Thorn Cycles Forum

Community => Member's Gallery => Topic started by: brummie on December 13, 2021, 08:24:18 pm

Title: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: brummie on December 13, 2021, 08:24:18 pm
Luckily managed to purchase the last (ever?) 580L MK3 Mercury. 650b build to suit my preference for wider tyres. Andy B's comments in the brochures are pretty accurate. Rides well.
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: Moronic on December 14, 2021, 08:48:40 pm
Nice looking bike, with a very committed posture and what looks like tall gearing. I hope you like it as much as I like mine.

How are you planning to use it?

What makes you think it might be the last of its kind?
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: in4 on December 15, 2021, 08:02:34 am
What kind of support are you using with your Carradice-type saddle bag? It doesn’t look like Carradice’s   Bagman type?
Thanks
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: brummie on December 15, 2021, 11:08:04 am
Nice looking bike, with a very committed posture and what looks like tall gearing. I hope you like it as much as I like mine.

How are you planning to use it?

What makes you think it might be the last of its kind?

Hi Moronic, Robin Thorn told me they were not having anymore Mercury frames made - The Audax MK4 can be specified with a Rohloff, so with that and the many options on the Nomad frame arguably all options are covered. Also worth considering post pandemic manufacturing in the Far East is in huge demand and even manufacturers like Surly have dramatically cut their range..
As for my Mercury, I have a couple of bar options to decide on, and it will be used mostly for commuting along with rides over hills on mixed surfaces. So far so good.
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: brummie on December 15, 2021, 11:09:46 am
What kind of support are you using with your Carradice-type saddle bag? It doesn’t look like Carradice’s   Bagman type?
Thanks

Yep, it is a bagman expedition QR model, though watch this space 😉
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: ourclarioncall on December 15, 2021, 01:37:46 pm
No more Mercury 😮 wow that’s a surprise

Yeah I was recently on Surlys site and noticed all the many models now discontinued!
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: PH on December 15, 2021, 02:38:57 pm
Also worth considering post pandemic manufacturing in the Far East is in huge demand and even manufacturers like Surly have dramatically cut their range..
I'm sure we've had this conversation elsewhere...
A company the size of Surly will have made those model decisions long before the pandemic, a couple of them were even rumoured before. Even so, if you compare their current range with what they had say five years ago, I'd expect there to have been a similar number of models.  I haven't counted, but it appears to me they've introduced as many as they've discontinued, what we're noticing is the overlap, in that the new models were introduced first.
As for the Mercury being discontinued, I'm a bit surprised, it must have been a good enough seller for it to have warranted the recent model update. I doubt many will consider the Audax as a suitable alternative, not least because it'll involve re-writing all the criticism of non specific frames Thorn have published over the years.
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: PH on December 15, 2021, 03:00:34 pm
Nice looking bike BTW, far more saddle to bar drop than I could cope with, but if it suits...
Looks a fairly uncluttered light build, have you put it on the scales, for those interested in such things ;)
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: JohnR on December 15, 2021, 07:04:35 pm
Luckily managed to purchase the last (ever?) 580L MK3 Mercury. 650b build to suit my preference for wider tyres. Andy B's comments in the brochures are pretty accurate. Rides well.
You like your handlebars low! I'd need to have my eyes moved to the top of my head to be able to cycle in that position.

As for the Mercury being discontinued, I'm a bit surprised, it must have been a good enough seller for it to have warranted the recent model update. I doubt many will consider the Audax as a suitable alternative, not least because it'll involve re-writing all the criticism of non specific frames Thorn have published over the years.
I'm also surprised if the Mercury is being discontinued. It has its position in the line-up as a lighter tourer able to take biggish tyres with mudguards. The Audax might be Rohloff-capable (although I'm not convinced that an M5 bolt has a lot of factor of safety against shear under the worst loading case) and would need a chain tensioner but the real drawback of the Audax is the max 32mm tyres if using mudguards and 35mm without. It would be more plausible if Robin meant there won't be any more Mercury frames arriving for another year.
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: JohnR on December 16, 2021, 02:13:48 pm
When in doubt check with the source so I asked Robin about the future of the Mercury and he replied "Probably paused pending getting new frames, no final decision yet".
Title: Re: Mercury MK3 650b
Post by: Moronic on December 16, 2021, 08:36:01 pm
That's interesting, John, and thank you. I'm glad it's not a definite No, as I know a couple of people who might like one down the road a bit.