Here is an example not needing full restoration. It appears rather cruddy but the paint is quite complete. Remember, it can be original only once! I found this on the local CL and it was still there a week or two later. The owner knew little about vintage bikes, had no pics, and thought it was a 53cm or so(too small for me). For these reasons, I had my doubts as I'm done picking up stuff I can't use. I expected to find a model 100 or 200 low-range bike. Well, I was surprised for once. The Reynolds 531 stickers and Stronglight 93 crankset indicated a Mercier 300 and it was mostly original. I measured it at 55cm - just my size! I let him keep the over sized modern seat and got it for $115 or so. 70's French racing bikes are still undervalued when compared to the Italian marques so popular today. Fit and finish is certainly lacking but the then high-end bikes really ride nicely.
Here are some before pics:
This is the stuff you want to find - it comes off easily with a little degreaser and actually protects the underlying parts from rust.
Over several phone conversations, the owner kept saying he was out cleaning it up for my viewing. Strong work indeed! White tape over the rusted out cables? Dig that Italian bar tape scheme. Next would have been Comet on the paint! Nice enough guy but I'm fairly proud to say I saved this bike!
The rust on the fork blades looked thin but, French plating being as it was in the 70s, was actually pitted nicely. The rear stays looked much better - thank goodness for oily road grime!
Many bikes are clean enough with no major exclusions in the paint or decals. This was one. There was a lot of brown discoloration over the decals and the paint was faded and dirty - noticed once the various components were removed. Lug finishing and paintwork was par for the course for a bike boom-era French bike BUT Mercier had clear coated over the paint and decals so I had lots of room to work. Without the clear, cleaning the decals as needed would have ruined them. This also gave me the idea to clear over everything to seal in the patina. I did have to ruin the tattered 531 decals on the seat tube and removed what was left of one fork decal. Didn't want those under clear and then possibly peaking out from under the new ones. I'll order those later. 531 decals appear to never have been cleared over. I resisted the temptation to sandblast it and redo it all to be flawless. Greg from Cyclomondo(see his Ebay store) can make me anything I need but a bike can be original only once.
After complete disassembling, I cleaned the frame with car soap, then Dawn liquid soap, then Simple Green/409, the idea being to use only what the finish needs lest I stain it with something too powerful. I rubbed it all out with various levels of auto compounds to see what I had. The brown stains appeared to be old clear coat and I was able to rub this down without damage to the decals. I could not however remove the paint fading seen around the components to my satisfaction. Once the components are back on, it will be much less of an issue.
I touched up any chips in the decals with black enamel and a gold paint pen. For the body color, I mixed Sublime green and yellow model enamels and filled any major chips. I wet sanded with 400 grit or so and put down a few layers of clear enamel.
The components weren't too bad but a few will need replacement to have it look "complete". The shifters were almost flawless. Into the partswasher they go. The model 93 cranks were awesome under the grime - better than some I recently paid over $50 for! The rear Simplex Criterium derailleur was complete and not yet cracked. The front DR was a Shimano replacement so I will replace that. I'll rob the front Prestige DR from the UO-8 hanging complete in the basement. Since it's Simplex, I might use it for the time being. I was going to replace the ugly steel seatpost with an alloy one but it weighed less than any I had so I kept it - not to mention the fact that French seatposts are always a weird smaller 26.6mm or so. Cleaner turned the black plastic parts a grey chalky color. I have found that rubbing in a thin coat of motor oil will restore the color. The Normandy hubs and Gentlemen 81 rims cleaned up well but those early galvanized spokes will be a hastle to keep nice. I repacked the bearings - a little notchy but we'll see if they seat in at all. I have plenty of Campy wheels if I need to swap them out. You can see the other blog entry, "Cones", to learn what I finally did.
I need a chain, cables, brake pads, bartape, proper gumwall tires(optional but right), a new rear DR idler wheel, and an unchipped downtube cable guide. Oh and some French-style Reynolds 531 decals.
Well, I found a Symplex tension pulley on one of my Campy derailleurs so I scavenged it. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the ball bearings like the original - just bushings like all the Campy stuff.
Dropped by BikeSource on a ride last week and picked up some brake shoes and an extra tube(had a flat that day) but forgot to look for suitable bartape. Few bike stores nowadays carry the herringbone cloth tape anyway. The brake pads are not correct looking but stop fairly well and just remember those "used car tire"-looking pads on the Mafacs?
I found new white Jagwire cable housing and some new cables
in my parts box(forgot about those). This is modern lined cable housing so will function better and still look the part. I suppose I could wipe off the foiled Jagwire script with acetone but it really doesn't bother me as is. I like the idea of improving the brake feeling a bit. NOS Simplex housing is around but why do that if you are wanting to ride the thing?I prefer the design of Campy and Huret cable guides much better than that of Simplex but found one NOS so used it. Soaked the Sedis chain in the parts washer and lubed it up well. I rode it for a few test rides but replaced it with SRAM's 8-speed chain. I have used those on other bikes and like them.
I have been keeping an eye out for decent looking gumwall tires. Appears they are making a comeback. Panaracer and Vredestein, among others, both make inexpensive gumwall tires in both 700c and 27" some even boast weights in the 230 gram range. Not sure about the thread count(TPI) but these tires mentioned are not expensive. In the tubular world, the cheap gumwalls are reportedly junk. I think modern tire technology has passed to all levels of clinchers but not so in the tubular world.
Remember to mount them with the labels at the stem. This is tradition and also helps reference punctures in the tube more quickly.
Well, here is how it turned out. Perhaps sunlit grass isn't the best backdrop for a lime green frame. It certainly isn't mint but from this distance you have to admit it looks pretty nice.
