The Missing Catalogues
Unlike the information on Peugeot and Motobecane, there are not many Mercier catalogues posted on the internet. I’m not sure why exactly. Mercier has a pedigree and reputation in France for great bikes and cycling achievements, yet there are no internet sites dedicated to cataloging the Mercier brand. Perhaps it’s because Mercier bikes were not exported to the US in droves like Motobecane and Peugeot were, as I think the main swell of interest in vintage bikes comes from the US and Canada. Consequently, there is much less demand for information and discussion about models like the Mercier, or for finding the identification of this Velo De Mercier pictured above.
About Mercier Bikes
The business started out as Ribauld and Mercier in 1921, in Rue Guttenberg, in the great bike city of Saint Etienne. In 1924 Emile Mercier bought out the rest of the business, and in 1924 asked for the support of his brothers to develop his project. Beenard Chaussinand in his book about the cycle industry in Saint Etienne, states that “Depuis, l’entreprise n’aura cesser de progresser pour devenir l’une des premières sur le marché français” ( since then, the business wouldn’t stop until it became one of the best in the French bicycle market ). Indeed, in 1937 a Mercier won the most prestigious bike race in the world; Roger Lapébie rode to victory, though the bike wasn’t painted in Mercier colours.
The Great Poulidor
What gives Mercier so much kudos is their involvement in professional cycling over a long period. They started sponsoring a race team as early as 1933, and continued through the decades until they hit the jackpot in the 1960’s with Raymond Poulidor. Now Poulidor didn’t achieve anything like Merckx or Anquetil in Grand Tour victories, in fact, he never won the Tour De France. But he was the most popular rider in France for two decades, and this must have boosted Mercier sales through the steel bike era. By 1985 it was bought out by France Loire, and Joop Zoetemelk was the last top rider who rode for Mercier’s professional cycling team.
Poulidor
The Mercier Classics
I’d love to get my hands on a 1973 Mercier Service Des Courses, in the colour rose of course, or equally a Prestige built with Reynolds 753 tubing and sold for a whopping 7400 francs in 1976. There’s also the super cool Special Sport, and let’s not forget the Mercier 300. A good place to see some great Mercier bikes is here on this Dutch forum. I’ve had a couple of rose coloured Merciers myself, and they are really quite beautiful bikes. There’s something about the bright pink colour that demands your attention and veneration, having such a deep tradition in the sport and in the history and culture of cycling in France.
Solida Crank
My Unknown Model
My bike is a much more modest affair than these great Mercier bikes just mentioned. Nevertheless, it’s a nice example of a later Mercier, built with simplicity and quality that is worth every penny that I spent to buy it. It seems like a mid 1980’s bike to me, judging by its frame built with braze-ons, by its decals and paintwork, as well as by its seatpost cluster. The components on the bike seem all original, including the Solida crank, always a cheaper alternative to the more desirable Stronglight models. One thing I like about Solida cranksets is they are lightweight; they may be more prone to cracking and breaking under pressure, but they were lighter than many high end cranksets of the time.
Not That Bloody Huret Derailleur Again..?
The Good and the Bad
The frameset is one of the best things about the bike, its distinctive paintwork – half red – half white -, is subtle and not so 1980’s like some Peugeots of the time. Interestingly, it has eyelets for mudguards on the dropouts, which means the bike was built with practicality in mind. But by this stage Mercier were using pretty cheap components for this bike, the plastic Sachs shifters, the simple and rather bland Sachs rear derailleur, as well as the cheap seatpost and CLB brakes. The wheelset is a mismatch, and I’m guessing the rear Mavic Mach 2 anodised rim with Gipiemme hub was a later addition, the white Rigida rim and Maillard hub being the original of the two.
Rear Gipiemme Hub and Mavic Rim
The Frame
I don’t know what type of tubes were used to build this steel frame, whether or not they were perhaps Vitus tubes or if they were made in-house at the Mercier workshop. There are no decals to identify what type of steel tubes they used. The fork crowns still retain the nice Mercier emblem, and the top tube is quite long: 56.5cm, centre to centre, while the seat tube measures 57cm, centre to top. The forged dropouts are not stamped, if I remember correctly, and the lugs are simple but fit the aspect of the frame perfectly.
Riding the Mercier
This is a 14 speed bike, 7 x 2, fitted with a standard 52/42 crank pulling a freewheel with a small gear ratio, 13-22. It’s not ideal, then, for hilly territory unless you like the big gears. It’s great for the flat, and being around 24lbs, it is light enough to get a good cruising speed up without too much effort. It’s frame geometry is comfortable and would benefit long rides, and its handlebars are slightly wider than the previous generation of vintage bikes. The 1980’s saw big changes in bike technology, and this bike is no different. It may not have indexed gears, but even the simple transmission worked efficiently. In summary, this Mercier is a nice blend of the practical and the aesthetic, and thirty -odd years on, it still rides well.
Have just the same, Bought it in France or better. I changed it for a bottle of Wiskey with our late French friend Yves. I use the bike in the Morvan (Bourgundy) and have it permanently there in my second home . In the Nethrlands I have also an vintage yellow MBK. And they both do well.
A bike for a bottle of whisky..love that story. Thanks for sharing.
I also have one of these but it has a chrome fork with the Mercier crown stamped in it. It is made with Columbus Aelle tubing and says “Prix de Cannes” across the top tube. The bike has full Campagnolo Triomphe components including the hubs and seat post. But the head tube has the Raymond Poulidor fists in the air logo.
Everything I’ve seen of the “Le Velo de Mercier” were mid- to low-end bikes so mine is a real head scratcher.
Interesting, it reminded me that in the early 1950’s my best friend had a Mercier Lapebie in what I assume was the classic rose and white although we always regarded it as red.
All alloy, light as a feather compared to my “iron horse” which did not even have Reynolds 531 tubing. It was several classes above our mundane British built steeds.
I have a Mercier, unrestored, from the end of the 80s. Used to be my wife’s grandpa’s bike. Fully original, beige… For sale. Post here if interested…pictures will be available. Jos
This is her, available in The Netherlands.
Better picture
Cool bike, I like the classic grey of the vintage Merciers. Thanks for sharing!
1974 purcaged my blue Mercier from small factory in Hilversum ,holland,many km on this bike.Now 70 years ordered my last ,i think Pinarello.
I purchased a 27″ mercier 10 speed in yellow from a Buffalo, ny dealer in the early 70s for less than $100. Very cheap side pulls, hard plastic seat, i cant recall the gearing details. The logo was a bike rider waving. Loved that bike.
There definitely needs to be more info on Mercier. I happen to have two, which appear to be the same model. As far as what model they are I have no clue but they both have a “cyclist” decal on the seat tube. If anyone has any info I’d appreciate it! Great bike!! Happy riding!
I just bought a bike like Alex in the aforementioned comments. The difference being my decals read Bordeaux-Paris. Same components save for the Stronglight crank and arms. It is in mint condition. It has a lovely light turquoise to dark blue fade paint job.
I had read that starting in about 1984/85 Stronglight crank arms had gone to English threading for standard pedals. This was the case for me. So, I am assuming that would be the date on mine?
I do love this bike and am learning to appreciate it’s obscurity here in the US.
Hi, can you post a picture of it? It was 1982 when French threading was phased out, though I’ve come across a few bikes from 1983 still with those threads. By 1984 it was all standardised for sure. Thanks.
This is the image used for the headtube decal. I have an ’84 bordeaux-paris model. it was originally a sold blue color.
this is the image used, sorry thought you could post 2 pixs at a time.
Deed Aron, I have a Bordeaux-Paris as well. I am trying to rebuild it. has a monster bent fork. If you can email me then i would like to get info from you about the bike.
Hi sirs / maam. please allow me to share pictures of my mercier which is still in transit from california to here, the philippines. I am also in the process of finding its pedigree so to speak, and somehow thru this site i may have advance information from you guys. thank you and all my good wishes. Om@r