help eddy

[Climb01742]

just got a note from brendan, the president of competitive cyclist. he told an interesting story: apparently when eddy merckx told cyclingnews.com that he would build a 25th anniversary frame, he had no clear idea what he'd build. so he asked his u.s. distributor, gita, if they had any ideas. gita asked brendan. brendan was kind enough to ask me. now i'm asking you. what would your dream eddy frame be to mark his 25th anniversary?

my wish list would include: steel, lugs (ideally chrome), a lighter modern steel, classic eddy geo, actually made in belgium, and a color scheme that would appear only once, on this frame.

what's on your wish list? share it here and why not pass it on to brendan or the folks at gita? how cool would it be to have one of your ideas show up in eddy's frame. ok, wish away...

[Frank]

$500 retail for f/f ;-)

[dbrk]

That's easy.

*Lugged steel, threaded fork: Eddy picks the metal and the lugs, but the last generation O.1 is a good place to start.
*Pantographed stem, seat post, bars with insignia, pantographed and drilled rings with milled sections painted to match (like of yore...Eddy knows)
Proper printed leather toe straps and a matching saddle similarly de(em-)bossed, preferably a Regal or Rolls.
Available in all the Eddy race team colors, modern spacings, Campy 10 the preferred look.
Frame should have a chain hanger, pump peg, and downtube shifter bosses.
Basically a bike just like Eddy rode but with the bits all fancied to match. Fist full of post fits only, thank you, and, yes, the fork MUST be threaded...

What are the odds on that?
If they built this, I promise to be first in line. I am certain (dead certain) they would sell at least 25 in 25 minutes.

But I'll bet the farm that it's some carbon or alloy rig with all the requisite glue, baking, or (no other kind) ugly TIG welding.

not opinionated or anything, and you were expecting,

dbrk

[jerk]

while the jerk likes steel and loves eddys he must disagree....an aniversary eddy needn't be a retro bike...rather it should be the ultimate example of a modern belgian racing bicycle. we want van petegem and axel riding this bike in the races that matter...musseuw should buy one to rebadge as a time, liege, roubaix and flanders should all be won on this thing. hence the jerk suggests:

eddy,

make sure the bike is century geometry non-sloping. this geometry more than anything else defines your bicycles and makes them as close to perfect as your palmares..

get dedaccai to provide you with custom drawn magnesium for this materpiece-if pinarello won't let em have your buddies at easton hook you up with whatever is in the works to make scandium look like old hat...

make the tubes especially the chain stays and top tube monster huge....the jerk wants to see an mx leader look like a girl's bike...make the thing robust and powerful enough that no one is going to overpower this frame....keep the tubes thin enough to not sacrifice the ride quality and oversized enough to make this thing a god-send through the shi%t and up the koppenberg...a modern mx leader out of the latest and greatest tubing..no plug and play taiwanese carbon rear end either...keep this thing metal and let your expertise at tweaking tubes and geometries make the deal....

design a fork around this frame...no taipai noodles...something like the mx leaders fork but out of carbon....ti drop outs...single piece monocoque construction...make this thing never deflect no matter how hard that corner coming out of the sint niklaas kermesse was taken...

get your buddies at campagnolo to produce a custom orange tinted record groupo-to match the orange paint this bike will have to have....while you're at it..how about some carbon cinelli 66 bars?

now that good people would be the ultimate eddy.

jerk

[dbrk]

The jerk's alternative to a traditional (my suggestion wasn't retro, just traditional...retro would have Super Record parts or something...) is a great idea. I'd buy that bike...but I think both the jerk and I have already bought the bike he describes...it's called Big Leg Emma! The monster tubes, the all metal, no sloper...sounds like Emma to me! Of course, Emma is steel and Eddy could do his in some Wonder Alloy, though we all know that steel rides better even if WA is lighter. Lighter, schmiter. Eddy never cared for light bikes, just bikes that descend as well as they ascend (that being the thought behind the MXL).

Eddy could do worst than copy Emma with her OS tubing and FAT stays, even fatter if he used alloy, and paint it Eddy-style. That would be fine with me. I'd like the traditional lugged bike better but, heck, maybe Eddy could have a best of teh old and a best of the new. Now that would be sumthin'...

dbrk

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . to be a retro grouch or any kind of expert on lugged frames, I do think that a 25th anniversary bike should combine the best of tradition AND innovation.

So I would love to see a lugged bike, resembling in most respects the machines that Eddy rode in his heyday, but incorporating all the technological advances made since then insofar as they don’t radically alter the traditional appearance. I’m sure there are numerous improvements in the tubesets alone that would improve the ride and shave quite a bit of weight off. A Record group with indexed downtube shifters would also be nice.

Please, no compact geometry, carbon, or flashy airbrushed paintjobs!

BBDave

[Kevin]

I have always wanted to own one of Eddy's bikes. Because of my "glasss" knees and long femurs I need a very relaxed STA. So I second the jerk's vote for century geometry. An STA of 71*-72* would be great. Other than the STA, I'll let Eddy use his own judgment on how to build a special bike.

Kevin

[OldDog]

BBdave wrote:

but incorporating all the technological advances made since then insofar as they don’t radically alter the traditional appearance. I’m sure there are numerous improvements in the tubesets alone that would improve the ride and shave quite a bit of weight off. A Record group with indexed downtube shifters would also be nice.


Sounds like a SACHS to me.

[Climb01742]

my caveat to the jerk's proposal would be: how about us skinny-ish weaklings? a BLE-inspired frame would be awesome for powerful riders, but it seems like a milestone bike should perhaps embrace a wide range of riders. i suppose my caveat is meant only as one of degree. would a good middle ground me a very modern version of an MXL? using dario's frames as a point of reference--a BLE is extreme stiffness, nirvana for some, but way overkill for many. a CCKMP is extreme lightness, nirvana for skinny climbers, but way underkill for many. but a fina or marcelo seem to express greatness but are great for the many, not the few. so could there be a 25th eddy that would be truly special but be rideable for lots of us? and one caveat on color. while i totally agree that molteni is the color most associated with eddy, the fact that its now available as custom with new MXLs, has it lost some exclusivity? for a 25th frame, i'd prefer something unique. maybe another scheme from eddy's racing past. faeme maybe?

Neither the Doc or I know anything about bikes: such has already been established many times. However, we will jump in, althouhg we are literally of two minds about this particular issue.

1) The Doc likes the jerk's idea. Make the 25th anniversary a cutting-edge race bike built in the image of a rider like Eddy, an MX Leader for 2004. The Doc would prefer a U2 tubeset, but that's just him....


2) I, Robert, he likes the idea of a classic lugged steel. Perhaps with the new Columbus alloy Ben is using these days, with a custom-raked steel fork for every frame.


3) The two of us have reached a compromise. This bike is for consumers. This bike will justify its high price tag (the Doc still rants about 2 grand scandium frames that will snap like a twig). The jerk will not like this bike, and neither will the doc nor I, but I and I are already happy with the custom Corsa and the jerk can get his Big Leg Eddy anytime he wants it...he's been in the man's car for Crisssakes.

Ti
Century Geo
tubes shaped and tuned to make this the one ti bike on the planet PvP and the jerk would want to ride over the Mur du Grammont, through the Foret d'Arenberg, up La Redoute, and *down* L'Alpe D'Huez.
Carbon forks raked for each size frame (big ticket, but Ed has some pull)
Painted in any color you like as long as its Orange.

Probably run some chump about 6000.00...but The Doc and I think that if anybody can make a ti bike not suck (Legend nonwithstanding), its Eddy...and the Majestic don't count...rode my buddy's last week and its a glorified friggin Merlin....

[dbrk]

A few additions, if I may?

As a _percentage_ of the bikes sold, especially in the U.S. where the bucks are, I would wager that the MX Leader outsells any other Merckx. I don't mean that Gita/Merckx sells more of these bikes, I mean that of the bikes imported _these_ sell in the highest numbers. I would also wager that the carbon bikes do not sell worth a darn and that Eddy's real sales are in the alloy racers, like the MX or Race. Now, I'm cheating 'cause I know a thing or two about this, but my point has not to do with sales as such or with what represents Merckx now, some 25 years into bike building, but rather that if you follow "if you build it, they will come" model, then _the_ bike would be a traditional lugged steel frame with modern this-and-that and all sorts of looks back and forward. Alloy bikes are race bikes or overpriced cheap bikes or mostly yucky, if you ask me (lacking in charm, real beauty, anything other than the virtue of lightweight), and I will be one disappointed camper to see that choice. Plus, I think it won't really sell as well as a steel bike with lugs. Yes, such a bike the press will call "retro" which only means that they are part of what's wrong with cycling, it's business, and marketing, but that's not surprising. Retrosmetchtro, I say, build a steel bike with lugs and it will prove a success, not just a monument or a statement. Above all, I think Eddy wants success (not money as such but success: built a bike that sold because people loved it). Technothisandthat will never be all that successful. Measuring that would be difficult but we'll see...

dbrk
headed back to the Carthusian monastery now...

[jerk]

if you guys think the orange is played out might the jerk suggest a pearl white...no one does pearl whites like eddy particulalry when they are matched with blues...remember the gan team bikes? but the jerk digresses...

doc-you are right about custom fork rakes....this hope is more far fetched however than the jerk regaining an ounce of form.

dbrk- you and i would buy any anniversary eddy we've mentioned...but let's remember, eddy has always built race bikes. not the lightest but always the fastest and best handling....this bicycle should be a cutting edge race bicycle.

[Climb01742]

ah, yes, pearl white. great idea. afterall, who's gonna ride a 25th anniversary eddy in the rain anyway?

The Dirty Doc Says:

Climb, the pearl white/red panels Faema Corsa went out yesterday in the rain and mud, today in the rain and sleet. S'what rags are for, man....

[Climb01742]

no doc, that's what carbon and ti bikes are for. tho, being 100% honest, my CIII is pretty crud covered from this weekend. doc, any pix of your corsa? sound pretty, cleaned up, o'course