Ugliest Merckx Ever

Aaargh... my eyes!

I don't think I would quite catch myself riding anything quite like that!

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by alienator [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

For a while, the Northern Classics were the inspiration for some, uhm, unique bikes......if unique can mean ugly. This Merckx certainly fits the bill.

I saw the link, the bike was not "ordered" by the team, Baur wanted it, and as recall designed it, at the end of his career, when his power had waned, hoping he could get a litlle more power by using the seat "back" to push against when he pushed forward on the pedals. Saddles with high backs were legal for a short time and used primarily in time trials. A former 7-11 team mechanic I road with in the 80s told me about it.

That doesn't detract from the ugliness of the bike.

1993...Funny I think I've seen that bike before. Lol Our country's flag colors and they're calling it ugly. It looks like an astro pop. I guess they didn't put much thought in how to place the colors on there.

JSWin said:

1993...Funny I think I've seen that bike before. Lol Our country's flag colors and they're calling it ugly. It looks like an astro pop. I guess they didn't put much thought in how to place the colors on there.

About as much thought as you put into your posts. 🙄

Typical Motorola paint job for the period. The bike was an experiment that worked for Bauer. He was a powerhouse on a team full of powerhouse riders.

The Slurpees...Motarola...Postal...Coors...those were some halcyon days for U.S. cycling.

Cycle Sport did a short piece on that bike a couple of months ago. Bauer and a team mechanic designed it, the Merckx works built it, and Eddy was nonplussed.

The writeup was part of a feature on oddball bike designs that are now obsolete, illegal, or both: beam bikes, K-frames, the Lotus bike, Moser's Big Wheel, etc. Quite interesting.