My name is Sam and I live in Chesterfield in Derbyshire. I have been road riding since 2012 when I became fed up with my mountain bike continuously breaking, fortuitously being loaned a 1987 Raleigh Triathlon which was five years older than me (I write in the past tense because the bike was sadly killed by a negligent motorist in 2023). This bike created an enduring interest in steel bicycle frames and my collection has grown in the years since. I have experimented with other frame materials but never having found anything which recreates the same level of interest and satisfaction as steel, and have tended to gravitate back towards what I know well. For me the durability and repairability of steel plus relative ease with which it can be customised makes it the perfect bike frame material. An additional appeal for me is that such frames tend to still be made by people who have learned a craft, a meaningful factor in an age of throwaway consumerism.
Mercian being quite a renowned name in this area I have long been a fan, though it wasn't until 2024 that I acquired my first bike bearing that name. This was a 1997 Audax which combines most of what I look for in a 90s steel bike - a responsive ride offering pleasing feedback without being overly flexible, fettled lugs, and a Campag groupset. So pleased was I with this that, wanting a disc brake-equipped bike for winter riding to help disrupt the near-routine of having to replace my rims every year and unenthused by anything the mass market offered me, I decided to order a new Mercian. This arrived in August 2025 in the form of a Strada Speciale which I am very happy with. The beefed up tubing required to counteract the forces applied by disc brakes gives a stiffer ride compared with my older Mercian, however the bike doesn't really suffer for it and is very capable when it comes to smoothing out imperfections in the road. I have a love-hate relationship with winter riding and this bike tilts the seesaw slightly in favour of the former.
Having ruminated circuitously I should probably write about where I ride, though I don't have a great deal which I deem of interest to add. For various reasons at present 98% of my rides start from my front door, though living immediately adjacent to a national park this isn't much of a negative. I prefer longer rides weather and time permitting will often be out for at least four or five hours on a Saturday, generally riding 70+ miles. I usually ride on my own and quite often early in the day, enjoying the solitude offered by both. In the past year I have been as far from my door as the Humber Bridge, Lincoln, Melton Mowbray, Lichfield, Stafford, Middlewich in Cheshire, and so on. I've also been hit by a badger, though the badger might claim I ran into it. On that note...'