big_heineken

I found this frame on ebay this morning and made an offer Vintage Eddy Merckx Titanium Litespeed Road Bike Frame | eBay

I believe that it's an AX made somewhere between 1995 and 1998. Can anyone help me pinpoint a year? Every similar bike I can find online has a carbon fork. I can't wait to get this frame!






Link to album: Eddy Merckx Titanium Photos by big_heineken | Photobucket

orangeology

i see the page now done with the best offer accepted note. did'ya get it?! hope so.
never seen anything like this. a Ti Merckx? way cool.

andyfloyd

yummy....titanium

big_heineken

Yes, I got it! He countered and I accepted. I haven't told my wife yet. I told her I was going to get a titanium bike when we had a certain amount in savings, and we are nowhere near that number. Titanium Merckx frames just don't come around for less than $500 very often, so I had to move quick. I think I am going to have to sell something else, but I just hate parting with "keeper" bikes.

orangeology

awesome. congrats on your unique new acquisition. and good luck with the process on pre-approval-purchase audit.
it's been a couple years since i've drawn to this addictive world of C&V, she thinks yet i'm just into old cheap metal junks.
i tell her everyday, it's better than your hubby's into watches or vintage cars. she seems agreeing at least in the expression on her face.
and i am not gonna tell the lady that Ti can be slightly more expensive than steel, just for "one" day.

4Rings6Stars

Nice.

I agree that it is likely an ax. There are decals available on eBay.

You can refinish ti very easily, do some searching about what color scotch bright pads to use to achieve your desired finish. I prefer the matte finish off Moots...

I had an ax and upgraded the fork to a Reynolds ouzo pro. It was a lovely bike and I regret selling it often.

longbeachgary

That is definately not the original fork.

One more thing, it's EDDY not EDDIE.

shoota 

It's definitely not definately.

rando_couche

I hope the mid-size frames are more satisfactory than my 62cm was. Fit like a glove, SMOOOOTH ride, climbed like a homesick angel and scared the living **** out of me every time I went downhill on it. Whenever it hit a bump at speed, it would randomly change direction. Frame flex, I think. First (and so far only) bike in 50 years of riding that frightened me.

SP
OC, OR

jiangshi

That takes a 27.2 seat post, not the 27.0 mentioned in the listing.

gomango

Hate to say it, but same here.

The forum member I sold it to doesn't agree though.

He weighed nearly 40 pounds less than me at the time and is the same height.

I thought he could have used a cheeseburger or two, but what the heck.

shoota 

What in the world could cause that kind of downhill behavior?

rando_couche

My theory was too much flex in the back end. Never proven tho' - I gave up after a year of trying to figure it out and/or learn to live with it. A shame really, because other than that it was a keeper.

SP
OC, OR

gomango

Frame flex and fork combo I thought.

It was very pretty though and everyone that saw it loved it.

I am at the opposite end of the Merckx spectrum atm, as the Merckx Alu Cross I picked up recently is incredibly stiff.

Fun cross bike for sure, although a touch heavy.

shoota 

But if the rear end was flexy wouldn't you have noticed that, especially during climbing?

4Rings6Stars

Front end geo would be my only guess...

My AX was lovely and I shouldn't have sold it!

Cache

Posts like this make Bikeforums one of my favorites!

Speaking of Merckx Ti regrets, I blew an opportunity to grab a Ti AX in my size. But there will be others...

Congrats Big Heiney! Keep us posted on your build details and of course, a ride report.

longbeachgary

The only difference is that mine wasn't written on the bike!!!

shoota 

Ha! great point

RFC

The Ti Merckxs were built for Merckx by Litespeed during the Lynskey era.

RFC

Oh, and BTW, I have four Lynskey era Litespeeds and love them. At that time, Ti fabrication was a very specialized thing. Lynskey had the experience and produced Ti bikes for many of the marque brands including Merlin. The present Salsa Ti offerings are being done by post Litespeed Lynskey Performance.

KonAaron Snake 

I have never heard that Litespeed built Merlins (obviously we're talking pre-ABG period for both) and frankly find that extremely difficult to believe. Please provide a good source on that. I don't consider Litespeed marketing materials a great source because I'm aware of others they claimed manufacturing for where the claim was misleading and exaggerated (De Rosa).

The Litespeeds I've had weren't that similar to Merlins in finish or in weld style. I've never heard of outsourced Merlins in the Cambridge days, though I have heard of Merlin sourcing for others. I can tell you that Lemond's first choice for producing his frames was Merlin (who had built a few bikes he, and his team, had raced)...he ended up with Litespeed (among others) because of Merlin's cost and limited production capacity...it was a more craft product.

big_heineken

Geez! I'm sorry, I was so excited about posting that I misspelled Eddy. I have an uncle Eddie, so that's where I went wrong. I'm unable to edit the thread title. I won't let it happen again.

longbeachgary

No problem. I'm just jealous....

RFC

Was surprised myself. I read it in a bike history a couple of weeks ago. Don't have time to find it now.

As I recall, just before and during the first years of the Litespeed, David Lynskey fabricated Ti frames for other companies wishing to offer Ti frames. Merlin was one of those. Lynskey era Litespeed and now Lynskey Performance have continued to build frames for other companies as well as having their own lines.

It makes sense. The Lynskey family already had the Ti fabrication experience and facilities at the time when Ti frames started to become popular, though outrageously expensive at that time.

What year is your Merlin?