# what's a century tsx?



## jroden

In looking at say early 90's standard road Merckx bikes, there was the mx, corsa, corsa extra--now what's this tsx I see on ebay? was it a lower end bike? Are un labeled bikes from this vintage generally sub corsa, it seems like the corsa has that gold tag on the top tube.

Thanks--


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## cannibal

*my read*



jroden said:


> In looking at say early 90's standard road Merckx bikes, there was the mx, corsa, corsa extra--now what's this tsx I see on ebay? was it a lower end bike? Are un labeled bikes from this vintage generally sub corsa, it seems like the corsa has that gold tag on the top tube.
> 
> Thanks--


My take is that the century reference translates to a laid back or relaxed geometry suitable for longer rides like the century distance. TSX is colombus tubing that eventually replaced SLX chronologically. At that time (my opinion of course), TSX was the top shelf of steel tubing from Colombus. This was prior to the advent of Colombus Nivachrome tubes.


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## jroden

I guess I'm wondering about the models they produced in say the early 90's--was there a low end bike to be aware of or was the Corsa pretty much the low end of the line? Did they ever use Asian companies to handle the boom years?


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## bigbill

Up until the carbon frames, The Eddy plant made all the frames. Century geometry is what the MX Leader uses. Not super aggressive but very raceable. My 60cm has a 72.25 seat tube angle and a 74 head tube. Laid back seat tube wise, but aggressive up front. Pretty much what Look, Merlin, Pegoretti, and some others use.


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## jroden

So they never had a model named the "Century"? Did they make a low end bike?


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## bigbill

jroden said:


> So they never had a model named the "Century"? Did they make a low end bike?


There were Merckx frames with a "Century" decal on the top tube. Merckx did make some frames that were at the lower end of the tubing specter, but all were quality frames that were lugged/brazed construction. There were no low end frames. Merckx primarily built frames with Columbus tubing (SL, SLX, MXL, etc) but also made frames from Reynolds tubing as well. I have seen several 753 Merckx frames. Building frames using lugs and brazing as Merckx has done for years merely involved sourcing the tubeset from the manufacturer and building the frame. The tubing decal set comes from the manufacturer to identify their tubes. The MX Leader Max tubeset is unique and that is why the production is stopping. Get one now if you want a new one. The "Merckx" frames that you see Eddy riding in his later tour years are actually DeRosa frames. The "Merckx" frame that he used to set the hour record is a DeRosa as well. The rumor has always been that the Merckx that Lance used to win the world championships in 93 was a litespeed painted as a merckx.


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## cannibal

*Are you sure about that?*

The "Merckx" frame that he used to set the hour record is a DeRosa as well. QUOTE]

I know DeRosa assisted/coached/mentored Merckx in terms of Eddy starting up his bicycle factory, but I was under the impression that Merckx rode a Colnago during the hour record ride. Based on the info. I read/heard (unconfirmed) at the last minute prior to the hour record , Merckx allowed a Mexican bike Co. (can't think of their name) to place their decals on Colnago's frame. I heard Ernesto was plenty pissed at Eddy's impromtu decision! Can anyone out there confirm or deny this info. for me?


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## jroden

Would that be a Benotto? At least they made good handlebar tape...


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## cannibal

jroden said:


> Would that be a Benotto? At least they made good handlebar tape...


If memory serves, I believe the brand (decal) was Windsor. Have you ever heard of them? I'm curious if they still exist? Once again, this info. is off the top of my head.


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## bigbill

cannibal said:


> The "Merckx" frame that he used to set the hour record is a DeRosa as well. QUOTE]
> 
> I know DeRosa assisted/coached/mentored Merckx in terms of Eddy starting up his bicycle factory, but I was under the impression that Merckx rode a Colnago during the hour record ride. Based on the info. I read/heard (unconfirmed) at the last minute prior to the hour record , Merckx allowed a Mexican bike Co. (can't think of their name) to place their decals on Colnago's frame. I heard Ernesto was plenty pissed at Eddy's impromtu decision! Can anyone out there confirm or deny this info. for me?


I think you are right. DeRosa helped Eddy get his factory going. Eddy took a sponsor deal at the last minute on his Mexico ride. He would always say his greatest weakness was inability to say no. The track bike featured in the Eddy Merckx metro station in Belgium looks just like his Mexico bike except it says Merckx.


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## boneman

*Corsa vs Century*

At the time both were available from Merckx, the difference was in the geometry. The Corsa was a bit more vertical than the Century, catering to US tastes at that time with the emphasis on crit racing. On the smaller sizes, the seat tube could have been up to 1.5 degree more vertical than the equivalent sized Century geometry frame.

The Corsa's of the era were mainly SL and SLX, maybe some SP as well. I have an SLX Corsa and it's a great riding and handling frame. The Century's were intially made with TSX. Pretty much from the mid-90's on, the geometry used by Merckx was the Century. In the last couple of years this has changed with his embrace of compact designs and non-ferrous materials.

TSX was the evolution from SLX. Instead of the splines only being in the butt areas, they ran the entire length of the 3 main tubes. I've owned 2 TSX frames, a Marinoni custom and a Pinarello Gavia. Not my favorite steel tubeset. Too heavy and unresponsive. Shortly after TSX, Columbus introduced EL/OS which at the time, was an extremely popular tubeset for lugged frames.


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