Picked up a Merckx Pro
10-18-20, 06:30 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Central Virginia
Posts: 4,780
Bikes: Numerous
Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1678 Post(s)
Liked 3,098 Times
in
914 Posts
Picked up a Merckx Pro
Cool bikes have been thin on the ground on my local CL for quite some time now but an ‘82 Merckx Pro popped up in my size for a very good price. I have an ‘85 Pro and ‘89 Century, both interestingly in Reynolds steel, so I’ve wanted one in Columbus but really for a while had my sights on a Corsa Extra or MX Leader. I’d just spent a fair amount of money on some bits for my tourer so I mulled this over for most of the day while I thought about but ultimately deciding to take a look, kind of hoping I’d find it the wrong size or crash damage. I knew that most likely I’d walk away with it in my sweaty hands.
As most of my CL encounters, seller is a nice guy and we chatted bikes for a while. He said he bought this used in the Netherlands. He got the fork at the same time and is convinced it’s not original but I’m still not sure why as it seems appropriate for this era. There is some cracked paint along the top tube but I couldn’t find any signs of crash damage. As far as I can tell his assessment of this as an ‘82 makes sense to me. Right now I don’t have all the parts for an appropriate 6 speed friction build, so it will sit while I mull this over - find the right parts, retromod, or in between 7-8 speed Campy down tube indexed build.
As most of my CL encounters, seller is a nice guy and we chatted bikes for a while. He said he bought this used in the Netherlands. He got the fork at the same time and is convinced it’s not original but I’m still not sure why as it seems appropriate for this era. There is some cracked paint along the top tube but I couldn’t find any signs of crash damage. As far as I can tell his assessment of this as an ‘82 makes sense to me. Right now I don’t have all the parts for an appropriate 6 speed friction build, so it will sit while I mull this over - find the right parts, retromod, or in between 7-8 speed Campy down tube indexed build.
__________________
N = '96 Colnago C40, '04 Wilier Alpe D'Huez, '10 Colnago EPS, '85 Merckx Pro, '89 Merckx Century, '86 Tommasini Professional, '04 Teschner Aero FX Pro, '05 Alan Carbon Cross, '86 De Rosa Professional, '82 Colnago Super, '95 Gios Compact Pro, '95 Carrera Zeus, '84 Basso Gap, ‘89 Cinelli Supercorsa, ‘83 Bianchi Specialissima, ‘VO Randonneur, Ritchey Breakaway Steel, '84 Paletti Super Prestige, Heron Randonneur
N = '96 Colnago C40, '04 Wilier Alpe D'Huez, '10 Colnago EPS, '85 Merckx Pro, '89 Merckx Century, '86 Tommasini Professional, '04 Teschner Aero FX Pro, '05 Alan Carbon Cross, '86 De Rosa Professional, '82 Colnago Super, '95 Gios Compact Pro, '95 Carrera Zeus, '84 Basso Gap, ‘89 Cinelli Supercorsa, ‘83 Bianchi Specialissima, ‘VO Randonneur, Ritchey Breakaway Steel, '84 Paletti Super Prestige, Heron Randonneur
Likes For Spaghetti Legs:
10-18-20, 08:03 AM
#2
weapons-grade bolognium
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Across the street from Chicago
Posts: 6,344
Bikes: Battaglin Cromor, Ciocc Designer 84, Schwinn Superior 1981
Mentioned: 44 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 985 Post(s)
Liked 2,378 Times
in
891 Posts
That red - love it! Would go with 8-sp dt 
Likes For due ruote:
10-18-20, 01:50 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Utah
Posts: 8,672
Bikes: Paletti,Pinarello Monviso,Duell Vienna,Giordana XL Super,Lemond Maillot Juane.& custom,PDG Paramount,Fuji Opus III,Davidson Impulse,Pashley Guv'nor,Evans,Fishlips,Y-Foil,Softride, Tetra Pro, CAAD8 Optimo,
Mentioned: 156 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2323 Post(s)
Liked 4,990 Times
in
1,777 Posts
Sweet!
__________________
Steel is real...and comfy.
Steel is real...and comfy.
