# I met the man last night!



## ShortNFast (Aug 7, 2006)

Eddy Merckx was in Charlotte, NC last night at Carolina Bicycles. He signed whatever you wanted him to sign. I had him resign my 1985 Corsa SLX which he did 20 years ago in the same store but I was not the owner of the bike at that time. Told him this bike is the sweetest riding bike of all time and he just gleamed. He pointed to his new carbon beauties and told me I do need to think of upgrading. Having just bought a Serotta steel bike last year I was just glad to get out of there without spending $3500 on his new model which frankly really is eye catchin but I doubt it rides any better than my 24 year old steed.

We got to ask him questions for 10 minutes and I was in the front of the line at this time. Someone asked him his biggest competitor during his competition and he said big competitor no I had no big competitor and then recanted and said "well I think it was my wife." He said the Giro is a much tougher race than the Tour de France due to the mountains involved which was new to me. 

Hope you enjoy the picture of the Cannibal and my baby....


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

great shot......love the bike too..... I met him 4 years ago.......very personable guy


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

I would have taken a pic with him, ran to the photo shop and got an 8x10 enlargement made, and come back with it for him to autograph. I would have then had to build a shrine in my house for the pic. 

Awesome!

Eddy's carbon AXM is quite possibly one of the sexiest bikes I've ever seen. I'm not a carbon guy but I WANT an AXM.


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## HigherGround (Mar 3, 2005)

Very cool, thanks for sharing! :thumbsup: 

Okay, I admit it - I'm jealous! :mad2:


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## learlove (Jan 18, 2009)

o crap, why didn't someone say something on the board? (or I apologize if someone did and my dumb a$$ missed it). I now live just outside of Charlotte. I would have brought my Corsa01 for him to sign.

Was he showing the EMX3? If I wasn't buying a house right now I'd dip into my savings and replace my Leader (aluminium one) with an EXM-3.

Please tell me someone who went begged him to start building MX leaders again (yes I know he sold the company but I bet he still has influence over models)

Damn, kicking myself.

Hope he comes back next year.


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## HigherGround (Mar 3, 2005)

How many people turned out? 10 minutes doesn't seem like much time for Q & A. When I saw Greg LeMond at a shop in the mid 90's, I was shocked that more people hadn't shown up. (This was when he was still the only American to have won the Tour.)

Thanks for posting the pictures; I love the paint job on the Corsa!


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## learlove (Jan 18, 2009)

O man I see they announced it on gita's website. still kicking myself for missing it.


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## ShortNFast (Aug 7, 2006)

*The Man*

There were alot of people there. I would say at least 200 to 250. I was 3rd in line after the VIP's. I got right up to the next to see him and they interviewed him a while and then we got to ask questions. No one asked him about going back to steel bikes. Realize that its just him name on the bike now after selling out. All his new bikes were there. The EMX-3 was beautiful and very affordable I thought but it's carbon. To a guy like me that has a sweet Corsa Extra that rides like butter (my bike I take around neighborhood and to the coffee shop) carbon does nothing for me. I did buy a Serotta but it's steel and rides as close to the Merckx as anything I tried including some very high end bikes. Eddy is probably in Charlotte more often then everyone thinks as his good friend owns Gita right here in Charlotte. If anyone is in the area you ought to stop by Carolina Bicycle and see the bikes. They even had his fixed gear bike there and that was gorgeous. Sorry for those that missed him and didn't know about it in the area. Carolina Bicycle has a pretty big mailing list but you ought to get on it for events like this....


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## ShortNFast (Aug 7, 2006)

*Proof of the signing*

Here is an additional picture of Eddy signing the bike. Proof of authenticity. If you want to go to carolinabicyclecompany.com you can view pictures from the whole evening for those that could not make it....


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## cannibal (Dec 3, 2004)

great photos that capture a unique and rare experience - commence gloating!


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