No help with dating Kessels frames, but I do know he accompanied Eddy Merckx on a trip to the Falcon factory in Barton on Humber in the early 1970s. This was when Falcon had the UK licence, paid for at £1 per set of decals. So I guess he was a close business associate or advisor to Merckx at this time. I am talking 1972 - 1974. I have a photo of Kessels and Merckx at the factory if anyone is interested.
Nigel Land Barton on Humber UK
Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:00:37 +0000 From: "Arno Volkers" <arnovolkers@hotmail.com> To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]How to dat a Merckx molteni bike Message-ID: <BAY121-F12794EB627838884CFF019A7590@phx.gbl> In-Reply-To: <20060728174249.74157.qmail@web82307.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed MIME-Version: 1.0 Precedence: list Message: 3
Hallo David,
Yes it's a real one with trophey sticker on the upper tube, The frame is signed wit L de Wit, who was the framebuilder, the frame nr is 487. I have made some pictures if it i will put them on the net soon. They are also hard to get in the netherlands, it was the first time a found one on "marktplaats.nl" a dutch veiling site. I was very lucky, the seller putted the bike in the wrong category And i payt 75 euro's for it. I know for shure when it was in the right category, the bidding become very high.
greets
Arno Volkers
5224 VG Den Bosch
The Netherlands
>From: David Patrick <patrick-ajdb@sbcglobal.net>
>To: Arno Volkers <arnovolkers@hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [CR]How to dat a Merckx molteni bike
>Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 10:42:49 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Arno,
>
> I have been searching for a Kessels Merckx frame for several years now,
>but I have had no luck at all. Being in the U.S. puts me at a
>disadvantage, as it seems that not many of these were imported in the U.S.
> That said, it appears Kessels made different quality levels of Merckx
>bikes (just like Falcon in the U.K.), as I have seen a really inexpensive
>model with cheap stamped dropouts. The top-of-the-line model would have
>Campagnolo cast dropouts and it would be a close replica of the bikes
>Kessels built for Eddy's personal use.
>
> Info on Kessels seems hard to come by. It was run by a father & two
>sons, with the company based in Belgium. Kessels main line was labeled
>"Main d'Or" and they build high-end road bikes under this name also (I've
>seen two of these). The "Main d'Or" name lives on in Belgium, as it
>appears the rights to the name has been sold to a company producing
>standard commuting bikes.
>
> I have wanted to try to track down the Kessels family, but my location
>in the U.S. has made it very difficult, not to mention the language
>barriers. It would be great to document their relationship with Eddy
>Merckx and the various bikes built with the "Merckx" label. On top of
>this, I have never seen a Kessels catalog from the '70s or '80s. Perhaps
>your location in The Netherlands makes such tasks a bit easier?
>
> That is all I know and I am sorry I can not be of any more help. I'd
>love to see pictures of your Merckx/Kessels, if you have any available in
>the future. Also, should you ever come across a 57cm c-c Kessels/Merckx, I
>am very, very interested!!! Take care and best of luck to you in the
>future.
>
>
> Dave Patrick
> Chelsea, Michigan USA
>
>Arno Volkers <arnovolkers@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Thanx Hennie,
>
>Does anybody also know how many Molteni Kessel frames were build?
>
>greets,
>
>Arno Volkers
>5224 VG Den Bosch
>The Netherlands
>
>
> >From: "Hennie van Leeuwen"
> >Reply-To: "Hennie van Leeuwen"
> >To: "Arno Volkers"
> >Subject: Re: [CR]How to dat a Merckx molteni bike
> >Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 20:55:27 +0200
> >
> >Hi Arno,
> >
> >Probably your frame is from around 1975. I have also a Kessels built
> >Molteni, framenr. somewhere in the 200 and also with "De Wit" painted on
> >the
> >bottom bracket. Guess it is the guy who made the frame. Ferdy Keulen from
> >Utrecht has a 1973 Kessels and surprise, De Wit also on the bracket. My
> >frame was repainted at the factory of The Greatest ever. It is ready to
> >make
> >a 1975 replica with a 1st generation Super Record groupset, gold coloured
> >mavics, 1r old logo Cinelli stem, Unicantor saddle etc..
> >Greetings from Veenendaal,
> >
> >Hennie van Leeuwen
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Arno Volkers"
> >To:
> >Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 6:47 PM
> >Subject: [CR]How to dat a Merckx molteni bike
> >
> >
> > > Hello folks,
> > >
> > > Today the post delivered my Merckx Molteni bike build by Kessel,
> > > My question is how can i date it? In the BottomBracket 487 engraved.
> > > And with white paint the name "L de Wit" beneath the numbers,
> > > think it was the owner of the bike, but i can't find him on the
> >internet,
> > > so i think it was an amateur.
> > >
> > > The bike came with:
> > >
> > > one gear
> > > mafac competition brakes
> > > a beautifull old cinelli steer and stem
> > > hubs from campy record, Mavic MA2 rims
> > > a ESCOT single speed freewheel (never heard of it)
> > > a goodlooking Ofmega crank, lyotard pedals almost full alluminium
> > > A campy nouvo record seatpost
> > > And a newer Tange headset
> > >
> > >
> > > greets:
> > >
> > > Arno Volkers
> > > 5224 VG Den Bosch
> > > The Netherlands