Mercian Vincitore

This is a beautiful bicycle owned by a friend of mine and a customer of the shop. It is a mid 1970s Mercian Vincitore. The bicycle is outfitted with a variety of period parts, from Campagnolo Nuovo Record drivetrain, Dia compe brakes, newer Mavic rims. I love the paint applied to the cutouts in the Nuovo Record high flange hubs, it is a very nice subtle touch. I may 'borrow' this for one of my bicycles, I forgot how well that accents a bike.

The chrome headlugs are beautiful, they were not listed in the catalog I was able to find online at the Mercian website(I wonder if this bicycle had that specially ordered).I really love the chrome Cinelli fully sloping fork crown as well. It does have vertical Campagnolo rear dropouts that were not that well received, as they were thinner than typical high quality dropouts and would either require a shorter axle or the frame builder to braze a slotted washer on it to give it more material. I am not sure how I feel about the seatstay treatment, it looks a little crowded. The wraparound seatstays over the lug is a bit 'meaty,' maybe if the wraparound was more profiled, or filed down, it would look a little more tied together.