In testing times for the industry it’s always nice to be able to bring you some positive news, legendary British bike brand Mercian Cycles back on the rise under new ownership and celebrating its 80th anniversary by releasing its first new model for two decades.
Founded in 1946, Mercian has been handcrafting frames and bicycles in Derby for eight decades now but, following troubled times in recent years, the popular brand was saved from liquidation in June 2024 by four friends who stepped in and recently described the decision to buy the firm as like someone owning their local football club.
Now, they are back building bikes and have aspirations to move from the current base in Alveston to a new workshop in Little Eaton, Derbyshire. What’s more Mercian has a new bike out, its first new model in 20 years, to commemorate the business’s 80th anniversary next year.
The Ventura Allroad is, you might have guessed, designed to be versatile, Mercian confident it can do it all from fast road riding to off-road exploring, offering tyre clearance up to 45mm and six assembly packages depending on a rider’s budget and riding preferences.
Three of those are more predominantly aimed at gravel riding, with three more aimed at road riding, however Mercian explains the underlying frame and design is a “versatile all-rounder [that] excels as a fast road bike or an off-roader” and is capable of switching between tarmac and trails.
The frame on its own is offered at £2,650, the three builds available the Core at £4,946 for a road build or £4,254 for gravel, Premier at £7,040 for road and £5,261 for gravel, and Elite at £9,873 for road and £6,210 for gravel.
All the Ventura Allroad orders will be hand built to the rider’s dimensions and paint scheme, Mercian saying the six road/gravel packages are just a starting place and they would welcome helping customers build their own spec too.
Described as a “sleek” road and gravel hybrid, Mercian says it is designed for “high performance across gravel trails and fast roads” with a lugless construction and “unmatched versatility”.
It is made with Reynolds 853 Pro Team double butted oversized steel tubing, with a tapered Columbus head tube and carbon forks. There is a lugged bottom bracket “used to enhance strength in this key area” and while builds come with 35mm tyres as standard, there is clearance up to 45mm and Mercian will fit anything between 23mm and 45mm, depending on each customer’s needs.
Disc brakes are standard and Mercian has invited interested buyers to put forward a £1,200 deposit to secure their place in the build queue, each bike hand built at the Derby HQ.
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The road builds start with the £4,946 Core, featuring Shimano 105 electronic groupset, Mavic Aksium Disc CL wheels, and Tifosi bar, stem and seatpost. The £7,040 Premier build jumps up to Campagnolo Super Record and Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, while the £9,873 Elite build has Shimano DuraAce, Mavic Cosmic SLR wheels, Thomson carbon bars and a Chris King headset.
The gravel builds are cheaper at £4,254 for the Core with Shimano GRX610 and Halo Vapour Tour wheels, £5,261 for the Premier build with Campag Ekar 13 and Mavic Allroad wheels, and £6,210 for Shimano GRX825 Di2 and Mavic Allroad SL wheels.
Take a closer look at the full spec of each build on Mercian’s website.
There was sadness when Mercian entered liquidation last year, the company ceasing trading and making redundancies. However, soon after, four Derby-based businessmen, and self-professed “passionate cyclists”, confirmed that they had purchased the beleaguered brand, while retaining the company’s craftsmen in the process.
Speaking publicly last month the four friends James Knowles, Kevin Devine, Jeremy Murphy and Marcus Vaughan described buying Mercian as like a fan stepping into save their football club.
“It’s a decision from the heart rather than the head,” Knowles told the BBC. “Commercially it’s a challenge. It’s a small company — but it’s got a big history. What we have tried to do is continue the tradition of Mercian hand building bikes.”
9 thoughts on “Iconic British bike brand Mercian releases its first new model in two decades, after being saved from liquidation last year”
Unfortunately for me it’s a
Unfortunately for me it’s a pretty big fail for an off-road bike. The top tube slopes in the wrong direction, it should slope down towards the back to give you reasonably stand over height. If you have to get off the saddle quick and put your feet on the floor, you’re nuts are at risk from a squashing.
‘Slopes in the wrong
‘Slopes in the wrong direction’… what are you talking about?
The top tube isn’t sloping at all, it’s perfectly level – as is the case with many road, gravel and mountain bikes.
It does look in the pictures
It does look in the pictures as if the top tube slopes from saddle to handlebars, don’t know if that’s just a trick of perspective. However, every single one of these bikes is handbuilt to the dimensions of the purchaser, so the risk of nut squashing would probably be factored in to the geometry…
Pretty sure that’s just a
Pretty sure that’s just a perspective thing – if you look at the one with the barrels where it’s more or less square on (which has now replaced the original lead photo) it looks to be level.
I’m guessing this bike is
I’m guessing this bike is aimed at old-school riders who prefer the aesthetics of trad geometry. They managed to avoid nutsquash back in the day, even in cyclo-cross.
The modern slammed stem look
The modern slammed stem look that is so popular requires a taller head tube or your position will be wrong, that is where a sloping top tube helps avoid nutsquash. It does have some advantages though as the headset bearings are further apart and so have less stress on them.
I’m guessing not many riders
I’m guessing not many riders buying the Ventura will want the slammed stem look.
Retro ‘Gravel’ comes full
Retro ‘Gravel’ comes full circle to its origins in the early years of the Tour de France. Wide tyres and all.
I really wish them well but
I really wish them well but they have some really good established UK competition in this space. Not sure wether this bike cuts it against the likes of Mason, Fairlight etc etc. Tough gig but hope they can keep their costs in line to make it work.