Video: Bike Stories – Mercer Bikes
The second installment of the Lyne Components Bike Stories series takes a look at local bike builder Mercer Bikes.
Review: Mercer Bikes Hungry Monkey II
The Hungry Monkey 2 is a semi-production mountain bike from Mercer Bikes. Made by hand in the Mercer Bikes workshop in Cape Town, it is available in three sizes – M, L and XL. The Hungry Monkey is a relatively lightweight but long travel 650b trail bike based around a 140 – 160mm travel fork. […]
Best Bike in Africa 2015: #9 MercerBikes Hungry Monkey II
The Best Bike in Africa will be held at the 2015 Standard Bank Africa Cycle Fair on 23 – 25 October at St Stithians College, Johannesburg. The competition invites fair visitors to vote for their favourite bike at the Best Bike in Africa stand. All the entrants that vote for the bike that wins the […]
Hungry Monkey Part 4: The Ride
And so it ends. Or begins. The Hungry Monkey is up and running and all that’s left to do is rip trails and contain my laughter and screaming (like a child) while out riding it. It is everything I hoped for and am glad I didn’t tinker with the geometry. “Bent at the knees, Iwan” […]
Hungry Monkey Part 3: The build kit
A custom build is always a rewarding project. Part of this is the agonising process of looking for the perfect fit of design and components. For me, the direction of the build gets locked down once the look, or in this case the colours, has been decided. Once that is done, then the hunt for […]
Hungry Monkey Part 2: David Mercer on the Hungry Monkey design
One can almost not help but to order a frame from David Mercer. He is as nice as he is enthusiastic and it’s plain for all to see that he is a lover of what he does. Talking to him on the Mercer Bikes stand at the Africa Cycle Fair left me hungry for more […]
Hungry Monkey Part 1: The elusive long travel steel hardtail
I’ve been toying with the idea of a long travel, steel hardtail mountain bike for quite some time. Somehow I’ve always ended up heading in a different direction but not this time. It all began with the On One 456 and the excellent reviews it received in U.K. magazines. The fire was further fuelled by […]
First ride: Mercer Bikes – Hungry Monkey
Despite all the high tech wizardry on display at the 2014 Africa Cycle Fair, it was a hand built steel hardtail that got us most excited. On the relatively flat test track at the 2014 Africa Cycle Fair, the bike was a tease begging to ridden hard. After getting off the Hungry Monkey, I couldn’t […]
2014 Africa Cycle Fair: Trail Bikes
We were excited to see that the local industry is slowly recognising the demand for longer travel bicycles at the Africa Cycle Fair this year. Along with the increase in trail bikes on display, fair visitors voted for the Pyga Oneforty650 as their Best Bike in Africa, despite an impressive selection of cross-country bikes. We’ve […]
Real Review: Rockshox RS1 – The Ab-crunch edition
We put the RockShox RS-1 fork through its ultimate test, an ab-crunch battle. The two competitors, David Mercer (Mercer Bikes) and Mark Hopkins (Pyga), battle for the ultimate glory of being crowned the 2014 African Cycle Fair Ab-crunch Champion. Who will come out top?