Bike Forums - View Single Post - Decoding of Eddy Merckx frames

07-25-23 | 03:40 AM

#967

CyclesMakaron

Senior Member

Joined: Oct 2016

Posts: 939

Likes: 415

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgiro14

purchased as refurbished Team Gan Corsa. Whilst cleaning and preparing to touch up paint, I noticed the E 3380 number and decided to fully restore to a Professional model. Whilst stripping paint, I noticed the Reynolds stamping on tubes. Weighing in at 1800kg, I suspected 531SL which was confirmed by Reynolds expert. (not 753 as the frame was brass not silver brazed). You can see where the original cable guides had been removed from the top of bb. Having recently discovered a "9"stamped on the steering column and a Columbus dove stamp, I suspect the forks are not original. The seat tube measures 57.5 ctc and 55.5 ctc top tube.

This frame has a story

E3380, a beautiful Professional was built in 1981 - standard frames made of 531 tubing had an R marking and a frame size marking, in this case it should be A7R (the lack of a set of markings may indicate unusual geometry).
I saw 531SL stickers only on 2 EMC frames, the others were standard 531 (fork stickers were not used - except for team frames). Somewhere around 1994 the owner decided to "upgrade" the frame: all the old slides (BB cover and TT) were removed and replaced with new ones (TT and head lug).
Great job!

Reply

0