Hi Guys,

I've just got back into cycling after a 30 year gap, and looked up this photo.

Sorry it's not great quality, but it's me in around 1975 (at the age of about 14/15) as a keen schoolboy cyclist with the bike I'd just put together, obviously with one of your frames! Hugely proud as you can see!

From memory the frame was a King of Mercia model, bought through Les Bryant Cycles in Norwich (I think it still exists, though I suspect Les doesn't still run it). I think at the time the frame cost about £65 – the whole bike ran out to around £230!!

Just for the sake of completeness, the rest of the bike went as follows: Campag Pista chainset, Cinelli bars and stem, Brooks Pro saddle (I think Cinelli seat post), Suntour Cyclone gear mech with bar end shifter, Shimano Dura-Ace brakes (bought for me as a birthday present by my elder sister in the Mercier Boutique in Paris!!), Campag L/F Q/R hubs, Fiamme rims.

Glad to see you guys are thriving building classic design frames – I love the Paul Smith variants in particular – I have an MTB at the moment and would like a road bike, but may be saving up for a while for another Mercian!!

Best Regards

Chris J