Merckx owners thread

Finished messing about with my MXL for Autumn /Winter.

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Will do! I'll put up a couple of shots tomorrow.

One thing, the rather unusual seatpost binder is something to watch out for. Very scarce. I once saw one come up on ebay for sale in Ireland, sold for about £2, kicked myself that I hadn't noticed it in time! Haven't seen one since. If your frame doesn't come with the binder you might be able to have one fabricated or who knows if the Merckx factory has any left. If anyone has a source then I'd love to hear about it! The lugged Arcobaleno was a bit more future proof, with a standard seat lug and standard Seatpost binder.

Thanks, it didn't have the binder, the seller said they were easy to get hold of but I did wonder ! I assume it's some kind of expanding mechanism ?

Cracking frame, a definite favourite!

Does not seem like a good feature!

Right, promised some shots but kept getting caught out by the dark nights and the bad weather! Finally managed to get out today and took a few.

Had it painted a while back in a modified Faema paint scheme. Lugless at the front so wasn't sure how to work in the red head tube, ended up having it white.

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Front QR is on the wrong side and your levers aren't on the same height.

FYI some pictures of the binder bolt. A 20mm bolt which goes through one unthreaded aluminium wedge and goes into a second threaded wedge at the end. Once the seatpost is inserted it lies in the between the two wedges. As the bolt is tightened up this then draws the two wedges closer together, deforming them against the seapost and clamping it in place. Nice idea, until you can't find supplies of the binder any more....

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I see why you think that - they are in fact the same height but I used my phone camera which seems to have distorted the picture a little... Guilty as far as the QR goes but that's just a quirk of mine; I feel better balanced having the F/R QRs on opposite sides!

Looking good! What tyres do you have on?

Cheers mate,
Tyres are 25mm Vittoria Rally tubs

Really nice ! Thanks for the info on the bolt as well

So I came across a seller who had about 10 of these frames NOS in various sizes, unpainted with no fork or seat post bolt. He said he got them direct from a factory in Belgium and was asking about £270 for each so not cheap, although they appear unused . I don't think they sold but he still has them , if anyone's interested I'll try and find his details .

was asking about £270 for each so not cheap, although they appear unused . I don't think they sold but he still has them , if anyone's interested I'll try and find his details .

Could be interesting!

Does not seem like a good feature!

Actually funnily enough that's why I ended up getting mine repainted. Crack developed in one of the chain stays near the dropout. In for a penny in for a pound I thought I might as well have a fresh paint job while I was at it!

Added a third 1988/89 Corsa Extra to my Merckx collection. Not that I actually was looking for one but this one came across and I couldn't say no. It's my first with chromed seatstays and chrome headtube lugs so a bit different compared to my other CE's. O yes, and it's in the colour scheme called "Tutto Frutti"...

Photos will follow.

I still don't know whether the colour is cult or just horrible...

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I like it, you don't see them often and certainly not with the Chrome seatstays, head tube and crown.
Nice buy.

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saw this hanging at the back of a Belgian bike shop today , vendor said was special , gold plated given to successful crit riders , forks are wrong fo' sure , he said a German offers him 2keuro as is for it

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it will need some work: former owner tried to mask some spots on the chromed forks and lugs by having them sprayed with a silver'ish grey paint. Will remove that and see what's under. Forks will be rechromed.

It has a strange mixture of parts: Croce d'aune crankset and seatpost, Super Record (last version from the eighties) front derailleur, headset and brakes, Avanti shifters and 105 9 speed derailleur.

Looking to sell this.
Merckx Corsa Extra 86/87 F&F.
Nice condition but does have damage to drive side seat stay which I think will need welding to make it safe.

Any suggestions for a price ?

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Nice frame, Any idea how it happened ? Crash damage?

I bought it with the damage, so no idea how it happened.
I don't think that it would be crash damage as there are no other obvious issues with the frame anywhere. It does come with original forks.

Yeah strange place to crack , wouldn't have thought there are huge amounts of stress at that point, and as you say no other damage . What size is the frame?

Check the back side of the seatstay cap to see if it's broken too (where it's attached to the frame). The seatstays are hollow tubing and this cap is just an elliptical piece of iron plate that's brazed on it to cover the open end of the cutted tube. Maybe it's just the plate that is broken.

I think it's a 57 but can check that later.