Is there a way to tell?

did some reading and i think mines an ax. the ex had oval and tapered tubes. horizontal dropouts with adjuster screws. mine has vertical dropouts no screws. my down tube is oval and my seatstays are oval but the rest are round.

Sure looks like it says "AX" on the top tube.

pretty sure this was made by lightspeed. I'd keep the 7700, best 9 speed kit there is, yeah better than campy too. sweet bike.

I think you're on to something here- Mine has this label on it. The dropouts look the same.

http://i.imgur.com/JMuQil.jpg

Nice thread. Your Merckx is great and your plans for it sound amazing. It will be a most desirable when finished. I love it.

It's great to see all the other Merckx Ti bikes as well.

Thanks for your report, but I don't believe decals right off the bat.

This is not an original set.

What's your opinion on it Grady?

I agree with that. But trying to explain the color of the decals by saying it might be an ex when it says ax right on it doesn't make much sense to me.

It only has the ax decal on one side. The eddy merckx lettering is super thick and doesn't look original. I'm not saying its not an ax, I would like to be sure before getting new decals.

There is no rush here.

Just do some additional research.

This may well be an ax, but I would be certain before I order another set.

A frame that has a non original decal set warrants additional investigation.

Did you check cadre.org for the serial number?

Wow, what a find!! I'm coming over to look at it! :)

Come on over

Just take the AX sticker off and don't think about it anymore :)

Nah, I'm gonna figure it out, or it will bug the crap out of me.