Eddy Merckx (bicycle brand)

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Eddy Merckx Cycles is a brand of the Belgian bicycle manufacturer Belgian Cycling Factory , which also makes Ridley bikes, among other things . The brand is named after the original company founder, the cyclist Eddy Merckx , who sold his company in 2017.

history

Eddy Merckx track bike

The cyclist Eddy Merckx used the fame of his name to found his own company that manufactures racing bikes . On March 28, 1980, two years after retiring from professional racing, Merckx started manufacturing high-end racing bikes. The bicycle manufacturer Ugo de Rosa gave Merckx the idea. De Rosa had already built frames for Merckx during his sports career. He learned the practical skills for frame construction during an apprenticeship in his factory.

The Belgian Diepensteyn NV bought the manufacturer in 2014 until the brand was taken over by the Belgian manufacturer and former competitor Ridley in 2017 . From the mid-2010s, Merckx also opened up the US market and sold almost 1,500 Merckx bikes there in 2016. The bikes are still built in Belgium to this day. In the 2000s, Merckx launched another racing bike series with a steel frame.

bikes

After Eddy Merckx built high-quality steel frames from Columbus tube in the 1980s , the company introduced titanium frames in addition to aluminum frames in the 1990s. Today, both high-priced carbon frames and aluminum frames are built. The design and naming of the models are based on stations from Eddy Merckx's career. According to Eddy Merckx's own company philosophy, the company does not equip entry-level bikes with carbon frames, but rather uses high-quality aluminum frames. Merckx currently offers racing bikes (enduro and sprint), cyclocross bikes as well as trial and track bikes. In 2016, the company also introduced a model of the gravel bike category newly created by the manufacturers . As an anniversary edition, Merckx recreated two style-defining models from the company's history in the same year. The models Merckx Liège75 (reference to the last of the total of five victories at Liège – Bastogne – Liège ) and Merckx Roubaix70 (reference to the victory at Paris-Roubaix 1970) were based on steel frames from Columbus Zona with a full carbon fork, classic BSA bottom bracket and integrated Headset and a Campagnolo Chorus group.

Cycling

Eddy Merckx bikes were used very early on by professional cyclists and their teams. They rode some of the best professional cycling teams in the 1980s and 1990s.

Marc - VRD Team Manager Patrick Lefevere switched to Eddy Merckx bikes just three months after the company was founded. The team won two Tour de France stages immediately afterwards . Later on, teams like Panasonic, Kelme (Kelme), 7 Eleven, Team Telekom, Motorola and Quickstep used Eddy-Merckx bikes. Hundreds of professional riders including former Tour de France winners such as Jan Ullrich , green jersey winners such as Eric Vanderaerden , Erik Zabel , Robbie McEwen rode the bikes. As well as drivers from the USA such as Lance Armstrong , Steve Bauer and George Hincapie .

Web links

Commons : Eddy Merckx Cycles  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Belgian Cycling Factory - Ridley - Merckx. In: cyclingfactory.be. Retrieved December 31, 2019 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ De Rosa | PASSIONE BICI | About us | De Rosa. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 9, 2018 ; accessed on February 9, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.passione-bici.de
  3. ↑ Eddy Merckx on VeloBase.com, accessed on August 8, 2014
  4. ^ Builder Profile: Ugo De Rosa . In: loose bearings . April 4, 2011 ( wordpress.com [accessed February 9, 2018]).
  5. ^ Ridley Acquires Eddy Merckx Brand . In: Bike Europe . ( bike-eu.com [accessed February 8, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Eddy Merckx from Top 25 Bike Brands . In: The Active Times . ( theactivetimes.com [accessed February 8, 2018]).
  7. ↑ TOUR Magazin: Test 2015: Eddy Merckx Mourenx 69. Retrieved on February 9, 2018 .
  8. ↑ 2. Eddy Merckx SanRemo76 | Eddy Merckx shows the 2015 models Mourenx69 and SanRemo76 - Page 2 of 2 - Roadcycling EN . In: Roadcycling DE . ( roadcycling.de [accessed on February 9, 2018]).
  9. ↑ Eddy Merckx San Remo 76 review . In: BikeRadar . ( bikeradar.com [accessed February 9, 2018]).
  10. ↑ EB 2016 - short test EDDY MERCKX Strasbourg 71 | cx-sport.de. Retrieved February 9, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Eddy Merckx: Rennrad-Offensive 2016 . In: RoadBIKE . ( roadbike.de [accessed on February 9, 2018]).
  12. ↑ http://stahlrahmen-bikes.de/stahlrahmen-macher/blick-zurueck-des-kannibalen-merckx-liege75-und-roubaix70 , steel frame bikes. accessed on February 9, 2019
  13. ^ Moore, Richard; Benson, Daniel (2012): "The Racing Bicycle: Design, Function, Speed", Universum, USA. P. 134
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