Today is Family Day. So you’re gonna see lots and lotsa pikshas.
In the previous sentence, my roots were
showing. I’m going to my hairdresser on
Thursday.
Anyway…Now I’m going to show you some portraits of
family members. It’s a particular but
close branch: The Mercians.
Yes, I’m going to show you my bikes, after their
winter makeovers and some riding.
First I’ll start with Arielle, the first Mercian
to come into my life:
You’ve seen some photos of her already. But I
wanted to show her after 500 miles, post-facelift (and overhaul):
I’m liking it more and more with the honey
leather. I think the bags have something
to do with it: The color of the canvas
(“Nantucket Red”, which is really more like salmon pink) works with both the
green and purple of the “flip flop” finish and the honey saddle, bar wrap and
toe straps. What do you think?
As you know from a few previous posts, Tosca, my
fixie (and the second Mercian I acquired) got a similar treatment.
I’m happy with the way the colors play off each
other. However, I wasn’t able to find a
double track toe strap to go with the other leather accessories. Then again, I guess the mismatch isn’t as
noticeable as if, say, I wrapped the bar in a darker color.
The third Mercian to come my way is, I realize,
one I haven’t written as much about lately.
Helene is a 2010 Miss Mercian with similar geometry (but with slightly
more tire and fender clearance) to Arielle, which is a custom Mercian Audax.
The rear bag is a bit larger than the one I use on
Arielle and Tosca. As you can probably
tell, it was also made by Ely Rodriguez of Ruth Works SF. So is the handlebar
bag, doubles as a clutch or shoulder bag when removed from the bike.
Finally, here is the last Mercian I bought.
Ironically, it’s the oldest: Vera, my
“other” Miss Mercian. It was made in
1994 and I purchased it in 2011:
Somehow the boxy randonneur front bag and larger
saddle bag make the most sense—and look best—on this bike, although I could use
them on my other bike. Perhaps it’s
because Vera has a longer wheelbase and is therefore the most stable with a
load on it. I wonder what it would be
like on a longer tour.
She seems really happy to have those bags, and the
Brooks B17 special. So am I. In fact, I’m happy with all of these bikes: As similar as they might seem to someone who
doesn’t know bikes or Mercians, each has its own character and
personality. Still, they all make me
happy when I ride
Now, here’s the rest of my family:
La-Z-Boy, a.k.a. Max
and La-Z-Girl, a.k.a. Marlee!
