# 2005 Eddy Merckx 7-Eleven Bikes?



## pablo pinchasso

saw one of the 2005 7-Eleven bikes this weekend in Boulder Colorado. I was not real impressed with the color used on the frameset. Looked like it had faded or something. also was told that the bikes were made in Italy......?? 

Can anyone cofirm that they have or do not have a made in Belgium sticker on the down tube? and where they were built?

I have seen one that was re-painted because the owner did not like the quality of the paint. 
see the following link for that bike:2006 MERCKX REPRO


----------



## Cinelli 82220

*Made in Europe*

I saw one and it had the Made in Europe sticker, with the EC stars on a blue circle.
They might be contracted out to someone in Italy, or anywhere.


----------



## latman

isn't the merckx factory in Meise owned by the Italian's now ? I agree the original looked Nothing like the Original , you think it would at least have Shimano parts , DT shifting and dark rims. Understandably hard for them to find 7400 and Wolber components.


----------



## pablo pinchasso

*7-Eleven frameset only in 2005*

all that was sold in 2005 was a frameset no components.... just the frameset and this was years before Eddy sold the factory. think that was sold in 2009?? 

so no components were insalled just a bare frameset. and the one I saw didn't have the gold ouline on the Eddy Merckx letters. just plain white sorta sick looking.... real disapointment.


----------



## pablo pinchasso

Think that is a key factor as to where they were NOT built.... mine show a rectangular decal with Made in Belgium the latest bike showa a European blue circle with stars and made in Belgium the others I have seen are rectangular Belgian colors and Made In Belgium ......


----------



## Cinelli 82220

Note the EC has very flexible rules regarding product labelling.
Lots of Italian companies were labelling frames made in Asia "Made in Italy" because they were painted in Italy.
The label means nothing.


----------



## cannibal

*Yes, 7-11 bike made in belgium,not italy*



pablo pinchasso said:


> saw one of the 2005 7-Eleven bikes this weekend in Boulder Colorado. I was not real impressed with the color used on the frameset. Looked like it had faded or something. also was told that the bikes were made in Italy......??
> 
> Can anyone cofirm that they have or do not have a made in Belgium sticker on the down tube? and where they were built?
> 
> I have seen one that was re-painted because the owner did not like the quality of the paint.
> see the following link for that bike:2006 MERCKX REPRO


I can't remember the specific year, but the newer 7-11 bikes were all made in Meise, Belgium in 2004-2005? with a limited production of 100, just as the MX-leaders models. They were pricey in the US with a retail of $1500-1600 for a SLX frameset, so I don't think they sold like hotcakes when first presented.
When Belgium joined the EU, Merckx changed the sticker on the down tube from "made in Belgium" to an oval EU sticker with stars with B or on it.
I was just at the Merckx factory in Meise, Belgium 2 days ago on a family visit. The building is still there. Eddy's name is still on the structure, but there was absolutely zero activity, the front door was locked, and it wasn't the weekend. I have been there many times over my life time and I'm telling you there is no bike production whatsoever going on at the Meise location. It's a done deal over there and finally, Eddy can live in peace at home instead of a factory, since they served as a dual purpose.
To my knowledge, the factory moved to another part of Brussels, not far away from the Meise. In terms of bike production, the factory craftsmanship, attention to detail and in-house bike production has moved to Asia where it can be done for a cheaper price. Is the quality better? 
In my opinion, I believe the new Merckx factory in Belgium is primarily a distributer, receiving bikes from Asia and perhaps making minor completion details to the framesets such as sanding, painting and installation of decals. I'm curious if they carry a torch to make their alloy framesets in Belgium? I doubt it, probably outsourced as well.
Is it a shame or a sign of the new times?
All I can say is I treasure all the framesets I presently own born at the Meise, factory: Brain Strada,TSX Corsa Extra, Neuron Arcobaleno and the Axel Merckx time trial titanium frameset.
I read a recent article in Bike Magazine about Merckx. Real class act in general, visiting his son and family in Canada to promote a bike ride. He stated in the article that he was happy with the sale of the company to the new owners. He was content and humble to be identified as the hands down greatest rider ever.
I've got one of those EMX-7 on my wish-wish list.


----------



## HigherGround

cannibal said:


> I was just at the Merckx factory in Meise, Belgium 2 days ago on a family visit. The building is still there. Eddy's name is still on the structure, but there was absolutely zero activity, the front door was locked, and it wasn't the weekend. I have been there many times over my life time and I'm telling you there is no bike production whatsoever going on at the Meise location. It's a done deal over there and finally, Eddy can live in peace at home instead of a factory, since they served as a dual purpose.
> To my knowledge, the factory moved to another part of Brussels, not far away from the Meise. In terms of bike production, the factory craftsmanship, attention to detail and in-house bike production has moved to Asia where it can be done for a cheaper price. Is the quality better?
> In my opinion, I believe the new Merckx factory in Belgium is primarily a distributer, receiving bikes from Asia and perhaps making minor completion details to the framesets such as sanding, painting and installation of decals. I'm curious if they carry a torch to make their alloy framesets in Belgium? I doubt it, probably outsourced as well.
> Is it a shame or a sign of the new times?


On one hand, I'm sad, as it represents the end of an era in regard to the production of Merckx bikes. I like the idea that Eddy was in the factory and overseeing things when my MX Leader was built. Naive or not, I believe he would not have allowed a bike to go out the door with his name on the down tube unless it met his standards. I'm sure Eddy didn't inspect every bike personally. I just hope that his famous fanaticism for detail would have set the standard for all the workers at the factory.

On the other hand, it's good that Eddy is probably getting more of a chance to enjoy himself these days. I still hope to do a group ride with him some day.


----------



## aptivaboy

The red definitely looks a bit off. I have heard that the paint quality and lugwork on the 7-11 reproductions wasn't quite as good compared to past Merckxs. I can't prove that, but its been mentioned before. Take it with a grain of salt.


----------



## jet sanchEz

Was there ever a 7-11 Leader?


----------



## pablo pinchasso

*I doubt there was a slupie MX*

7-11 disolved in 91 and became Motorola. the Corsa Extra with Max tubing came out in 91 or maybe 90 but I hve never seen anything about a Slurpie MX. Most were for teams after they disolved the team.GAn Motorola TElecom and several others see The last of the Merckx team frames... ~ tears for gears
for more info on MX and teams that road the MX. 

Chuck
waiting on a MX>......to arrive.....


----------



## aptivaboy

Some of the 2007, or so, MXL reproductions were reportedly done up in 7-11 colors, which was interesting because I honestly can't recall ever seeing the 7-11 riders riding MXLs. TSX Centuries, yes, but not MXLs, although 7-11's time with Merckx was admittedly rather brief, so they may not have had much of an opportunity, or perhaps they rode one or two in the classics and just for certain riders. I have seen an MXL or two in those colors, and I'm assuming that they were the repros, but I honestly don't really know either way. A check of old Merckx catalogs doesn't show a Merckx 7-11 MXL, just Corsas, Corsa Extras and Centuries, but that doesn't mean that the factory didn't do a special order or two back in the '90s. The serial number would be the only way to know for sure.


----------



## bjorn240

HigherGround said:


> I like the idea that Eddy was in the factory and overseeing things when my MX Leader was built. Naive or not, I believe he would not have allowed a bike to go out the door with his name on the down tube unless it met his standards. I'm sure Eddy didn't inspect every bike personally. I just hope that his famous fanaticism for detail would have set the standard for all the workers at the factory.


I like both my MXLs a lot. I think they have an almost-unparalleled ride and really handle the way a race bike is supposed to handle.

That said, the brazing, lugwork, paint etc would all best be described as "workmanlike." Not bad, but clearly a production frame, and not nearly as nice as the KOTF frames now being made. In short, if Eddy was the quality-checker-in-chief it seems likely he was saying, "That's good enough - it's a racing bike, not an art project!"


----------



## Fivethumbs

Your 7-11 redux came out great!. I love it!

I had a 2005 Motorola MX Leader and ended up selling it mainly because the threadless stem ruined it for me. I wish I knew it could have been threaded. i might have kept it.


----------



## cannibal

aptivaboy said:


> The red definitely looks a bit off. I have heard that the paint quality and lugwork on the 7-11 reproductions wasn't quite as good compared to past Merckxs. I can't prove that, but its been mentioned before. Take it with a grain of salt.


I think another deal breaker as well based on previous posts was they came with a threadless fork.


----------



## HigherGround

bjorn240 said:


> I like both my MXLs a lot. I think they have an almost-unparalleled ride and really handle the way a race bike is supposed to handle.
> 
> That said, the brazing, lugwork, paint etc would all best be described as "workmanlike." Not bad, but clearly a production frame, and not nearly as nice as the KOTF frames now being made. In short, if Eddy was the quality-checker-in-chief it seems likely he was saying, "That's good enough - it's a racing bike, not an art project!"


I see where you're coming from. As a production frame company, Merckx is certainly not going to rival any of the smaller boutique frame builders when it comes to the finer details. My fork crown needed to be milled so the headset race would seat properly, and the seat tube also had to be reamed pretty well. Also, the rear derailleur wouldn't thread in to the hanger until after I went back to the shop to have it tapped. All things considered, I don't think that was too unusual for a lot of the European production steel frames in the 80's and 90's. When I bought a Basso frame in the early 90's, it went through a similar process.

Although I didn't explain it too well, I was hoping that Eddy wouldn't let some things slide that you might see from a "bigger name" mass production company that tries to cater to all markets: road, mountain, cyclocross, downhill, hybrid, kids, track, TT, triathlon, single-speed / fixed gear, etc. I've always had the impression that Eddy was more concerned about building a safer bike that you could beat the heck out of, even if it often came at the expense of the bike being a bit beefier I realize that every manufacturer has had a frame that was defective, or that broke prematurely at some point in their history, including Merckx. I would just hope that with a person's name on the down tube, that person would have a stronger sense of pride and responsibility that perhaps a mega corporation might. (I specifically avoided writing "giant corporation" because I didn't want to incorrectly imply that I was alluding to Giant above!)


----------



## acg

I raced on a 7-11 Team TSX frame back in the late 80s. Dished I had not sold her.... but I needed to focus on completely my college education and needed money to fund my expenses. It came with a full chrome fork and chromed seat and chain stays. What a beauty!


----------

