It’s been several months since I’ve done a write up on one of my restoration projects, but now I’m back and I have a whole stable full to show off. First in line is this 1980 Mercier Salève “velo de course”. A mid-range road racer as seen in this catalog from the early 1980’s, it features Vitus tubing and drop-outs. I like the paint and logo schemes of the early 80’s Mercier bikes more than any of the other eras. It’s restrained but the blue paint glows with a subtle sparkle. Read on for more…
I originally featured this bike back in January when I first acquired it, but since then I have done a number of upgrades to improve the fit and handling. I switched the Selle Italia Flite saddle for an upgraded Gel Flow version with titanium rails, swapped the bar/stem combo for an original Eddie Merckx pantographed Cinelli stem and a set of Ritchie Pro Biomax bars wrapped in Cinelli cork tape, added a set of Origin-8 white pedals with white Soma Oppy-X four-gate toe clips and a set of red nylon double straps from King Kog. Finally, a pair of new red water bottles to keep me hydrated on long rides.
This morning, after being first rained on, then snowed on during my commute into work, the sun broke through the clouds and I took these fantastic pics of the bike. Enjoy!
Check out all the pictures after the jump. Click the pictures to see the full-size version.