CyclesMakaron

At the beginning of the 1980s, every serious bicycle manufacturer thought it appropriate to have the "aero" model in its offer - EMC also fell into this fashion. The frame was made to order, and several hundred (road and pista) were produced. They were definitely produced from 1981 (I did not find earlier) until 1987 (maybe later). Characteristics of the frames:
- flattened tubes (in the full version only head, steering and top tubes remained round)
- fixing for "rabbit ears" on top of the lower tube
- top tube guides of another pattern ("de Rosa style")
- shorter SSC
- FD braze-on ( debut in EM)
- slope fork crown (debut in EM); in the earliest framework (1981) de Rosa crowns were used (without any letters, but with "hearts"), EM made a crown with its logo from 1982.

CyclesMakaron

Old Fireleg

Hi,
I don't really know EM bikes, but I see the right rear dropout is a Campagnolo Portacatena. These were applied during the period 1978-82.
This also confirms that it is a very early piece. A full body picture of the frame? Plz!

jiangshi

Very cool, thanks for sharing. What does the Columbus tubing decal say?

Miele Man

Interesting front derailleur braze-on that's NOT suitable for the Shimano Dura Ace AX or Shimano 600 AX front derailleur and that's because it does NOT have the integral cable guide that would be at the rear of the seatube when the derailleur braze-on is in place. My understanding is the the AX stuff was only available 1981 - 1983 inclusive.



Cheers

KonAaron Snake 

Columbus had an aero tubing - I think called air. De Rosa also had an aero model that is, unsurprisingly, very similar.

Frankly this is one area where the Euros are put to shame by the Japanese bikes of the era (particularly the lotus super aero pro). The Japanese bikes are a lot more interesting with better integration with the aero gruppos.

CyclesMakaron

The frame dates back to 1981, when the EMC aero version was produced, it used the usual Columbus SL, which it modified (i.e. flattened) with its magnificent 50t press (it was in the factory in Meise). In 1980-1982, EMC used Campagnolo exclusively and nobody thought about using Japanese "aero" groups, this early FD braze-on model in EMC was used in 1981-1986. EM Aero is the result of following fashion rather than a consistent design (frame+groupset), few of them were produced (a few hundred?). This copy is interesting because of two things: it is the earliest EM Aero I know and, as you can see, there was no slope crown fork with the "EM" logo yet, hence the "loan" of the crown pattern from De Rosa.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

CyclesMakaron

KonAaron Snake 

Picchio did.

The aero-merckx is a mehhh example of that fashion, though the De Rosa crowns always look nice on a Merckx. It’s interesting for its relative scarcity, and because it represents a significant turning point of European design no longer being the innovative standard. Still - I wouldn’t trade my Lotus for it.

CyclesMakaron

Merckx can't be mehhh

Mr_Krist

I have an Eddy Merckx Aero with a “CS” serial number. From the thread on EM ID numbers, would this would indicate a “Capri Sonne” team frame? The fork is the EM panto sloping crown.

CyclesMakaron

Thank you for the information
Yes, this is the frame built for Capri Sonne 1982; the "slope with EM" fork appeared at the end of 1981 just "on the occasion" of building aero frames for Kelme and Capri Sonne teams
This is the second CS frame I have seen... and the second one repainted in EMC (Capri Sonne colours were different)
More picture pls

Mr_Krist

Thank you CyclesMakaron for confirming it as a 1982 Carpi Sonne team frame. Here are some more photos...

Mr_Krist

I have done some research on the 1982 Capri Sonne team and I believe the frame was most likely made for Dutch rider Peter Winnen. He was among the best riders on the team and probably had more frames made for him, he was the shortest on the team and rode a small frame size. This can be seen in these photos of him riding am Aero model during the 1982 Tour de France mountain stages.





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Mr_Krist

From some other photos and videos of the 1982 Tour de France, it is also clear that his Aero model was painted white while his other “Professional” bike was Capri Sonne silver color.

CyclesMakaron

Flawless observation - thank you again
Your frame has slides on TT in the style of "De Rosa" ( it should be anyway ), but the frame in the first photo has standard slides (from "normal" Professional)...
Maybe Peter Winnen (lucky guy) had two aero...

Mr_Krist

Yes, my guess it was a second frame made at the end of the season (serial number 30) and perhaps never used.

In 1983 Winnen moved to Raleigh and team Merckx Capri Sonne no longer existed so this frame was not needed.

repechage

Interesting

pretty scarce as never saw one in SoCal

a friend had an early Merckx, nice bike, as it was so early, we wondered about how deep the DeRosa involvement was.

Mr_Krist

They are pretty scarce here in Europe as well. I have only seen one other for sale. Based on the pricing in this Japanese catalog, it was also the most expensive model in the line which probably also added to its scarcity.

shuru421

Hey Cycles, is that part of your steed?

CyclesMakaron

Yes, this is my 'early Aero', although the wall looks a bit different now

Mr_Krist

Here is another photo I found of Eddy with a Merckx “Aero”. This one is unique it only has two brake cable guides and also a different seat lug with what looks like a integrated seat clamp bolt. Probably made as a one-off for that trade show.

Mr_Krist

Above photo with Eddy was taken at the 47th EICMA in Milano, Nov. 1981

CyclesMakaron

This is a completely different design - it looks like a showpiece that has not entered serial production... at Merckx
But there was a company that helped Merckx: