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@hippy
That was just one example to make a point. Merckx drilled his components, had alu bars, had far better tyres, etc. Why should the guys that held the record before Merckx lose out because he had better tech? Why should people after Merckx lose out in the same way?
The problem with the 'one bike' thing is there's always room for manipulating things within the rules. Cancellara has a whole team of people working on the record. It's not just bike tech either - did Merckx have access to wind tunnels? Did he have the same nutritional knowledge? The same knowledge of warm up protocols, etc. Even newer velodromes are designed to be faster than older ones. See what I mean? There's far too much to actually nail down, even if everyone had to use the same bike in the same velodrome - which in itself is basically impossible.