Originally Posted by
randyjawa
There were some entry level Merckx made and I have been lucky (poor choice of word perhaps) enough to view one in the flesh, so to speak. The one I saw was a step through model and definitely had not been repainted. With that in mind, the OP's bike, even with the claw hanger, might be legit.
After I saw the OP's picture, I realized we used to get some of this variety of Merckx in occasionally for repair. Merckx hadn't gone into business for himself during the years I worked as a mechanic. I think I saw more Merckx bikes with claw hangers than not. We saw a lot of the cheap Falcon Merckx bikes, but only ever sold the Campagnolo Record/531 variety. Those were really cheap for what they were, but the frames were crude.