# Early MX Leader on Ebay...



## texbike (Oct 21, 2004)

Wow! Take a look at ebay item # 150227242052.

The seatstay treatment and fork crown are different than those on my MXLs.

What a sharp looking bike! Does anyone care to guess what it will reach in bidding? 

Texbike


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## barry1021 (Nov 27, 2005)

texbike, given the condition, great paint, rarity, 130 dropouts, and tubing, I would guess north of !750. Hey! That would fit me!!

b21


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## LLP (Feb 14, 2005)

The Frame is good ! But the fork is unusual .........


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## genejockey (Apr 11, 2007)

I wonder if it's REALLY a Merckx? IIRC, the MX Leader's tubeset differs from the normal Columbus MAX in the top tube. MAX goes from vertical oval at the headtube to horizontal oval at the seat tube, whereas MXL is round a the seat tube, so it doesn't have to have the funky lug you see there. Also, the fork crown doesn't look like the pics I've seen of Merckx MXL forks, which are sloping, and pantographed.

It looks more like my Battaglin MAX frame, especially the fork crown and the seat lug. It's not a Battaglin, though, because mine's pantographed on the fork crown, the brake bridge, and the dropouts. Maybe someone repainted another maker's MAX frame?

Check the pics of a real MX Leader at the link. Note especially the fork crown and the seat lug, and compare them to the ebay bike. 

Of course, maybe Merckx made some MXL's with standard MAX tubing and lugs. Some Merckx historian here must know.


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## texbike (Oct 21, 2004)

genejockey said:


> I wonder if it's REALLY a Merckx? IIRC, the MX Leader's tubeset differs from the normal Columbus MAX in the top tube. MAX goes from vertical oval at the headtube to horizontal oval at the seat tube, whereas MXL is round a the seat tube, so it doesn't have to have the funky lug you see there. Also, the fork crown doesn't look like the pics I've seen of Merckx MXL forks, which are sloping, and pantographed.
> 
> It looks more like my Battaglin MAX frame, especially the fork crown and the seat lug. It's not a Battaglin, though, because mine's pantographed on the fork crown, the brake bridge, and the dropouts. Maybe someone repainted another maker's MAX frame?
> 
> ...


I definitely think that this is a Merckx MX Leader. It's just early in the evolutionary chain. There were a number of running changes to the bike over the years including fork crown, seat stays, etc. I believe that the earlier bikes like this one used a complete MAX tubeset, while the later MXLs mixed and matched MAX tubes with other tubesets to tune the ride characteristics of the bike.

Your Battaglin sounds interesting. I'd love to see it!

Cheers,

Texbike


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## genejockey (Apr 11, 2007)

Here you go.

I bought it for $286 on Ebay, had it repainted, and built it up with 2006 Chorus. Even with really light, modern components, it's a heavy bike, but you really don't notice it when riding.

It's got 1000 miles on it now.


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## ctam (Apr 21, 2003)

I have an old Winning magazine that profiles Phil Anderson's team Motorola MAX Merckx bike. This was before the MX Leader came out. It was constructed of all MAX tubes just like the one in the ebay auction. Even had the same fork crown.


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## barry1021 (Nov 27, 2005)

*Cool*



ctam said:


> I have an old Winning magazine that profiles Phil Anderson's team Motorola MAX Merckx bike. This was before the MX Leader came out. It was constructed of all MAX tubes just like the one in the ebay auction. Even had the same fork crown.


great info, any chance you can upload a pix??

b21


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2008)

barry1021 said:


> great info, any chance you can upload a pix??
> 
> b21


I have a Dancelli frameset built of MAX tubing.

Again, same as the picture, including the fork crown.


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## ctam (Apr 21, 2003)

Well I wouldn't be too surprised that all early MAX frames look very similiar because I think there was only 1 lugset available at the time. So builders either had to use the same lugs or they built with fillet brazing (eg Bianchi Proto) or tig weld (eg Pinarello).

I'll try and snap some pics of the Merckx in my Winning magazine and post later.


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## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

*My Motorola MX Leader is a little different*

I bought mine in 94, or possibly 95, if I recall. My seat stays come into the back of the seat tube rather than the sides (the latter like 99% of the MX Ls I've seen). I know of one other like it. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it right now. It does have the classic MX leader fork crown (not like the one that started this thread).

When I bought it it had been hanging in the shop for more than a year, no one was interested. How times have changed.


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