Originally Posted by
botty kayer
Welcome to team fries James, a fine team indeed
. The paint on yours looks in fantastic condition, great score!
I was out on my MX Leader version today...a mind blowingly good ride
I know nothing about the pro race circuit and am not disputing that Wendy was/is a pro racer, but maybe it could be possible she's just a regular cyclist who had the frame repainted with her name on.
My frame above was dated by Jacek as from 1993, the Domo Farm Frites paint scheme was from much later in 2000/2001. The non drive side of mine also has a name on it that google does not give any inkling about a pro cyclist, so I just assumed it was a keen amateur Belgian cyclist who bought an older Merckx, and in or around or after 2000/2001 got repainted with his name on the top tube.
I'm not on Strava but can't you reach out to people on there to maybe ask her direct? Is she are you on Twitter or Facebook maybe an option too? Its not stalker-ey to try and track someone down to ask their bike history is it? If it was me I'd super pleased to see an old friend again and know that it was still on the road. Just some thoughts for my 2 pence/cents worth.
Nice!
Yep, I have reached out a couple of ways. I was told she was married to Sven Vanthourenhout who was a Domo-Farm Frites rider and a coach of the Belgium cycling team. I found old google hits about them having some kids. Those same kids did a ride together with the Wendy I found on Strava back in 2021. No recent entries for her though. I did make a comment on that ride hoping she'd get an email alert or something but no response. Love to find out but without seeming too much like a crazed cycling stalker, LOL!
The bike is nice. Some pretty good chips at a few spots on the paint and some chain wear on the one stay. What's curious is the non-treaded fork. It didn't have any label attached nor did I see any stampings or other marks on it. It is a 1" steerer though.
I was able to source the Silva branded blue Merckx tape like I've seen in some of the men's team photo's and have a set heading my way. Last night I got in the 90mm stem I needed for my fit and put that on. I also swapped the white flite saddle for a black Avocet Ti Air I had. So this will at least look like the old men's team bikes. We are getting hammered with snow though so this won't get a test ride for months, augh!!
So right now I guess I'm actively "stalking" to riders for confirmation. Wendy on this one and Oscar Freire on the Olmo. It'd be cool to actually hear back from at least one of them.