Flandria was the first team to equip their bikes with Dura Ace components, the rear derailleur for which was called "Crane," but no other parts. All of the Shimano rear derailleurs of the time had bird names--Lark, Skylark, Eagle, and others. I wonder how many Flandria team members actually rode Flandria frames, though, the bikes that were sold in the US under that brand were of terrible quality and the one brochure I saw (San Diego, 1972) showed a racing-level bike that was not actually imported. David Feldman
as i recall, merckx and maertens werent particularly good friends. in particular after merckx allegedly slowed to allow felice gimondi (i think) a pretty substantial win (worlds perhaps).
also, werent the flandrias that maertens rode equipped with shimano crane components? i recall the belgian coaches commenting that maertens had a good chance to win worlds, and one of the campagnolo family said something to the effect of: "oh no, not that one...he's riding shimano"
walter "it's been a long day and i'm rambling" manning sunny and gorgeous here in detroit today
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Message: 11 From: "Moos, Jerry" <jmoos@urc.com> To: "'MasiGC3V@aol.com'" <MasiGC3V@aol.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: RE: [CR] FLANDRIA INFO NEEDED Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 10:32:20 -0400
Carlo, Flandria had a very prominent pro cycling team in the late 60's and the 70's. Eddy Merckx's good friend Freddy Maerteens was for several years the star of the squad, which also featured the prominent rider Micheal Pollentier, who unfortunately was a rather notorious doper. Frandria was probably the best known Belgian-made bike of that era. There are a number of photos of Maerteens, Pollentier and other squad members on Flandrias in Merckx's photo book "The Wonderful World of Cycling". The bikes pictured are Campy NR/SR equipped and seem to be pretty typical pro racing bikes of the time. I'm guessing the team models were 531, though it's possible they were Columbus. I would think a Campy equipped 531 model would be well worth having, though Flandria definitely made some lower end models as well. I think someone stated in a post a few months ago that Galmozzi actually built the Frandria-marked frame for one of the stars of the team. I think I would investigate the bike for sale and pick it up if it were a top model cheap in my size.
Regards,
Jerry Moos