What an amazing thread and so much history.

I'm a new EMC owner, it's a two colour red/yellow same style as the '85 two colour Kelme blue/white. I'll post some pics when I have enough posts.

LHS reads 8C with a P underneath
RHS reads Z9516

I assume it's a 58 Corsa late '85 early '86

...almost perfectly
fall 1986...
no team known to me has used such a combination of colors... but I haven't deciphered some of them yet: English Schils 86, Australian Mainline 84, some American teams... who knows?

Thanks, it is fitted with '83 Super Record 6 speed, however it has '85 cranks.

The mystery contintues on the paint

It has a race plate mount and the infamous 'P', I assume that is the stamp of the person who built it?

Number holder is an option available for everyone (manufacturer's designation: FF = Foto Finish, you can find it in EMC catalogues)
P is the code mark of the employee responsible for careful "smoothing" of the frame before chrome plating and painting - it was about quality control, in case of problems it was known who would not get dessert as punishment...

Thanks, I'm going to get it serviced and I'll get the fork removed to see if it has a card on the steerer, hopefully that will reveal some more hostory.

Finally here are the pics of my unique Eddy, she's curently at the day spa getting some work done by CycloRetro

Beautiful Corsa ver.1
It doesn't seem to be a team painting, but it definitely looks like a factory-made EMC (custom color set)
Same scheme, banal colours

Thanks, were the sloping fork crowns available in '85? Could it be other tubing than Columbus SL? There are no Columbus frame or fork stickers.

Columbus SL didn't have "his" designation... but Corsa Reynolds 531 should have an R, and if you don't see it... it should be an SL
"Slope fork crown" has been in common use since 1983

Thanks again for all your help!

It was written in the catalogs..

He'll be back shortly to set you straight.

It's been explained in detail several times.

Could mean that it was a ”professional” bike and not the model name?

You got it right, it was about "performance level" and "characteristics", not the name of the model.

The closest they got to the model name "Professional" was "SLX Pro" ?

At the time when EMC decided to enrich its offer (mid-1984), model names had to appear:
- top: Pro SLX/753 - note: you will not find this name in any catalogue, there was no such "gold sticker", you can only find it in ads... produced 1984-1986
- medium: Professional SL/531...it still didn't exist - officially; it was the only model produced since 1980 and remained "no name" until the end (1986)...but it appears in catalogues
- "slightly lower than the medium": 3-Athlete - official name, "gold sticker" and presence in 1985 catalogue... produced 1984 -1986
...a little later Corsa appears (in 1985-1986 the unofficial name... appears in the 1986 catalogue), which at first is a continuation of the Professional model in its earlier version, and in 1986 it gets its "gold stickers" and official name... and is produced (and gently modified) until 1994 (!)
Professional teams have always used the best framework available:
- from 1980 to spring 1985 it was a Professional frame
- from spring 1985 to summer 1986 it was a Pro SLX/753 frame
- since the fall of 1986, Corsa Extra was used... ...which is a Pro with the right "gold sticker"...

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Merckx Pista. Stickers sais Corsa Extra and slx, looking late 90s. J on the right side?

Series designation J = production 2000-2002, no pictures... ...no fun...
..but the Pista SLX from that period is strange...

Apologies for the dirty frame pictures. It's exactly as it was when pulled from the seller's shed.
On the drive side: the letter D, no other letters or numbers that I can see
On the non-drive side: E 5149
I removed the forks and it doesn't have any numbers in the steering tube

Thanks for your help, CyclesMakaron!


D E 5149

Bottom bracket and chainstay bridge

Tubing and upper TdF stickers are gone, unfortunately

Seat lug detail

Brake bridge

No numbers on steering tube

Drive side with temporary wheels

Sorry, tried to post pictures but there is a rule that I have to keep on posting posts without pictures for a while first.

Yeah the bike seems a bit strange, but a beauty.

/M

E5149 - Professional Columbus SL/SP (it's a large frame, most have SP), turn 82/83
I think it's 0 (that's frame size = 60cm ?)
Maybe it's also the employee code (for a while in 1983 there was such a designation)

CyclesMakaron, let me start with (I think) late 1988 Corsa Extra Stuttgart 8X F A8542 this one still has the fork sticker intact, I'll post photos in a few posts time.

Also , H F5242 This is an interesting one .. Deda Zero Uno, but round at the BB rather than oval like a Corsa 01. Columbus fork though, has the rifling in the steerer tube. Number hanger. ASLK CGER colours. My guess is ASLK team bike or ASLK junior team, 1994 maybe?

A8542 - 1988 more spring than "late"
...such an early Stuttgart frame is... inexplicable for the time being, and there are more. (I don't rule out the dating of frame 87/88 being "postponed" - I don't have a single undisputed date frame from that period) - I know that the painting pattern appeared before naming the team, but that's all...
F5242 - early 1995... is it definitely not Corsa Extra SLX ? In 1995 all new models had ovalised/oversize tubes, riflings in steerer tube is rather "old" Columbus... the photos will help...

F5242 > I'm pretty certain that it's Deda. The tube sizes are right when compared to a Corsa 01, and the Deda decal is under what appears to be the original clear coat. The fork has the sticker with the frame number on it. Also this frame has sort of fastback seat stays.... Photos tomorrow, internet is terrible here.