Sunday, September 23, 2007

The Tears for Gears Merckx Team bike challenge

So as I noted in my last post, there are probably a ton of Merckx team frames I know nothing about. There are some main stream(ish) teams I haven't been able to track down, and dozens and dozens of continental teams I've never heard of, let alone seen a picture of.

There are also a couple of frames I suspect are team frames I've just never been able to figure out, including



and



So here's the challenge. The person who can find and identify the most Merckx team frames which I do NOT have not talked about in my blog posts or in the serial list will win a prize:



A Euro Trafic Merckx team jersey. Its not a new jersey, its actually a former team jersey, so it has some wear and tear, but I bet no one else will show up at your next club ride wearing one! I'll pay shipping and everything...all you have to do is follow some simple rules...

I'm looking for more teams riding Eddy Merckx bikes from 1980 through about 1998. This primarily means steel frames, built in the Merckx factory in Belgium. To positively identify a Merckx team color scheme, you need only send me a clear picture of a team rider on the frame that shows the primary details of the color scheme. A team color scheme means that the whole team rode/rides that scheme. If there's a color scheme i've missed for a team I've already identified, that counts -- I bet there's at least 1 other Kelme. I'll set a deadline of November 1, 2007.

You can send me info at merckxteams AT tearsforgears DOT com. The two frames above are a decent place to start -- that I can't ID them is driving me crazy. The top is from 1986/87, and the bottom from 1988/89. Good luck, and send me what you have! If you're the only person to respond, you just may win!

Still no new teams sent in! All it takes at this point to walk away with the super cool jersey above is identifying one new team. That's it! I'll mail the jersey anywhere in the world, postage paid for by me!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I own a Merckx frame almost identical to the top picture (red, orange, green, white, chrome).

I am trying to identify which team it came from. The guy I bought it from in Belgium said it belonged to a semi-pro or amatuer team.

It is a Corsa, Columbus SL. On the bike is says:
Cicli Cornelo
03/664.58.70
Putte-Kapellen

All I could find on it was that Putte-Kapellen is a race in a Belgian racing league.

H2 said...

I also have one that's similar from the first frame, except the rear triangle was green with only the chainstay being chromed. The fork was also red.

The person it belonged to said the scheme is original when he purchased the bike in New Zealand. He wasn't a part of a formal racing team.

Unknown said...

I'm fairly certain the 2nd picture from the top (Red, White and Blue frame) is a transitional Kelme paint after the green/white and before the blue/green/white, so probably 1989-90ish. I actually own one and was told it was a Kelme team frame. Here is a photo of Fabio Parra riding one.

https://goo.gl/images/9TF2Aa

Emerxil said...

The upper frame is repainted, this painting pattern was marked TA and was used 1990-1993. The lower frame has a painting pattern used by the Kelme team in the 1990 season.

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