Quality time with my home built time machine
01-06-17, 09:28 AM
#1
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Quality time with my home built time machine
I have been working on my time machine for quite a while now and at last it seems like I have got it up and running. I set the timespan to 1991-92 and decided to have a go at it.
Landed in Belgium and went straight to Heerenweg 11, Meise and sneaked in to the show room.
Then everything blurred and I woke up in Sweden again. Three hours of daylight (dark daylight) and -20 Celsius. I felt really strange and confused as I came to. Still have no feeling in my left hand.
The nice thing though is that I got the bike with me thru time travel. The frame is perfect and most of the parts also. Strangely the front wheel and seatpost got mixed up in the time-transformation-equation and has to be corrected.
No - I have not built a time machine... I bought this bike from a nice guy in Germany. He had only used it a couple of times because it was not the right size for him. He had bought it from an elderly man in the Netherlands who had it at his summerhouse and used it very little. This bike is as new.
I have gone over the frame with hawk eyes and only found two pin size paint chips. It is like it left the factory yesterday. I will substitute the seatpost for a Dura Ace Aero, saddle will be a Selle Italia Flite or a Fausto Coppi edition. Period correct Look Carbon Pro (red) pedals and a matching set of 32 spoke MA 40 with tan wall Vittoria Open Corsa 25. Probably a Dura ace stem and a more traditional handlebar. Could go for a Cinelli XA or 1R also.
Then I wish and hope for summer soon and that I will get to take it for a spin.
For those of you not familiar with Merckx in Columbus MAX tubing - here is a short summary:
Merckx frames in MXL - the MX Leader are famous. This is a pre-MX Leader in full MAX tubing. They are quite rare as they were made for a very short period around 1991-92. They are Corsa Extra labeled and below is a catalog pic (stolen from the net). Professionally they were used by both the Motorola and Telekom teams.
I am really happy to get hold of such a nice condition frame and of such an unusual execution Merckx. Goes straight into my collection but will get used a bit also. This is my sixth Merckx (four MXL, a 80ies cyclocross and this Corsa Extra) and/but it is my number one among them.
Landed in Belgium and went straight to Heerenweg 11, Meise and sneaked in to the show room.
Then everything blurred and I woke up in Sweden again. Three hours of daylight (dark daylight) and -20 Celsius. I felt really strange and confused as I came to. Still have no feeling in my left hand.
The nice thing though is that I got the bike with me thru time travel. The frame is perfect and most of the parts also. Strangely the front wheel and seatpost got mixed up in the time-transformation-equation and has to be corrected.
No - I have not built a time machine... I bought this bike from a nice guy in Germany. He had only used it a couple of times because it was not the right size for him. He had bought it from an elderly man in the Netherlands who had it at his summerhouse and used it very little. This bike is as new.
I have gone over the frame with hawk eyes and only found two pin size paint chips. It is like it left the factory yesterday. I will substitute the seatpost for a Dura Ace Aero, saddle will be a Selle Italia Flite or a Fausto Coppi edition. Period correct Look Carbon Pro (red) pedals and a matching set of 32 spoke MA 40 with tan wall Vittoria Open Corsa 25. Probably a Dura ace stem and a more traditional handlebar. Could go for a Cinelli XA or 1R also.
Then I wish and hope for summer soon and that I will get to take it for a spin.
For those of you not familiar with Merckx in Columbus MAX tubing - here is a short summary:
Merckx frames in MXL - the MX Leader are famous. This is a pre-MX Leader in full MAX tubing. They are quite rare as they were made for a very short period around 1991-92. They are Corsa Extra labeled and below is a catalog pic (stolen from the net). Professionally they were used by both the Motorola and Telekom teams.
I am really happy to get hold of such a nice condition frame and of such an unusual execution Merckx. Goes straight into my collection but will get used a bit also. This is my sixth Merckx (four MXL, a 80ies cyclocross and this Corsa Extra) and/but it is my number one among them.
Last edited by styggno1; 03-10-17 at 09:48 AM.
01-06-17, 09:35 AM
#2
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Wow!
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01-06-17, 11:12 AM
#3
Fat Guy on a Little Bike
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I like it...you don't see many of the true MAX Merckx bikes. I didn't know they came labeled corsa extra either...I thought they were pre-MXL leaders.
01-06-17, 11:54 AM
#5
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Truly a unique Merckx. I have never seen a MAX up close and probably never will.
01-06-17, 12:21 PM
#7
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Great looking bike! I'm a confirmed Campagnolo fan but must admit that DuraAce gruppo looks the part. Which generation is it?
Thanks.
Brad
Thanks.
Brad
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01-06-17, 01:08 PM
#10
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Beautiful ride. Are the top and down tubes tapered?
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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
01-06-17, 01:15 PM
#12
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For those of you not familiar with Merckx in Columbus MAX tubing - here is a short summary:
Merckx frames in MXL - the MX Leader are famous. This is a pre-MX Leader in full MAX tubing. They are quite rare as they were made for a very short period around 1991-92. They are Corsa Extra labeled and below is a catalog pic (stolen from the net). Professionally they were used by both the Motorola and Telekom teams.
The first thing I fixated on was the top tube shape, so its great to have a bit of background included.
01-06-17, 01:20 PM
#13
Steel is real
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But I am catching up. To my knowledge, after some reseach when buying this bike, this is 1991 Dura Ace.
01-06-17, 02:00 PM
#15
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Nice score! ... and of course we all know red bicycles are the fastest and best looking 
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
01-06-17, 02:00 PM
#16
Senior Member
The tubes taper but not in the aero shape you are looking for. If you look at the seat tube you can see it tapers sideways, side to side, not front to back. It gets wider at the BB.
I had a Max bike once. Yours is just perfect! WOW!
I had a Max bike once. Yours is just perfect! WOW!
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My bikes: 1970`s Roberts - 1981 Miyata 912 - 1980`s Ocshner (Chrome) - 1987 Schwinn Circuit - 1987 Schwinn Prologue - 1992 Schwinn Crosspoint - 1999 Schwinn Circuit - 2014 Cannondale Super Six EVO
My bikes: 1970`s Roberts - 1981 Miyata 912 - 1980`s Ocshner (Chrome) - 1987 Schwinn Circuit - 1987 Schwinn Prologue - 1992 Schwinn Crosspoint - 1999 Schwinn Circuit - 2014 Cannondale Super Six EVO
Last edited by Steve Whitlatch; 01-06-17 at 02:13 PM.
01-06-17, 02:17 PM
#17
Steel is real
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01-06-17, 02:22 PM
#18
Incredible looking bike, one of the prettiest Merckx bicycles I have seen. Next time you travel back in time, please pick me up one too.
Bill
Bill
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01-06-17, 02:38 PM
#20
Senior Member
Thanks! Not to get into a petty aero theory discussion but a that short sideways taper at the last bit of seat tube - is less of a problem than me being +6 ft and built like a tank. From a user point of view I willingly trade that non aero bit of tubing for that extra ompf when getting out of the saddle - and all of it is only theory as this is an historically interesting bike and not bought or used for its aero capabillity.
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My bikes: 1970`s Roberts - 1981 Miyata 912 - 1980`s Ocshner (Chrome) - 1987 Schwinn Circuit - 1987 Schwinn Prologue - 1992 Schwinn Crosspoint - 1999 Schwinn Circuit - 2014 Cannondale Super Six EVO
My bikes: 1970`s Roberts - 1981 Miyata 912 - 1980`s Ocshner (Chrome) - 1987 Schwinn Circuit - 1987 Schwinn Prologue - 1992 Schwinn Crosspoint - 1999 Schwinn Circuit - 2014 Cannondale Super Six EVO
01-06-17, 02:51 PM
#21
Steel is real
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I do have a possible time line derived from pictures and some serial numbers but nothing firm. Some of these MAX Merckx: s have a kind of fastback seatstays, some not, later ones seem to have the same fork crown as the MX Leader. The first "real" MX Leaders seems like they did not have seat stay caps. Etc, etc.
The MAX frames with different seatstay attachment styles can possibly be explained by this - which comes from the same brochure/catalog as above. It says there are "wide or narrow seatstays".
Here is a pic of my early MXL without seatstay caps:
One thing I have learned thru my bike collecting career though is to never say never...
Last edited by styggno1; 01-06-17 at 02:58 PM.
01-06-17, 02:56 PM
#22
Fat Guy on a Little Bike
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Not to my knowledge but everything is possible during transition periods. I have gathered pictures for a while as I have been actively looking for one of these. Some have a "Corsa Extra" decal and some not but I have personally not seen a Leader decal. One have also to consider possible resprays.
I do have a possible time line derived from pictures and some serial numbers but nothing firm. Some of these MAX Merckx: s have a kind of fast back seat stays, some not, later ones seem to have the same fork crown as the MX Leader. The first "real" MX Leaders seems like they did not have seat stay caps. Etc, etc.
The MAX frames with different seatstay attachment styles can probably be explained by this - which comes from the same brochure/catalog as above. It says you can chose between "wide or narrow seatstays".
Here is a pic of my early MXL without seatstay caps:
One thing I have learned thru my bike collecting career though is to never say never...
I do have a possible time line derived from pictures and some serial numbers but nothing firm. Some of these MAX Merckx: s have a kind of fast back seat stays, some not, later ones seem to have the same fork crown as the MX Leader. The first "real" MX Leaders seems like they did not have seat stay caps. Etc, etc.
The MAX frames with different seatstay attachment styles can probably be explained by this - which comes from the same brochure/catalog as above. It says you can chose between "wide or narrow seatstays".
Here is a pic of my early MXL without seatstay caps:
One thing I have learned thru my bike collecting career though is to never say never...
I certainly agree about there being a slow transition...with some variation as features changed, evolved...etc. Likely add confusion from custom requests and inventory.
Your Merckx bikes are both beautiful (and I particularly like the pre-MXL MAX); I have Steve Bauer's motorola 753 frame badged TSX and a GAN MXL (with caps).
01-06-17, 03:19 PM
#24
Useless Member
Instant woodie...
01-06-17, 03:22 PM
#25
Steel is real
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Thank you all!
I might as well put my other MXL: s here - as KonAaron Snake has already mentioned GAN and Motorola - and there can never be too much Merckx
GAN with extra bling lugs, crown and rear triangle:
Motorola work horse:
And the odd one out - Merckx call this colour TAL and I have yet to find out if it was a team or just bad luck...
Do not mind the saddle position and handlebar tape colour - this was how it looked when I bought it in 2008.
I might as well put my other MXL: s here - as KonAaron Snake has already mentioned GAN and Motorola - and there can never be too much Merckx
GAN with extra bling lugs, crown and rear triangle:
Motorola work horse:
And the odd one out - Merckx call this colour TAL and I have yet to find out if it was a team or just bad luck...
Do not mind the saddle position and handlebar tape colour - this was how it looked when I bought it in 2008.
Last edited by styggno1; 01-06-17 at 03:28 PM.
