# My next Merckx build



## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

Started with this early last summer: a dark green MXL 52x53.5 cm










After the makeover :


























































Centaur alloy group ready to hang on the frame. Still haven't decided on what rims to lace up for it.


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## HigherGround (Mar 3, 2005)

I literally said, "Beautiful!" out loud when I saw the pictures. Nice job! Who did the repaint?


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## Maverick (Apr 29, 2004)

*nice!!*

damn..i'm envious of the paint scheme..
don't forget to post a pic once it's completely built.

and looks like we're on the same size as well!


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## the desert fox (Apr 20, 2007)

i'm just curios to know, did you see how much of the framed is chromed when the old paint was stripped off? i have a corsa extra in motorola team collor with both chain stays chromed. someone told me that the seat stay and the bb might be chrome under the paint as well. can this be true?


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

*And the almost complete build...*

Campy Centaur group. Still waiting on a black Brooks Swallow saddle and a set of Campy silver Chorus/Record hubs laced to Kinlin XR300s. Took a 22 mile shakedown ride today and everything fits right & works right. I just had to get the ride in despite the 36F temps & blustery wind. A full ride report sometime next season will follow.

Cheers


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## boneman (Nov 26, 2001)

*Nice looking*

That's a great looking ride. Why are you switching to a Brooks? Just for style? Nicely done with the new Centaur on the MXL. Curious, why do you start your bar tap at the tops, not the bar ends? Curious to hear your impressions on the ride quality. How much you weighing in at currently?


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## em3 (Dec 25, 2005)

A beautiful respray and build-up...keeping a classic and understated original color scheme was a wise choice. Could you kindly share the details of the respray, including who did the work, turnaround and cost? Thanks,
EM3


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## barry1021 (Nov 27, 2005)

great bike, build, pix. nice job!

b21


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## velomateo (Mar 7, 2009)

Great classic Merckx color and my personal favorite decal style. I love the shot of the bottom bracket...it looks so "new".


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

@HigherGround- this is the 3rd repaint Jeff Bock of Des Moines Iowa has done for me this year. He still has a Richard Sachs repaint waiting on decals for me next year. I had originally wanted the Motorola paint scheme, but with the multiple masking needed, he felt it was getting very expensive. He suggested this color & I'm very happy with it.
@em3- I dropped off the frame in early August 2009, & I picked it up early October.

@desetfox- I don't think the whole frame is chromed. There were paint chips on the top tube & down tube & I saw bare metal there. There has been some discussion in previous posts that earlier frames were fully chromed under the paint, but more stringent environmental regs have led to the practice of chroming only the ends of the bike that had unpainted chrome.

@boneman- ever since I tried my 1st Brooks Swift this summer with my Cinelli build, I've acquired 3 additional Swifts & a Swallow saddle. I've found them much to my liking.This is the 1st time I've tried taping outward fron the center of the bar, after I read some discussion here. Just gave it a try. Like I said , my initial ride was too short; will have to wait till I hammer it more next season and reserve judgement until then. Winter has broken out here in the great plains & I doubt I'll venture out on very long outdoor rides until spring. I haven't weighed the bike yet, but I'm at 75kg.

Glad to share the new ride with fellow EM fans.  



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