jamesdak 

I finally got around to taking a few detailed shots of this one out in the cold. May even put a mile or two on it today to see how it feels. This was identified at a 1996 Corsa 01 Frame with the 2002/2001 Domo Farm Frites paint scheme. Has Wendy De Vos name on it and I did get ahold of her to ask about it. She never road for the female team but did ask here ex-husband (team rider and now Belgium National Team Coach) if there was one made with her name on it and no was the answer. So not sure how the name wound up on it. Not a big deal as I bought it because it was a great buy for a Merckx and I've never had one.

I've still got a few things to sort out on this one but here's how it sits now. A respectable 18 lbs 14 ozs as in the pics helped by a pretty light tubular wheelset on it. May run it with different wheels.


Still need to put on the proper blue bar tape which I have.

May swap the bars too.






Number's tab appears to have never been used.

jamesdak 

One of my favorite saddles

Nice White Industries hubs

Nice White Industries hubs



Worse paint damage on the bike.



The mystery, LOL!

Notice how the tubes are flattened a bit going into the BB.

georges1

Very nice frameIs the tubing MX Leader ? You seem to like on riding tubulars

jamesdak 

Deda Zero Uno tubing on these. I have no issues riding tubulars, they feel great.

georges1

Deda Zero Uno is what I have in my Vetta

On the contrary of you, I dislike tubulars but prefer clinchers or tubeless

Fivethumbs

That's the only 1996 Merckx I've seen threadless. It came threadless from the factory?

jamesdak 

I honestly don't know much of the history of this was. Guy I got it from was told that it was a team bike of Wendy De Vos for the year that Domo Farm Frites had a female team. The frame is dated earlier than the paint scheme came out. So maybe it was repainted and the fork added later? There was no label on the steerer of the fork when I had it out. I found Wendy and was able to determine it was not her bike. I could only find one or two references to a female Domo Farm Frites team and only one female rider associated with it. No info on what bikes they used or how they were built up. The men's team were not using a steel bike then. So this is a nice bike that doesn't add up, LOL!

Fivethumbs

I think it's kind of cool to have a mystery bike. Whatever it is, it's a steel Merckx and it looks like a great bike. I have a Della Santa made with Zero Uno and it's a great tube set.

MooneyBloke

Both of my Peter Mooneys are mainly Zero Uno, and I'll concur here.

tallbikeman

Haven't heard Roland's name in a while. I grew up in Reno/Sparks and rode with the Reno Wheelmen for 3 or 4 years. Roland Della Santa was still racing then and running a bike shop. Roland was always helpful and kind and very approachable and always had time to talk. He had a great sense of humor that you came to love. When Greg LeMond came along as a junior racer Roland sponsored his first year which he told me was utterly amazing. After his riding career ended he opened a frame fabrication shop in west Reno right on the Truckee River bank and started making frames and forks more prolifically. Roland was a steel is real guy and I don't think he ever used any other frame material. Roland was a great guy and could really tell a story or two. His bikes were superb. He was a perfectionist in the bicycle frame building craft. He passed away a few years ago and still missed. You have a great bike.

Fivethumbs

I agree wholeheartedly! Roland was one of a kind. He made me two framesets and I had just placed an order for a third when he passed away. He never finished it. The two bikes he made for me were flawless. It was so nice to build them up with absolutely no issues whatsoever. Nothing had to be faced, chased or aligned. It was perfect out of the box. On the road they both were reasonably light, handled great, and road straight with no hands. Anyone who's ever ordered a frame from Roland knew that you did not call him about the frame unless you had at least an hour to spare. I would sit there for hours on end and and listen to all the great stories of Lemond and pro racing and frame building. In case anyone did not know, Roland would build you a bike without a penny down and then ship you the bike when finished. You only paid him after you received the bike and approved of it. One other thing I can say about Roland. He was a perfectionist about his frame building but he did not like the idea of a frame of his sitting around as a show bike. He wanted the owners to ride and race the sh_t out of his frames, which I try to do. If it's Belgian weather, I take out the Della Santa.