I posted some shots of this bike in its previous incarnation a couple of years ago. While I don't recall doing so, the link says the photos have been removed. So you'll just have to believe me when I say that it was a different colour and it had flat handlebars and some other quirks.
The story is that I just put some drops and working brakes on it. But there was a problem - I could not stop the gears from chattering. I set them up to within a micro-somethingth of perfection on the stand but, out on the road, they'd chatter and clatter, click and slip so much I thought I'd go mad.
Then one day I spotted the problem: the rear drive-side drop out was cracked. Almost impossible to see, but my guess is that under load it moved enough to throw the indexing out.
Well, if I was going to have the drop out replaced - which meant ruining the chroming on the stays and thus a respray - I might as well have a paint job of my choosing (and a second set of bottle bosses and the seat clamp needed tidying up and... well, you get the picture).
But the result is a joy. In truth, the bike doesn't quite fit me. I've had to take a slight liberty with the manufacturer's recommendation on stem height to get the fit right. But it is so lovely to ride (and look at) that I can live with that.
Here's my Mercian:
