I’m a second time Thorn owner; the first was a black and yellow ExP, one of the last ExP frames made, built to a super bike specification. I did some miles on it, although I could never quite get comfy - the frame was, realistically, too short for me, so off it went. However, in those rides, I loved the build, the stability and the Rohloff box. I’d have liked it more if it was lighter, a bit quicker and a bit bigger.
Roll forwards a couple of years, and a Mercury appears on the site, being sold by the man I sold the ExP to. It was a lovely specification, although not quite the thing Steve was really looking for. However, it was just what I was looking for - a lighter, quicker, larger, well specified bike. After a little too and fro, and a trip from Devon to South Yorkshire, the Mercury was mine.
It’s a lovely bike, with Chris King, Thomson, Hope components liberally spread about, with the matt black frame set off by red hubs. It looks fast at a standstill. Once home, a little tuning of pedals and seat position, adding a favourite Brooks, the addition of bottle cages, platform pedals rather than SPD’s and a day bag saw it ready to tackle our local routes. The only lingering doubt was whether the gearing was low enough; with a 47:19 on board, on 700c, it should be fine, but we do have a series of stiff climbs on every route accessible from the front door.
So, what was it like? Just lovely. It’s a quicker, more responsive ride with good stability for the fear inducing downhills. The front brake is good - need a squeeze - and the rear is some distance from being run in and is somewhat ineffective, but it is gaining strength with every mile. The hub is a revelation. I know the newer Rohloff’s are quieter than the older ones, but this is a revelation. Near silent in the top seven, and only a little grumbly in the lower seven, and this is with about 30 miles on the hub since new.
The ride is great. The 700 rims ride smoothly even on the tiny 25mm tyres. The carbon fork feels great, and besides the feel, looks lovely, with visible matt through the lacquer, and a nicely asymmetric design to clear the disc.
The last part of any ride home includes a long climb; it feels like I’m going quicker than normal, as I’m in a higher gear on bigger wheels, but I’m not using any more effort. I’ve just started using Strava, and I don’t have comparative data yet, but I’ll keep an eye on that.
Is there anything I’d change? Well, the Cane Creek grips and marching bar ends are both minimalist to put it mildly, and the increase in seat height is making the bars a little too low for me; I’ll stick with it for now, but a 10-20 degree stem and some more substantial grips may be on the cards. And I need to think about mudguards for later in the year.
