly didn't buy one.

When Planet X released it these they were also focused on being a value brand, like "old" Ribble and there is a certain charm to the idea of Ribble buying a steel frame maker.

I think that it is pretty clear that being a steel frame maker in the UK is either a vanity business or one where you seek out customer willing to pay way more than the frame is worth based on time and materials. For example Argos https://argoscycles.com/new-frames/reynolds/

I struggle to understand how an independent can find enough customers at this price, but as a niche offering from Ribble with its presence overseas, a hand built British steel frame may be able to command a premium in the way Brompton does.

Whether this would be on the main Ribble site or a separate one who knows and for those whose who aren't following the Giro, Decathlon's Van Rysel brand has won two stages.

A cool £9,000 from you local Decathlon.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/rcr-p...2-decathlon-ag2r-team/_/R-p-348368?mc=8812536

https://decathlonag2rlamondialeteam.com/en/partenaires/

Bye

Ian

 

[Jameshow]

Good morning,

One of the first Planet X Holdsworths was a 753 in Orange and Blue made in the UK by
https://www.reillycycleworks.com/blogs/news/145008903-reynolds-753-holdsworth

For some reason the search engines references and sites all seem to have gone, but there is
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/planetx-calls-in-the-administrators.292254/post-6996408

and followed it up with a few should have been classics like this (@Illaveago )
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/ti-raleigh-40th-anniversary-edition.264758/post-6829119

Yet after the ho-has no more were made, presumably because of slow sales, I looked at them, said that's wonderful and promptly didn't buy one.

When Planet X released it these they were also focused on being a value brand, like "old" Ribble and there is a certain charm to the idea of Ribble buying a steel frame maker.

I think that it is pretty clear that being a steel frame maker in the UK is either a vanity business or one where you seek out customer willing to pay way more than the frame is worth based on time and materials. For example Argos https://argoscycles.com/new-frames/reynolds/
View attachment 731911

I struggle to understand how an independent can find enough customers at this price, but as a niche offering from Ribble with its presence overseas, a hand built British steel frame may be able to command a premium in the way Brompton does.

Whether this would be on the main Ribble site or a separate one who knows and for those whose who aren't following the Giro, Decathlon's Van Rysel brand has won two stages.

A cool £9,000 from you local Decathlon.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/rcr-p...2-decathlon-ag2r-team/_/R-p-348368?mc=8812536
View attachment 731912
https://decathlonag2rlamondialeteam.com/en/partenaires/

Bye

Ian

Could do with a better name tbh.
Might as well be called the Primark bike!

 

[simongt]

At last year's York Rally, had the opportunity to buy a cracking Mercian audax, but decided against it.

 

[biggs682]

I had a Mercian frame once. I screwed up and bought a frame that was too small and eventually sold it to @biggs682
It was a nice ornament in my office for a few years.

That was a nice one and rode really well once I built it up using bits of my TEC bike which had a cracked head tube .

And if my memory serves me right I sold it to @Saluki

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

It’s funny how bespoke steel frames have become so unaffordable. When I started riding in the 80’s it was normal to get a bespoke frame, clubruns and races were full of frames from the likes of Mercian, Brian Rourke, Aende, Mike Kowal, Argos etc. They weren’t ‘premium brands’ in those days. They were usually cheaper than the off the peg continental frames from Colnago and Gios etc.

 

[matticus]

It’s funny how bespoke steel frames have become so unaffordable. When I started riding in the 80’s it was normal to get a bespoke frame, clubruns and races were full of frames from the likes of Mercian, Brian Rourke, Aende, Mike Kowal, Argos etc. They weren’t ‘premium brands’ in those days. They were usually cheaper than the off the peg continental frames from Colnago and Gios etc.

I've never bought a new frame set. How much are the continental steel frames now?

 

[Cycleops]

Every year some new hipster artisan frame-builder seems to appear, charging a lot more than Mercian!
Would you like to buy some back-copies of Cyclist magazine to read about a few! :P

Im sure there are many builders, mostly one man bands, working out of the back of a garage somewhere making great expensive frames. Mercian are a multi faceted business offering all sorts of spares and services together with all the overheads that go with it.
@Ian H is right Mercian weren't top top end but affordable quality and were more mainstream. No comparison really.

 

[Jameshow]

Im sure there are many builders, mostly one man bands, working out of the back of a garage somewhere making great expensive frames. Mercian are a multi faceted business offering all sorts of spares and services together with all the overheads that go with it.
@Ian H is right Mercian weren't top top end but affordable quality and were more mainstream. No comparison really.

Even today I would have put them top end of traditional steel bikes. Along with Ellis Briggs, BJ woodrup and many others in different cities.

Not many people want a traditional lugged bike these days esp as there are so many S/H ones available..

The way I see it is they have been squeezed by the likes of genesis and spa below

And the modern custom builders from the back of the cyclist from above.

 

[raleighnut]

Im sure there are many builders, mostly one man bands, working out of the back of a garage somewhere making great expensive frames. Mercian are a multi faceted business offering all sorts of spares and services together with all the overheads that go with it.
@Ian H is right Mercian weren't top top end but affordable quality and were more mainstream. No comparison really.

The 'top level' 531 frames sold by Sid Mottrams in Leicester were built by Mercian

 

[matticus]

Sadly no one still thinks a top end steel frame bike is the dogs whatsits. 'I want a carbon bike like the pros ride' is the cry.

Every year some new hipster artisan frame-builder seems to appear, charging a lot more than Mercian!
Would you like to buy some back-copies of Cyclist magazine to read about a few! :P

... to which you replied:

Im sure there are many builders, mostly one man bands, working out of the back of a garage somewhere making great expensive frames. Mercian are a multi faceted business offering all sorts of spares and services together with all the overheads that go with it.
@Ian H is right Mercian weren't top top end but affordable quality and were more mainstream. No comparison really.

Were you posting about top end steel bikes or not? Do you even read what you post?

 

[Ian H]

Part of me would love a bespoke steel frame from the likes of Mercian but I know that after lots of measurements and testing I’d end up with something with nearly identical geometry to an off the shelf frame. That’s the downside of being average! So for me the likes of Spa and Thorn are all I need. It is sad to see the traditional names go.

When I last visited, Mercian had a dozen or more main triangles hanging in a row, presumably waiting for custom forks and stays to customer requirements. So not quite full bespoke.