Yet another newbie - Mercier Galaxy?

jaysamson

I'm very new to road cycling. I was given a Miele bicycle a few months ago (it had everything but a missing crank set/pedals), brought it at a small local shop who ultimately decided he did notwant to/could not fix it due to the 68 or 70mm bottom bracket/Italian that is hard to find. He suggested I go to the big bike shop downtown.

Called the downtown shop, guy knew exactly what I was talking about and said it could be fixed for anywhere in the $100 to $200 dollar range.

I then went to Cycle Spectrum, manager suggested I should not bother fixing the old Miele bike, he suggested I instead purchase their $400 "special"
Mercier Galaxy. He stated this was a great beginner bike w/ Shimano parts and they also offer lifetime free service.

After a bit of googling tonight, I really could not find much info on this particular bike.

I have only been riding for only several weeks consistently (using my brother's old crappy road bike) and absolutely fell in love with it. I could definitely see myself as a serious rider in the future, Ive been told by many many riders that $700 is the minimum one needs to spend for a "good" road bike, but now I'm confused.

$400 for the Mercier Galaxy is relatively cheap for me and it will be properly fitted ( the Miele is way too tall). But then again I dont even know much about the brand. I know its made in Taiwan, I read somewhere that it might be Cycle Spectrum's own generic brand. Anyone else have suggestions in the 300 to 500 dollar range??? The salesman from the bike shop also suggested Motobecane $400 bikes which he said was nearly identical to the Mercier.

thanks in advance

oldbobcat

There is an Ebay seller, SPRTYMAMA BIKE SHOP, who seems to have cornered online Mercier distribution. Just go to the bicycle listings, click "Mercier," and you'll find her. Also, check the Mercier web site http://www.cyclesmercier.com.

Mercier is a fine old French marque, maybe a little more special than Peugot in the 60s and 70s, but not as fancy as, say, Follis. Their steel and aluminum frames look very late 80s, early 90s, but for $400 I wouldn't let that hold you back. The componentry looks current except for the threaded fork on the Galaxy.

The Galaxy appears to be a tourer, not particularly sporty or light. If you're looking for a bike for swift club riding I'd try to cut a deal on an Orion or Aquila and compare that to what your local shops offer.

jaysamson

Thanks for the reply, I actually ended up going to another bike shop today and they gave me a quote to fix the old Miele bike for $100, they said it was a good bike, a bit old tech but definitely worth fixing for $100.

At this point I've decided to go with the Miele for now and depending on how serious I get , maybe upgrade to another ride in the $700 to $1000 range in the future.

oldbobcat

If you can get a decent fit on what you have, then buying an intermediate bike certainly doesn't make sense. It's a good shop that'll fix up an old bike.

jaysamson

Well I thought the 2nd bike shop would be able to fix the old Miele bike but it turns out the bottom bracket they ordered wouldnt fit because the frame was "ovalized" ( ? ) basically the old Miele frame is useless!!!

So, I'm back to shopping for a good/affordable road bike, very tempted to go to cycle spectrum tonight and pick up that Mercier Galaxy for $400 ( the ebay seller is no longer registered)

The other cheap bikes ive seen were around $500 but had steel frames as opposed to the Mercier's aluminum frame. I'm gonna make a trip this weekend to the huge bike shop and see if theyve got anything.

Radioguy

I appreciate this thread, as I too am looking for a reasonably priced road bike. I have logged a thousand miles in 2 months on a lead tank from a discount chain in hopes of reuniting myself with exercise and biking. Knowing it is something I am hooked on now, I started exploring options. I did find this thread on EBAY:

NEW ALUMINUM ROAD RACING BIKE SHIMANO STI 24-SPEED

2007 FULL WARRANTY, 24-SPEED, SAVE OVER 50%, LARGE SIZE Item number: 140158083556
That might help you locate a Mercier. It was also a bit cheaper too!

It was that posting that got me researching this bike, as it was about the right price range for my initial upgrade, and I am still wondering if this is a worthy bike or not. Seems the brand name has a history, but as is the case with so many of these bikes, they all change ownership and quality over the years. I guess I wonder what advantages this has vs disadvantages. I don't have a lot to spend, and don't want to buy a fancy name from yesteryear that is essentially a Huffy with road bike design.

** Scott **

mongooseboy

if your nearest city has a spot on craigslist www.craigslist.com check out the bike section. you can sometimes find deals in there on bikes people bought thinking wow im gonna be a cyclist, then turned out they were just too lazy ive seem some priced half of what they cost new (albeit a few years old) but still, brand names. My brother just bought a 1990 bridgestone rb-3 at a garage sale this weekend for 30 bucks, well ok I found it, and called him to ask if he wanted a road bike. for 30 bucks all it needed was cleaning and new tires/tubes...i had the tires laying around anyways. its not a top end bike, but in its day it was probably equal to the 2006 Specialized Allez triple that i ride.

good components wont make a frame ride better. cheap frame will always be a cheap frame. also remember, these cheap bikes will have very cheap wheelsets, and if your a heavier rider, that might lead to breaking of spokes, and lots of wheel truing

oldbobcat

Excellent advice. You'd be surprised at the great stuff gathering dust in garages and basements.