54cm Mercier Special Tour De France Vintage French Road Bike Frame

✓ Original vintage frame - built in the 1970s
✓ Suitable for historic cycling events such as L'Eroica
✓ Thoroughly checked over & photographed in detail
✓ Worldwide shipping

Mercier cycles built frames and full bikes near Lyon in France for 65 years, sponsoring some top riders who wore the iconic purple and yellow jersey ,including Louison Bobet, Cyrille Guimard, Raymond Poulidor and Joop Zoetemelk. Mercier produced a large range from children's bikes to top end racing machines, they were a high volume builder and had a great deal of success during the 'bike boom' years, producing 150,000 bikes in 1975 alone. Their top end bikes are often finished in purple or pink (or somewhere in between!), like the garish colours of the racing team jerseys, Emile Mercier claiming at the time that “It may not be pretty, but at least we stand out in the peloton”.

Though made in large numbers, the Special Tour de France was a nicely made bike and sat near the top of Mercier's large range of bikes. The name celebrates the company's long history of sponsoring professional race teams, having been involved in every edition from 1933 to 1983.

This Mercier Special Tour de France is an early 1970s model, built from Vitus tubes and with a classic purple paint job. Although not cosmetically perfect, the frame will make the basis for a solid L'Eroica restoration or even qualify for use as a reliable daily commuter.

If you're taking part in L'Eroica or a similar vintage event, this frame is of the correct age, so you won't be disqualified for being a rule breaker!

The frame's been carefully checked by one of our mechanics to confirm the alignment's correct and there's no damage to the threads. If there are any minor issues worth noting we will do so in the overview section below. Please take a good look at the detailed photos so you can see the cosmetic condition of the frame before you buy.

OVERVIEW

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Era - 1970s
Country - French
Frame Material - Steel
Tubing - Vitus
Weight - 3.08 kg
Stock Code - U-F-R62V

SIZING

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Size Guide* - Medium (Approx 32" Inside Leg)
Seat Tube (ctc) - 54 cm
Top Tube (ctc) - 56 cm
Head Tube - 124 mm
Chainstay Length - 44 cm
Wheelbase - 104.5 cm

*This is just a guide, not a guarantee the frame will fit as every rider is different. If you're unsure of your size we'd always recommend trying out a bike with similar frame dimensions first.

TECHNICAL INFO

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Rear Spacing - 120 mm
Front Spacing - 96 mm
Seatpost Diameter - 25.8 mm
Wheel Size - 27"
Brake Fixing - External Hex Nut
Brake Drop - 52 mm
Bottom Bracket Thread - French Thread
Headset Thread - French Thread
Headset Stack Height - 41 mm
Fork Crown Race - 27.0 mm (JIS)
Shifter Fittings - Downtube Band-On
Headtube Internal Diameter - 30.2 mm
Steerer Internal Diameter - 22.0 mm (French)

▼SHIPPING, TAXES & RETURNS

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We've been safely sending orders around the world since 2010. There's a handy shipping calculator on the shopping cart page so you can see the cost of postage as soon as you've added it to your basket. Your order will be carefully packed and sent with tracking & insurance, we despatch most orders within 2-3 days but larger items and orders placed before the weekend can take an extra day or two to process.

We accept returns, please notify us within 14 days and ensure the item arrives back with us no later than 30 days after the order was received.

We don't charge VAT, however, if buying from outside of the UK please remember that there may be import fees to pay directly to the delivery company before receiving the order. Unfortunately we can’t advise on the exact costs as it varies from country to country, so please check your national rates before purchasing.