John,
Try emailing your questions directly to Merckx. They were responsive to me when I bought an older Merckx frame. They can be emailed at: <info@eddymerckx.be>.
Best Regards,
David "I sold my Merckx because I had too many project frames" White Burlington, VT
John Audette wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Can anyone help be with a wee bit of history of Eddy Merckx frames?
> I've just bought an older frame and I've been unable to track down
> much history other than what's on Sheldon Brown's site. Is there
> any way to tell if an older frame was built by De Rosa? Where were
> they built after De Rosa built the first ones?
>
> My frame has two decal bands on the seat tube with championship
> color bands, maps of Italy and France, and writing that says "Mexico
> 49 km 431 1972" obviously commemorating Eddy's 1 hour record -
> do all the early bikes have this? Does it in any way help to date the
> frame?
>
> The bottom bracket shell has "E 1256" on one side and "G 7" on
> the other side - don't know if this can offer any additional info.
>
> Any thing that someone could provide would be very much
> appreciated. I can't wait to build this baby up and take it out
> for a spin!
>
> John Audette
> in Eugene, Oregon, where the wind always seems to be in
> my face this week.