I have to agree with Jerry, I also thought the pedals looked like Campagnolo Pista. I did, however, check my Eddy Merckx book, and the are quite a number of him riding Universal brakes, both 61's and 68's. One of the pictures even shows his bike equipped with Campagnolo "handlebar-control" shifters.
Bill Curtis Costa Mesa, CA, USA
In a message dated 9/4/2009 8:18:10 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net writes:
Eddy almost certainly used Universal brakes, whether Super 68 or others, early in his career. The Campy SP's one usually sees in photos of Eddy were introduced in 1968, while Merckx began high-level amateur competition in 1961, won the amateur World Championship in 1964, and turned pro for Solo-Superior in 1965.
In the 60's, prior to the introduction of the Campy SP's, most Italian made professional bikes used Universal brakes, while French pro bikes used Mafac Racers, then marked "Dural Forge". Not sure what bikes or brakes Eddy might have used in 1961-1965. Belgian bikes, like Swiss ones and those from many other European countries, could use French or Italian components or often a mix of the two. But its quite likely Eddy used Universals at some point in the 1961-1965 era.
In 1966 and 1967 Eddy rode for Peugeot, and although his frames were reputedly build by Masi, or maybe DeRosa, depending which stories you believe, one presumes he used Mafac CP's to keep up the appearance of riding an actual Peugeot. When Eddy went over to Faema in 1968, Campy SP's were available, and one rarely if ever sees him photographed using anything else from that time forward.
BTW, were Universal "Super 68's" introduced in 1968 as the name might suggest? My recollection is that they were around much earlier, but it may be I am thinking of similar but earlier Universal SP models, of which there were several. If the Super 68's were introduced in 1968, they definitely were a dated design compared to the Campy SP's introduced the same year. The Campy's would define the design of top quality brakes for nearly two decades until modern dual pivots took over.
The pedals on the show bike don't look at all like Berthets. They look like Campy Record pistas to me.
Regards,
Jerr Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: oroboyz@aol.com <oroboyz@aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [CR] Eurobike: Eddy Merckx booth with fantastic Retro Bike
> To: haxixe@gmail.com
> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 7:27 PM
>
>
> <<?Are those Berthets and Super 68s? >>
>
>
>
>
> No and yes... But my impression was this is not necessarily
> a bike Eddire rode but a replica "in the spirit"?
>
>
> Dale Brown
> Greensboro, North Carolina USA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kurt Sperry <haxixe@gmail.com>
> To: oroboyz@aol.com
> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Sent: Thu, Sep 3, 2009 6:06 pm
> Subject: Re: [CR] Eurobike: Eddy Merckx booth with
> fantastic Retro Bike
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Are those Berthets and Super 68s? Very, very unusual
> choices for a
> throwback replica bike, if that's what it is.
> Did EM ever race with
> that stuff on an eponymous bike?
>
> Kurt Sperry
> Bellingham, Washington
> USA
>
> 2009/9/3 <oroboyz@aol.com>:
> > http://twitpic.com/
> >
> >
> >
> > Dale Brown
> >
> > Greensboro, North Carolina USA
> > _______________________________________________
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