Re: [CR]Colnago Shop Drawings-Now Merckx

(Example: History:Norris Lockley)

Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 11:02:11 -0400
From: "Via Bicycle" <viabicycle@gmail.com>
To: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Colnago Shop Drawings-Now Merckx
In-Reply-To: <a06230914c44a1a5236ba@192.168.1.33>
References: <e667b0fb56dc.48239257@optonline.net> <a0623090cc44992c971ee@192.168.1.33> <e41cf994eb8.48243e27@optonline.net> <a0623090ec44a0dad3ffb@192.168.1.33> <e667baf7b6c.48245b65@optonline.net>
cc: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>

Jan, the scans I posted of the bikes are probably the best photos I have seen of the hour bike he rode. one main point about the Pino Stem is the stem binder bolt, it appears to be nutted, not a recessed allen head, as I have seen in other "current" photos of the bike. notice also in the photo that Ernesto is carrying the bike, bars are Not drilled out and appears to have a Cinelli stem, but then again, does not have the Windsor decal, and the lower cup does not appear to be dark, like the previous color picture of the Pino headset. So it looks like Ernesto must be carrying the backup bike???? In all the pictures, not of the bars seemed to be drilled. Will have to watch La course en Tete again in slow motion. Sorry to ramble, just trying to get my thoughts out before I go to work. it is my 3rd CR post for the day, gotta watch out for Dale. here are the scans again- http://bikeville.com/merckxarticle.html

joel ralph flood philadelphia, PA usa

On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 11:40 AM, Jan Heine <heine94@earthlink.net> wrote:
> At 2:10 PM +0000 5/9/08, gholl@optonline.net wrote:
>
>> It's certainly frustrating that although even mummies can be identified,
>> the real HRB can't-with both the maker and rider still available.
>
> Based on all the research, I concluded that the bike shown at Il Vecchio
> probably was the correct bike. The decals did not match, but beyond that, it
> was the correct bike. For a moment, I wondered about what looked like an
> engraving on the fork crown on the actual hour record bike that was missing
> on the bike at Il Vecchio's, but I concluded that with the superlight fork
> crown, this probably was a decal. (Also, why would one of two identical
> frames have the engraving, the other not.)
>
> One thing I wonder about is how Merckx got the bike. Did he always keep it,
> and take it straight to Brussels with him after the trip to Mexico? If so,
> then the backup went back to Italy with Colnago. Daniel Rebour visited
> Colnago's shop/factory a few months later and was shown "The Hour Record
> Bike." Rebour's drawings (made after photos he took during his visit) show a
> Cinelli stem and the (later addition) handlebars with holes - see the link I
> posted earlier
>
> http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/rebour.html
>
> Of course, this might have been the hour record bike, with just bars and
> stem swapped out (nobody liked that Pino stem in the publicity materials).
>
> If that hypothesis is correct, then the bike Merckx kept is the original
> hour record bike, unless the frames got swapped around during the packing
> and disassembly somehow. The bike at Il Vecchio's, which came from Merckx,
> had the Pino stem...
>
> In the end, nobody really knows, because nobody cared back then. Merckx
> wanted to set a record, period. Once that was done, the bike dropped off the
> radar for him. When George at Il Vecchio received it, it was completely
> dusty and filthy, probably had been lying in a corner for 2 decades. He was
> rather amused by George's request - as if George had asked to display a
> locket of hair from the "Cannibal" in his shop.
>
> Only recently, the bike has become useful as a publicity tool again. But for
> that purpose, it doesn't matter whether it's the real one or the backup...
>
> Then you have the issue of the Windsor stickers. Just before the hour
> record, the slapped a "Windsor" sticker onto the head tube and the seat
> tube, because the owner of Windsor had organized and paid for the track. To
> make the bike historically correct, you'd have to put the Windsor stickers
> back on.
>
> Interestingly, for a poster of Merckx "on a Windsor bike," they did a
> montage of the seat tube sticker to put it in a more visible place. However,
> the sticker does not curve around the tube, but is flat - just glued onto
> the photo! That one threw me for a while, as I thought perhaps Merckx did
> not ride with Windsor stickers after all, and that they were added for the
> photos, but the photos taken during the event clearly show the stickers.
>
> BTW, George Gibbs claims that there still was glue residue from the tape
> used to attach the Windsor stickers on the bike he displayed, indicating
> that it was the original bike.
>
> Jan Heine
> Editor
> Bicycle Quarterly
> 140 Lakeside Ave #C
> Seattle WA 98122
> http://www.bikequarterly.com