Mercury 40

[rualexander]

Anyone bought a Mercury 40 yet?
Looking at the specs and have asked Thorn a few questions so far.
It seems that they have rationalised their line up a bit and come up with the Mercury 40 to replace the Mercury Mk3, the Club Tour, and the Audax.
But from what I can gather there has been a bit of a downgrade on some features, notably the frame fittings like cable guides, rack mounts, etc are now no longer stainless steel, and the paint is no longer the Imron of the Mercury Mk3, possibly back to powder coated?
Seems a backward step, but probably based on economics I guess.
Considering a frame to base my rohloff on as haven't used my Sherpa much in recent years since getting a gravel bike from another brand 😱.

[Jags]

sounds a bit cheapskate maybe they thought nobody would notice.

[Moronic]

Disappointing on the fittings, if that's so. Although realistically it would be a real-world problem only for your grandchildren, unless you're planning a few round-the-world trips. A paint downgrade would be disappointing too.

I'm still really enjoying my Mercury Mk3 650B. Perfect for my use envelope of day rides and light touring, tar and gravel.

Hard to know whether the 40 will be as good, especially as I doubt many Mk3 owners will trade for a 40. Probably it's not quite as good, but that's still very good.

The Mk3 is a great frame for a Rohloff because the rear dropout is designed to prevent the hub outer from rotating without the need for a torque arm, and the cable runs are  Rohloff specific and well thought out. Albeit you still need to protect the frame from the cable outers, in places.

[JohnR]

Considering a frame to base my rohloff on as haven't used my Sherpa much in recent years since getting a gravel bike from another brand 😱.

Depending on your intended usage, this discussion might be of interest https://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14396.0.