I saw an ad in the local paper for an Eddy Merckx bicycle and called the seller, he's unsure about the model or year, says he thinks it is an 86 or so, that the bike is red and says 3-athlete on it and that it has shimano 600 components on it, the bike has sew up tires and he is unsure about the wheel size.

I was wondering what a fair price range on the bike would be and how I could better determine the model, I looked for information but couldn't find any, I did find pictures of an 84 on https://www.speedbicycles.ch/ and wonder what year to year differences there are if any,

I've been riding alot more and want to get a bike that I won't feel badly about replacing parts on when they wear out or brake, I tend to ride bikes I find in the trash but the one I have now is a rusty old motobecane mirage I got from the pawnshop I worked at for $5, it needs a new rear brake and maybe some other stuff soon, and I can't see putting too much into it, but it will make a good rainy day bike with a few parts.

thanks,

Since its a 3 athlete I am gonna go out on a limb here and guess its a triathalon bike. Merckx are sweet frames though.... is it a 650c front wheel with a 700c rear? 600 was the Ultegra of its day.... if its a tri bike and you are looking for a road bike, skip it... it will handle like crap and be uncomfortable over distance.

As Seely said Merckx frames are very nice and draw good money. If your seller sells cheap you might think about it just for resale if you don't like it. I don't think I've ever seen a "legit" (as opposed to Falcon made) Merckx sell for less than $500 and most well over. If the one you have a line on is from 1986 it should be a Merckx made Merckx as I'm pretty sure Eddy was making his own by then. Check decals to be sure.

Also agree with Seely about avoiding a tri-specific bike. Don't know if Eddy made one but if it's got different sized wheels, down-sloping top-tube, etc it won't give the ride you're looking for unless riding in a straight line on aero bars is what you want. Again if it's cheap re-sale is a consideration, there's a strong market for Merckxs.

Consider you may not want to keep riding sew-ups so there's wheel considerations but the ride difference between a Merckx and a hi-tensile steel framed Moto Mirage is night and day, and I like old Motos.

This link gives some general info: https://sheldonbrown.com/vrbn-g-n.html#merckx

FWIW I've seen some Falcon Merckx's I thought pretty decent but am near positive an '86 vintage bike would be the Belgian "real deal."

turns out the guy was the original owner, he doesn't seem to remember too well except that he wanted to get the best bike he could afford after he graduated, and he didn't get to ride it much it seems, it's in pretty good shape except fo a broken spoke, it looks just like the 84 on https://www.speedbicycles.ch/ other than the 3-athlete decals, it's real dusty though so hopefully will clean up nice, we managed to work out a deal,

as for being a tri bike it just seems like any old road bike the seat tube is 56cm and the top tube measures 56 too, both wheels are the same size, I just don't what size they are though, the tires are real skinny and not very tall compared to the 27x1-1/4s on mt other bike but the rims seem just a bit smaller so I guess they are the 700c then but there is nothing on them that I can see, unless it is written under the tire and glue,

the shimano 600 parts have early and late 85 date codes on them so it would seem like 86 is right for the year on it, here are some pics, I will take some more once I clean it up a bit and it's light out,

They are probably 700c, which is actually about 28"... Looks sweet.

Kopp's bicycle shop in princeton N.J. is a classic in itself.
alot of racers got there start there.
a 700c and 27 inch wheel/tire will look the same
(diameter) but a 650cc wheel/tire will have a smaller
diameter.
Alot of Tri specific bikes have very steep seat tube angles
thats one of the main differences between that and road frame.
I would think in 84 that they didn't have the steep angles yet.

Nice bike.

Marty