Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra Max, 58cm, Columbus MXL tubing, frame and fork only £400

Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra Max, 58cm square
Now stripped down to frame and fork only, plus Shimano 600 headset if required - £400 sold

Columbus MXL shaped tubeset, in very good overall condition.
58cm square c2c, seat tube 59.5cm to top.
Seat height 77cm, reach to bars 56cm as shown in photos.
1" h/s, 27.2mm seat post, Italian BB.

This was a buy-back from a friend of a friend that I built it for back in 2011. He's loved it but rarely used it over the years, in fact it was still on the original chain I fitted which was only just about worn out after 11 years! Not original paint as far as I can tell, but nice nonetheless and pantographing on fork has been neatly picked out. Paint had suffered a bit in places with what looked like a regular fight for space with another bike in the shed but with the chips touched in it looks great unless you get right up close. Not my size or I would probably keep it, had one my size once and it got away.

Full photos of complete bike HERE

Viewing/collection SE1/Waterloo.
I could ship (UK only) at cost but collection preferred (obvs).

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Yeah that’s lovely - GLWS!

Cheers mate! Yes, these are great frames - not the lightest but once rolling a great ride.

Sunday Special - for one day only!
Frame, fork and headset posted in UK for £420, collected from SE1 £400.

dmd!

Replied!

GLWS

Oh such a beauty glws

Thanks for the likes all 👍
But no firm takers yet, so...
A wet Monday morning 3% discount to make someone's day?
= £824.50 for the complete bike, all ready to ride off into the gloaming drizzle.
"Space Jim, it's the final frontier" - in my flat it is anyway...

Black Friday sale starts at midnight Tuesday! Complete bike £800 until midnight Friday, if no takers I wake up Saturday morning and take it apart. F&F will still be available but bike no more. Jim wants his space.

Someone enquired about serial number an age - the serial number is D 3737 C - which according to this very handy guide: http://www.cadre.org/Merckx/ would make it a 90/91 model and therefore a very early team-issue frame as the MX leader was not generally available for the public to buy until around 1994. But this is just based on some research, I can't guarantee that to be correct - after being introduced as the Team Motorola factory bike in that season, it was then in production for over ten years I believe i.e. well into the noughties. As mentioned above, it is not the original paint, so could well be an ex-team bike albeit there is no race number mount which would be usual for a team bike.

For those that don't know, here's a quick summary from another website of the charms of the MX-Leader:
The MX-Leader was one of the strongest steel frames, Eddy Merckx developed in the 1990s. The oversized and specially shaped Columbus Max tubes were fitted into evenly strong oversized lugs. This construction made the frame slightly heavier, but boy did it ride well! The frame is legendary for its power transfer, its comfort and safe handling characteristics. Cornering, sprinting, rapid descents - the MX Leader mastered all disciplines brilliantly. So good are its riding qualities that many people believe it is the single best lugged steel racing frame ever made.
Not sure I can agree fully with all of that, everyone has a view on the title of "best lugged steel racing frame", but they are very good!

Last chance for complete bike - a final fiver off to make it irresistible... £795

Now stripped down to frame and fork only, plus Shimano 600 headset if required - £400

Unless I'm mistaken you've got an interesting frame there, not just a bog standard MX Leader (as if there is such a thing!) but rather a Corsa Extra Max. These were made in 91-92 and were a precursor to the final MXL. I think the main difference is that the Corsa Extra Max used the full Columbus Max tubeset while the final MXL had SLX seatstays and a different top tube. The initial versions of the Corsa Extra Max also came with a different fork, though I think later versions had the MXL fork, as yours has, so yours is a bit of a transitional version.

Love to have one of these and would be all over this like a rash if only it was my size! Good luck!

Thanks for your interesting comment, I bow to your superior knowledge! This frame does indeed have Max seatstays, and the slightly odd fit of this frame in the MX-Leader timeline is now explained be the fact it isn't in fact one after all! An equally great frame of course and as mentioned previously if it were my size it probably wouldn't be on sale! Thanks again.

So, looks like this is actually a Corsa Extra Max, even rarer and more bargainous!

DM'd!

SOLD!

The blue frame looks like the latest iteration before the MX Leader conceived. Full max frame but with MX L fork.

I happen to own the more earlier version corsa extra max, around 91-92. It appeared in brochures in 91 and 92.

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Nice. What's your mount?