Yes, they would be for leg length discrepancies, but it would have been highly unlikely they were made for Merckx as he was 15 years old in 1960; I doubt he ever rode them (would be easy enough to ask him if anyone wanted to).
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
Mike Fabian wrote:
>
> Brook Watts and Chuck Schmidt were trying to discover what was up with the
> "mystery" tall cage pedal.
>
> My two cents is that these were probably made for only a few priveledged pro
> riders who were struggling with leg-length discrepencies. I think I remember
> reading that Eddy Merckx used a shim under one of his cleats . . . hmmm -
> could this have been made for him . . . ?
>
> Mike Fabian
> San Francisco
>
> From: Chuck Schmidt
>
> Brook Watts wrote:
> >
> > Nuovo Record Strada Pedal with a wider cage plate
> > ---Is anyone familiar with this pedal? Years of production?
>
> Link to photo of pedals:
> http://photobucket.com/
>
> Brooks, I found a 1961 Daniel Rebour drawing showing the Campagnolo
> Record pedal with the tall cage. Rebour's drawing illustrated '61 TdF
> King of the Mountains winner Massignan's Legnano. Record pedals were
> intro'd in 1956. My guess is 1960 for the tall cage version as 1960 is
> noted as "a period of great expansion" for Campagnolo.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
> http://www.velo-retro.com (timelines, reprints & t-shirts)
.