Fantastic to read your experiences atop the magnificent Mercury John. I have just acquired one and I am getting the hang of the bike now. It has been a tad uncomfortable so far - that's just me getting the set-up wrong and being too macho about saddle height. I have dropped it a couple of CMs and I will push off again this afternoon to check it out.
I have the Thorn fitted tubus rear rack and I need to fit the mudguards, so your experience will save me hours (and save neighbours from the Anglo Saxon that would otherwise be sailing over the fence). I have Shwalbe Marathon Plus on at the moment 38c on 700c rims, so the mudguards are going to be fun to fit.
I have ordered a Tubus Tara lowrider for the front and will try that with small lightly loaded Thule panniers (they came with the bike). I have Ortleibs for the back and a drybag for my wonderful old Saunders Jetpacker II tent. I'm planning to keep things as light as possible and will forego the cooking equipment I think (as nice as a morning cuppa is).
So glad the titanium hip is back up and running smoothly! Keep cycling into those headwinds and get some DEET to beat the horseflies!
