Eddy Merckx 1999 (8936 H) Titane Track bike

EX pro frame from Lorenzo Lapage. As purchased: Dura-ace headset dura-ace team issue crank set Deda newton stem Cinelli? drop bars, 4za saddle, Suntour superbe pro Seat post wheelset with campy sherrifstar hubs and Mavic pista rims Lorenzo rode with a shamal track wheel set in 2002 (only picture i could find of him with the bike) so I sourced and found an appropriate wheelset and fitted it on the bike. Shimano. Finishing touch would be figuring out what pedals he rode, and a Shimano “Olympic zen” chainring anywhere from 50-56t would be nice to add too…

Frame:

Titanium (tubing by Litespeed high likely) TIG welded at Eddy Merckx bicycles factory in Meise.

Size 58CT seat tube

toe overlap: over one billion cm, impossible to steer or ride this anywhere else safely but on the track.

Weird carbon-ish wrap on the seat and chain stays, still no idea what exactly that is and if it has a function (looks like it has glass fibres in the pattern, maybe adds stiffness? Not sure)

wheels:

1996 Campagnolo Shamal track with continental tubes (this exact wheel set has won the national championship in Germany (BMC team, forgot his name… will post when I find his messages back)

Shimano parts:

Why a separate title for the ‘Shimano parts’? Well because these are rather special, these were only available for pro riders, Shimano printed their name in huge letters in order to make some free advertisement on TV when riders were filmed on national and international televesion. parts like these have gathered nicknames like ‘Olympic’, team issue and (for the chainring) ‘Olympic zen’ probably a small reference to the so popular “Sugino Zen” chain ring. The chain rings and crank sets can still be found on a lot of pro bikes in use today.

Crank set: Dura Ace 7700 series ‘team issue’ crank set

bottom bracket: Dura Ace 7700 series

seat post: NOS Dura Ace 7410 ‘team issue’

Note: if you ever happen to “want” or buy one of these seat posts, they are made of a piece of Easton aluminium tubing glued to the seat post clamp, the glue can come loose when to much force has been added (read: if you are to fat or try to remove a stuck seat post) they are nice to have on a Sunday fun day bike but I would not recommend using this one on a daily.

Headset: a mix of campy record treadless headset and dura ace 7700 headset (no I don’t think this is original).

Cockpit: Deda newton stem and ( i think) Cinelli criterium handlebars, bar tape is still original and don’t want to take it off.

Saddle/ bar tape: Sella Italia Merckx stitched matching colour with frame and Cinelli cork handlebar tape.

“restored”

as purchased in Ghent somewhere around 19 October 2014

weird enough, the original bar tape was still underneath the white

this is the only picture I have of Lorenzo riding the bike (photo from fatnick.com)

Lorenzo Lapage is about to throw Wouter van Mechelen in. (2002 Grenoble Six-Day cycle race – Friday evening)

Now rumour says that there are two of these titanium track bikes made for Lorenzo, that was told me by the previous owner and confirmed by a rather jealous and angry Frenchman who apparently wanted to buy the bike too but the previous owner was faster.

so we see “a” track bike which can be the one we have or the other one, this one has a blue fork, probably titanium as you can see and the shamal track wheels, blue bar tape, Deda newton stem and probably the same dura-ace 7700 team issue track crank set we see on my pictures, so is it the same bike? Probably, do we know for sure? no…