bpford59

Hi all, this is a recent find and it's great, but I don't know what year or model? any help would be greatly appreciated.
It has some different EM decals that are peeling badly, some yellow colored decorative etches in the lugs and the only numbers are the '56' near the bottom bracket.
It has a ttt stem and bars, stronglite crankset, campy shifters and deraillers, ruggieri seatpost, gipiemme dropouts, no cable guide braze-ons and a set of water bottle bosses.
it came with a set of nisi wheels on ofmega hubs.
Any info,



comments or questions would be great, thanks!

bpford59

here's some more pics, the lug design and decoration is interesting,
any info. out there?

rccardr 

bpford59

thanks rccardr, it surprisingly rides very nice as it is
any idea what tubing it has?

bpford59

come on people, there's gotta be some Merckx aficionados out there!? it looks like some Kessels but i still haven't found any similiar lug designs..
any other knowledge would be appreciated!

verktyg 

Looks like a lower price range Kessels made in Belgium. An amateur racing model. Kessels focused on performance style bikes. They made a range from gas pipe specials to top of the line pro models. They were well known for their sporting ride and handling qualities.

Merckx rode Kessels built frames from 1971 to 1976 but not exclusively. He also rode frames made by Colnago and DeRosa plus maybe some other builders during those years too.

Kessels was one of 6+ bike manufacturers that Merckx licensed to use his name.

The Campy knock off Gipiemme dropouts place it to around the mid 70's or later. No telling what kind of tubing it's made of. Maybe Reynolds 531 main tubes with lesser quality forks and stays???

A Reynolds 531 frame would normally take a 27.2mm or 27mm seatpost.

56 is the frame size = 56cm.

Here's an interesting story about Kessels bikes in this Flickr link. Scroll down to see the whole thing.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/145944...7624706263918/

It has a "dog's breakfast" mixture of components.

The stem and seat post are DANGEROUSLY high.

They should be inserted at least 75mm to 80mm (3"+) into the steerer and seat tube!

If you need them that high, you should look for a larger sized frame or bike!!!!

Riding a bike set up like yours is a good way to meet interesting new people like orthodontists, plastic surgeons, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists. Do a Google search on stem failure.

verktyg

Fahrenheit531 

Stem is pretty tall. Looking at the where the fluting ends on the seat post I'd say it's probably just fine.

Cool find.

Lascauxcaveman 

And the doggy's breakfast of parts (except the wheels) might even be all original; they all seem to be low-medium grade 1970s parts that a Kessel or another Merckx licensee might use to build such a bike. The wheels are definitely a lot newer than the rest of the bike.

@bpford, if you end up surplussing that saddle, I'd be interested.

bpford59

Thanks all, great info!
the seat post is fine, plenty of metal in metal,
i will adjust the stem as it's 1/4" above the 'max' line
i'm thinking it's reynolds 531 tubing comparing it to other similiar frames..

Lascaux, pm me about the saddle, thx

bpford59

btw, the seatpost diameter is 26.2, is that of significance in identifying the tubing type?
verk says the norm for 531 is 27 or 27.2..

and i think the stem may be seized, any hints on a solution other than ride till i die??

Vera

heelloo i find in this days something similar whit the seatpost 26.2 but different decals
the seatpost is ruggeri
shifters and deraillers campagnolo and nisi wheels

unworthy1

I would guess maybe metric tubing if it's 531 (main 3 or better), could be plain gauge metric 531. Yes the lug cutouts are unique,the BB shell is clearly welded across the bottom. Taken as a whole looks "mid-grade" DOH! this is a 2 year old thread! @Vera, you'll need to make 9 more posts and then you can show us some pix!

cudak888 

Possibly irrelevant data point:

I've seen this lugset combined with Gipiemme drops once before, on a frame claimed to be a Torpado but never substantiated as such. Other than the lugs and dropouts, there isn't anything on this frame that is the same as the OP's Eddy - especially the incongruous BB - but perhaps still worthy of mention:











-Kurt

Vera

This also is a merckx?

Vera

mi eddy from florence any comment is very welcome

CyclesMakaron

Blue Merckx: this is a production for the company Velosport (Bologna), it has been granted a licence for Italy to stick anything on two wheels in the colour "Merckx"...
The blue frame: The "Torpado" usually had rhombus-shaped lugs cut-outs.
Both frames could have been produced in the same factory (Velosport also "produced" Colnago Sport).
Orange frame: Eurocicli - the name of several different shops in Italy, I don't know if it has anything to do with "Merckx", except for stickers - I don't think so...

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Vera

Also I think that is not a merckx or Kessel, maybe some fan of merckx only put the stickers, but have good components, nisi wheels, shifters and deraillers campagnolo, breaks wander, crankset nervar from France
maybe you can help with a year maybe 70 ???
Also no have cable guide, a seatpost is Ruggeri

Thanks so much for all the info

Rajflyboy

Great find

Bibi001

Strange eddey merckx