Very nice. Ridden it?
Yes, took it out for a short 25 mile shakedown ride with a friend on Saturday, according to Strava I got 22 personal records, and I wasn't trying that hard
Note second bottle cage fitted, though I only just finished the first bidon on that ride!
The ride quality is fantastic, not harsh, not noodly - think this is partly the frame, partly the Veloflex Master 25 tyres (and latex tubes) - despite being skinny, the latter give a beautifully smooth ride.
Acceleration is ludicrously quicker than on my Hewitt Cheviot and it seems to fly up hills. Shifting at the rear was impeccable.
On the downside, think some adjustments are needed:
1) Whilst I found the Gilles Berthoud Galibier saddle to be fine and it didn't give me any comfort problems, I did keep on finding myself moving forward on it - probably need to move the rails forward on the seat clamp a bit, it is quite far back currently, will try in 5mm steps.
2) When I rest my hands on the hoods (as I would certainly do in a group ride, to have quick access to gears and brakes), my arms are almost (but not quite) locked, think the reach is a tad too far, and I did have some neck stiffness after the ride (though I am a bit prone to that). Moving the saddle forward may help a bit, but I suspect I should have gone for an 80mm Nitto Pearl stem instead of a 90mm one - on the bike the latter is actually closer to 100mm - this is a bit of a known issue with this stem, but I thought the short reach Nitto M106 NAS bars would compensate. In the drops and elsewhere on the bars it's okay. Bit annoying to have to change a quill stem, though, especially as Mercian did a very good job with the bar tape and mounting the Ergos.
3) I dropped the chain once, although that was when trying to change down to the small ring at fairly low cadence (was a bit of a last minute thing, when I had to stop because had a fly in my eye). No damage to paint, though. Also a few times it halfheartedly tried to pick up the chain when changing up to the big ring, but failed. Think the front derailleur needs more adjustment - the limit screws, perhaps? When it worked, which was most of the time, though, the front shifting was surprisingly quick, considering the 16T jump, and the Ergos make it easy to shift up a cog or two at the back quickly afterwards.
Other than that it was excellent.
We have similar preferences in bar angle - level across the tops flowing into the hoods like that. Works well with those Nitto bars as you have managed to get the drops horizontal too.
Yes, I like how the bar angles work out, the bars are 26mm Nitto M106 NAS bars, 42cm wide.