I don't know of any such team (but then, know very little about pro cycling). On this page: https://www.merciancycles.co.uk/about-us/history/ the only references to racing teams are in the 1960's-80's.Originally Posted by mr brightside
I don't know of any such team (but then, know very little about pro cycling). On this page: https://www.merciancycles.co.uk/about-us/history/ the only references to racing teams are in the 1960's-80's.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
No, but by the look of it they provided bikes for a small pro outfit in the late 1960s.
They used to have a really good reputation building steel (531) frames, but lost there way in the 1980s. I know this because we had two of their employees in our bike club at this time. My understanding is that they became more of an upmarket bespoke builder, building for discerning cyclists who might otherwise have bought a Bianchi, and re-found the quality and reputation that they had previously had.
There is still debate about how good their frames are, but no-one questions their paintwork.
A very mild day today, I didn't even make it to bramhope without stopping to derobe, and was perspiring heavily as I walked into the craven arms. I had a gigantic portion of chips and gravy, far too much to eat in one sitting, I don't know why the kitchen sent me thrice what I paid for. There will be a lot of cycling taking place this year, I'm sending two sets of wheels down to Woodrup for working on.
Woodrup? There's posh.
How did you manage to leave the shop without buying one of those gorgeous Bianchis?
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Actually I had to go to Ilkley so wheelbase are looking at this issue with the Alan. It turned out that a new wheel set is cheaper than a new set of rims! So I'm getting new wheels on the Dolan.
Does anyone use swiss stop pads? Wheelbase guy says they are worth the extra tenner because they don't wear your rims as fast.
Well I've been suckered in to buying the pricey pads, if they don't scrape like hell when wet they're probably a better unit than the 105s. Seem to get so much crap caught underneath.
My new cheap wheels turned out to only take up to 10s, so I ended up with Shimano rs, but Wheelbase gave me 10% off for the messing about. They also swapped the hardware over at no extra charge, and cleaned my awful cassette which was thick with traffic film. This is the reason I'll probably go back, if he hadn't cleaned it I'd know there was no pride.
The Alan has had the rear wheel redished so the mech doesn't catch on the spokes, so I can get out on that again now. Probably wearing my new castelli squadra stretch windproof shell that I got from Wheelbase for £30, i really did need a hi viz cag.
I've kept my old Shimano hubs, so all I need is a pair of nearly new 700c rims and I can get a second wheel set built up. The front is 20h and the rear 24h if anyone has any good rims they don't want.
Interesting account. I think I've only ever bought a pair of shoe cleats despite passing the shop nearly every day.
But I do occasionally look in the window.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
It's not just a case of getting the correct number of holes, you've got to get the ERD right - I'll explain.
A 700c wheel (the standard size on a road bike) measures 700mm across its diameter when fitted with a fully inflated 39mm tyre. The tyre well on the rim has a diameter of 622mm, and is an industry standard so that all 700c tyres fit on 700c rims.
The spokes don't join the rim at the tyre well anymore, (old, cheap ones used to), as this can cause the end of the spokes to puncture the inner tube (I've seen it many times). Instead, the spokes join the rim away from the tyre well and slightly closer to the hub. This has a smaller diameter, and is known as the ERD (Effective rim diameter). The problem is that an 65mm section rim will have a much smaller ERD than a non aero 12mm one, and require much shorter spokes.
In practice, if you replace the rims you've got to get new ones that have an ERD within 3mm (either way) of the old rims. If you don't, then you'll need a full set of new spokes which is ££.
***
It is worth mentioning that modern wheels for rim brakes should have wear indicators. You mentioned you'd got a pair of Shimano rs wheels, but you didn't say which model they were. I have a pair of Shimano rs100 wheels, and they have a deliberate 'indent' on the braking surface on both sides - they idea being that with use this will wear to nothing when they've reached their safe limit. The 'indents' on my wheels are just to the side of the valve hole.
My recommendation would be that you modify a Vernier gauge to measure how thick the rim walls are on your new wheels, and write this down somewhere safe so you can re-measure in the future. If you still have the old worn rims you could measure exactly how much metal you've got left on them. If they've still got a reasonable amount of thickness left, you could build them back up into wheels.
Finally, 20 hole rims are rare, and 24 hole ones not that much more common. They're usually expensive too, and you've got to get the ERD right otherwise there's the additional expense of new spokes which I mentioned. I'd keep the hubs for parts (old Shimano hubs have excellent, easy to work on, cup and cone bearings - as do my rs100 wheels.)
Standard 50m up to the craven arms today. It was a cold start and the first outing in my new castelli squadra stretch shell. I found that I could ride further before getting hot, so it breathes better than a mistlite, but it flaps away in the wind like a shopping bag. I was definitely colder on the way back without it on; it packs up small enough to fit in a jersey pocket. On the way up I passed some children from otley cc being chaperoned along the winding lanes of lower wharfedale, they commented that I was not wearing a helmet.
When i was cycling in Fuerteventura i was amazed at all these Spanish cyclists going the other direction all said "hi mate" to me....
What a friendly bunch, i thought.
Until i realised they were all shouting "helmet" at me, due to my lack of one!
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