The following is from Brett Horton whom I wrote about the Hour Record bike since he's the only one I could think of who's been in touch with Eddy on a fairly regular basis...
Hi Bob,
Sorry, I have not been keeping up with the CR list for a couple of weeks and probably will not be reading those posts for another week or so. My wife Shelly and I are in Europe trying to find shiny bike porn trinkets so we can give the French, Irish, Belgians, and Italians all of our money.
On to the bike...........................Over the years, Eddy's hour record bike has been loaned out to several bike shops in countries around the world. It leaves Belgium, it comes back to Belgium.
I have seen the bike numerous times at Eddy's factory. The last time I saw it was in April of this year, right before Paris-Roubaix.
I have offered Eddy a pretty hefty wad of cash for the bike multiple times since 1994, to no avail. The bike is now at an "Eddy Merckx" metro stop in Brussels where it will likely permanently reside. (On Thursday I will be in Brussels. If I have the time, I hope to see the metro stop after having lunch with Eddy.)
As to the bike, there was only one hour record bike. There was no "back-up" configured the same as the "real deal". Rumors to the contrary are total B.S. That said, the original bike was dicked with after the hour record so as to further lighten the bike. The thought was that the lighter the bike the more impressive the bike. The bars were drilled, the seatpost cut, the rims were drilled. I recall something was also done to dick with the saddle. However, with bar tape and tires, the drilling/holes were not visible. I can assure you that if anyone weighing more than about 20 pounds sat on the bike today it would crumple like a deck of cards. The bike as it is today is not ridable, but oh my is it light by 1972 standards!
I never saw the bike at Il Veccihio in Seattle so I have no clue one way or another whether it was the real deal or some later rendition.
Hope this helps, or at least muddies the waters just a little bit more.
-Brett Horton
Brett;
Thanks for the info... If you do get a chance to visit the metro station, I hope you can take a snapshot or two for us... I'm sure Dale would like to add it to the CR page he has on the Hour Bike, and I'd sure like to see for myself it's final (so far) resting place.
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA