Wahey! I am going to Mercian at last!

rogerzilla · Post by **rogerzilla** » 19 Oct 2008, 10:02am

Those transfers would bother me.

Air under vinyl transfers often comes out with time, but these may not be vinyl and if they've been lacquered over, it won't come out anyway.

aesmith · Post by **aesmith** » 19 Oct 2008, 11:02am

Off topic a little. Is that a threadless "ahead" steerer and stem? I'd always associated Mercian with traditional 1" threaded forks and quill stems.

glueman · Post by **glueman** » 19 Oct 2008, 12:28pm

aesmith wrote:Off topic a little. Is that a threadless "ahead" steerer and stem? I'd always associated Mercian with traditional 1" threaded forks and quill stems.

Mercian do threaded or threadless headsets to your choice.

Edwards · Post by **Edwards** » 19 Oct 2008, 1:38pm

With air under the transfers and laquer over the top, the air can not escape.
This will eventualy lead to the laquer pealing off. If it was me I would contact Mercian and ask for advice. They might say return the frame. They do have a very good name and I would imagine consider this to be a rather bad fault in finishing.

mlteenie · Post by **mlteenie** » 19 Oct 2008, 8:55pm

aesmith - yes, I had a Chris King headset and decided to use that 1 1/8th theme from there. Check earlier in the thread.

Edwards - I will be emailing Jane at Mercian tomorrow with a somewhat heavy heart but the consensus here seems to be with my feelings - not really up to scratch. As far as the rack goes, I assume the height has correctly been specced for Blackburn rack, although I did mention Tubus at the time.

JohnW · Post by **JohnW** » 19 Oct 2008, 9:11pm

mlteenie - do take heart about the rack - the rack that I chose at the time of ordering my Mercian frame turned out to be incompatible with the rack-pack that I'd bought. I didn't discover that until I was building the frame up, about nine months after ordering. It was my fault in this case, and not Mercians. I've fitted a different rack, which does mean that the supports are not horizontal, but it doesn't offend me. I may fit other racks as the years go by anyway.

Returning the frame will be a bind - when mine was ready I collected it by train - it cost me about £25 return from Halifax - you'd possibly do it cheaper from St.Pancras.

All my previous frames have been from local framebuilders, so this issue didn't arise. Like I've said, I'll bet that Mercian will be as upset about the transfers as you are.

GrahamG · Post by **GrahamG** » 19 Oct 2008, 9:31pm

Just caught up with this after a weekend away. How bizarre is this - I know exactly how you feel!

I have almost exactly the same issue with bubbly transfers - this was resolved PDQ when Paul Hewitt got in touch with the company that does his painting and we've agreed that I'll just carry on riding it now that it's built up but can send it back for a complete respray whenever I like, even if it's not for another 5 years. I'm happy with that. Oh, some of it was down to the style of transfer with individual letters being used which has apparently now changed.

rogerw · Post by **rogerw** » 20 Oct 2008, 3:23pm

I have had to send a couple of Mercian frames back over the years, one because it had dust under the paint and another because it had been built with a bent top tube which manifested itself as ripples in the paint! In the second case they chucked it in the bin and built me a replacement in double quick time. In the first instance we had a slight difference of opinion about what was acceptable but they came round to my way of thinking and resprayed the frame.
In your case, disappointing as it will be, I'd definitely take it back, those transfers won't get any better and they'll prove a constant source of irritation.
When Mercian get it right they are the best but being built by humans instead of computers they are inherently more prone to minor quality variations. Having said all that there is no way they should have let your frame out with those transfers and I hope they are not letting standards slip. Incidentally, your lugs look fine to me.

mlteenie · Post by **mlteenie** » 20 Oct 2008, 11:28pm

Thanks for everyone's support so far - it really is helping me feel better.

I have emailed Mercian today with no response yet. It will be a drag to have to unbuild it and send it back, not to mention having to wait for a few more weeks. I would love an offer like GrahamG's, but we'll have to see. It is just rubbish when you start doubting yourself and imagine you're being overly demanding or nitpicking, but dammit this matters!

mlteenie · Post by **mlteenie** » 21 Oct 2008, 10:55am

Received a one sentence email requesting that I send it back and they'll sort out the problem areas.

Lucky I still have the box.

mlteenie · Post by **mlteenie** » 25 Oct 2008, 8:16pm

Received an email and phone call from Grant saying they'd received the frame and will be getting on with it asap.

I am feeling much more relaxed about Mercian's service now. Perhaps it was a bad day at the spray room.

Post by **Mick F** » 26 Oct 2008, 7:15am

Hi mlteenie!

Just got to this thread from being Off Air last week, and being out all day yesterday!

I'm so glad Mercian have got the frame back and will sort it. That's what service is all about, and I'm sure you'll be happy in the end.

Just a pity that it wasn't good to start with. Please keep us all informed as we're all interested. I feel a little guilty, as I'm another one who has waxed lyrical!

Regards,
Mick.

Big T · Post by **Big T** » 26 Oct 2008, 11:51pm

One has to question their quality control. Why let the frame be despatched in that condition in the first place?

I had a (brand new) Mercian frame and the seat tube cracked after 5 years. I binned it because the cost of repair and a respray would equal almost what I paid for it. This compared to my previous frame (a Langdale), which was still going strong after 18 years of use.

Post by **Mick F** » 27 Oct 2008, 8:27am

Sad.

My Mercian Vincitore is 22 years old and perfect.
It had a refurb for it's 21st birthday.

Colin63 · Post by **Colin63** » 27 Oct 2008, 10:10am

My first Mercian, which I bought in 1982, only died due to the incompetent maintenance I performed by the roadside resulting in a shot bottom bracket and a few knocks which made it uneconomical to have restored. The frame itself was perfect in every way. I still have it because I can't throw it away as I'm so attached to it. As I've said before, I was at the Mercian shop in August drooling over a shopfloor stocked with new bikes. I examined a few very carefully and they were as good as I can imagine. Reputations are fragile things and I'm sure that the few who have been following this thread are less sure about Mercian as a result, but I'm still confident from what I've seen, and they're a dream to ride! I'm sure that they will do everything possible to rectify the probelms as fast as possible.
Only two months until we go to collect ours. I'm looking forward to posting the pictures!