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.

[John Saxby]

Following up on Moronic's comment,

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

Yep.  Here, the only interference is from our inaptly named "spring weather": cool, wet, and windy, with occasional 30º days thrown in...

[Moronic]

Are you feeling clever to have got your Mk3 while you could, John? I'm certainly delighted that I stretched to the purchase of mine at a time when that needed some faith.

I've been stepping up the riding after having succumbed to various distractions, among them moving house (but not far). There's a lovely 40km (25 mile) cycle route (one way) that now begins pretty much at my door, and ends at a rustic outer suburb that offers several cafes. And a train that can bring me all the way back.

There was a time when I would cycle both directions, and I'm nearly back to that. Working my way up to it.

I've attached a few pics from the ride last week. The Merc really is a superb steed for this kind of going. You could argue that just about anything would be, but I would claim that not many other options would so effectively combine liveliness with comfort, and none with so little maintenance.