its ALIVE!!!

This Frame was meant for other things but on arrival I discovered that she was in much MUCH better condition than first thought! NO way could I strip her back and redress her just for the sake of it, this is one beautiful original ol school Merckx!

I had just the answer for my latest addition to the stable, Shimano Dura Ace grouppo 7402 8spd with down tube shifters, that's wright campers...DOWN TUBE SHIFTERS! ah bless!!!



With a full Dura-Ace group including seat post I was (still am) at a bit of a loss to solve the problem of bars and stem for this ride. In the end I had to just throw on the only combo I had lying around which really doesn't do this bike any justice at all but will have to do for now.

Besides there are many beautiful aspects to this bike to distract one from pointing out the bars and stem! Take the number hanger for example, how many of these do you ever see these days? Who cares if they make the frame weigh 200grams more, number hangers on steel frames are functional pieces of artwork in my book!!!



I have always found it interesting yet disturbing that SLX frames just aren't as nice to ride and are heavier than their SL brothers, the last Merckx I actually rode was a SL and it was stunning to ride! This SLX is very Very niiiice don't get me wrong but just doesn't have the same rolling smoothness of an SL.

That said its one HOT bike, ridden today for the 1st time and on a sunny CHCH morning almost every cyclist I saw turned there heads to see what I was riding. I imagine some of the younger riders have never seen a bike without STI or Ergo power shifters before!




Ya just gotta love the lines of a classic geometry steel frame, the engraved lugs and brake bridges to the fork crown, simply magic!

To be fair I'm running out of things to say about this bike, its simply a joy to ride and I love it! the pictures say it all so here are a few more....






Just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Jason Rico and Ski for getting this bike to me from the US, wouldn't have been possible without you guys helping out so big BIG UPS to you both, Cheers G

Ride safe....G

Merckx Mania

Ok...so here comes a really special Merckx project!


Just won this lil beauty on eBay this afternoon, currently sitting in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, and soon to be on its way to lil old NZ for a FULL make over, PIMP MY RIDE Merckx styles!

The plan here is to get a full strip back to the bare metal, treatment against the evils of the "R" word (rust for all those not in the know) then a full custom paint job so its a "one of a kind Merckx", new decals (some custom treats there too) and a couple of clear coats to make her shine baby shine!

Dress her up in full Shimano Dura Ace 7403 8spd STI.

Watch this space for further developments as they come to hand, until then a few more photos for the "before phase" of the project.




As you can see she ain't in the best nick but give us some time to work a little magic and this frame will look brand spanking new again hopefully in time for Xmas!
What a mean Xmas gift it will make as well.

Ride safe....G

17 yrs in the making!

The newest edition to my humble lil Steel Stable.....1993 TSX Motorola Eddy Merckx


To all the "Purists" out there, yes I know the Motorola Team didn't use Rolls saddles and I know that they didn't use Campagnolo rims or Mitchelin tyres, but please bare with me, I am only temporarily using this bike until summer when I will then strip her down and do a 150% overhaul of this master piece.

I have in waiting a set of Wolber Rims, Avocet Saddle, Cineli engraved E.Merckx stem (too short for me to ride with).








Fully loaded with Shimano Dura-Ace 7403 components this little baby is a very close working ride able example of a 1993 Team bike that I have seen in yrs. Number hanger and bolt are at the ready for the TdF replica number of the most winning rider Le Tour has ever seen, one Mr L.Armstong, 1993 TdF no#34!

The next series of photo's are simple....only thing better than 1 Eddy Merckx is...well 2 Eddy Merckx!!!

































I haven't yet had the chance to ride Eddy yet, as always something to do with work takes over, but I am praying to the weather God's for another fine day tomorrow to test run my new toy!

Ride safe ....G

You be the Judge......

Giants FOR SALE

Two different Giant TCR Advanced bikes for sale both in excellent condition any questions please contact me, cheers G


2003 model Giant with Dura Ace 9spd groupset. NZ$1500.00

Brand new rear cassette,chain, and chainrings and all cables replaced, rides as new.

Groupset is in excellent condition as are the frame and forks. This would be an excellent bike for the coast to coast or as an entry level racing bike.

Frame size is Med compact, I am just under 6ft(184cm) and is a great fit for me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------



2009 Model Giant TCR ADVANCED. NZ$4250.00

3mths old and not a great amount of use this bike is for sale as a frame & fork combo OR as a full bike as you see it in the pictures.

Frame size is 53.5-M/L (compact) for more details on frame size check out Giant website on the following link.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-AU/bikes/road/232 8/32039/

Reason for selling is due to serious business committments and serious lack of time for training plus other more important cycling projects this awesome bike is collecting dust instead of kms.

This is without a doubt the stiffest lightest and smoothest ride I have owned and would recommend this bike to anyone for a complete training/race bike package.

Bike is equipped with Shimano Dura Ace 10spd (7800 older version) sti levers front mech cranks, rear mech is Ultegra 10spd, brakes are Dura Ace 9spd model, Easton wheels and Race Face Bars & stem. The bike will come with a brand new Fiziki saddle (white with green stripe-factory issue model)

Ride safe G

aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

TSX Motorola Eddy Merckx



A boy hood dream is almost a reality!



I remember back in maybe 1991 I had a dirty old steel bike that I wanted to get painted up like the above mentioned Merckx. Dad and I took it to the local panel beaters and with my copy of Winning magazine under my arm I showed the guy the photos and asked "can you paint it like this please?" "sure kid no problem".....3 wks later I was jumping out of my skin when he rang and said it was ready, what a F#@KN mess they had made of it!

So.....how some 18yrs later I finally get my Motorola Eddy Merckx team issue bike, and whats more its the real deal made of steel, Columbus TSX to be exact!



Who can forget Lance winning the Worlds @ 21 yrs old in Oslo on a Motorola team bike (yes i know it was a Litespeed painted in Merckx colours) or Andy Hampsten racing in the Tour and winning a stage in 94.





These frames are probably the last of the "Classic" Merckx paint jobs and also the last of the "Classic" merckx frames ridden by the pro's, I think it was the mid 90's they all started riding Ti this carbon that..... ya just cant beat steel though can ya!



This frame comes complete with a braze on number hanger (sign of a real team issue frame) I will have to do some research and get a proper race number of either Lance or Andy's Tour bikes made up and attached to make it look the part, no messy cable ties on this beauty.



I will be building this frame up as close to Team spec as possible, I already have the engraved Cinelli stem and the Dura Ace 7410 groupset, and avocet saddle ready and waiting, I will "borrow" my best mates old DA seat post for a few, well...decades i guess (cheers Harty), only thing I will need to make her a full team spec bike is some Wolber Rims, which chance may have it I found today in a local 2nd bike shop in town, 32 hole profile 18's, beautiful and new looking laced up with Shimano 600 hubs, I will of course have the rims re laced with DA hubs in keeping with the groupset.



So hopefully within the next 2-3mths I will have my 2nd Merckx complete and ready to roll for the summer mths, this Eddy will definitely see a few laps of the beloved Short Bays ride come summer time! A friend of mine has a Merckx MXL in team telekom colours Shamals and full Campagnolo so we will have to search for full team kit and have a battle royal in the mountains! Bring it!

So 2 Eddy's down, 2 to go, the Holy Grail's of Eddy Merckx frames, Team 7eleven & the 10th anniversary frame set, anyone out there that has either in 55-56 ctc please let me know.



till next time....Ride Safe, G

Eddy - SOLD!!!

Hi all, this Columbus SL Hitachi Merckx (57 ctc) is up for sale as either a frame set or complete bike. The complete bike will be finished in Shimano Dura Ace Sti 8 speed (condition on grouppo is not that flash)....for the purest out there, yes I know this bike was equipped with a Mavic groupset but try finding one of those these days!



The frame is in average condition but rides like a dream, SL tubing is/was one of Colubus's best offerings, smooth and not as heavy as SLX still a bloody nice ride after 22yrs!!!
Get this baby resprayed and you have yourself a mint ride just waiting for a nice new retro grouppo.



Contact me by leaving a comment below and leave your email address and I will be in touch. Frame & forks NZ$500 complete bike as mentioned above NZ$1000 shipping costs for international is very expensive from NZ please take that into consideration.

Ride safe G

Giant Killer

Ok so she's hardly retro but hey what ya gonna do when ya get the chance to ride something new and cool and it doesn't cost ya fuk all???

This bike would have to be the 2nd best bike I have ever ridden, Colnago Master(previous posting), is still the one and only! Having said that I still haven't, and more than likely never will, ridden my SL Eddy Merckx NOS!

From the first ride this Giant (TCR 1 - 2nd top frame in 09 series)just wanted to GO GO GO!!! pedals down power straight ahead with not an once of flex, incredible how responsive this bike is and STRONG yet so so light!


I love the shape and design of this frame. The MASSIVE carbon tubes are so angry looking and it screams "let me race"! The head tube and top tube are so over sized its ridiculous, but shit they look cool, and again stiffer than a school boy with a stick mag!



The huge over sized bottom bracket with the pressed bearings is unreal, the boys @ Giant have spared no horses on this one, its just power down and hold on tight as the bike ALMOSTS rides itself! Climbing, sprinting, cornering this bike does it all with ease and just begs you to give it more power!

Having said all of that, its amazing how comfortable it is on long easy rides as well, normally you'd expect something so responsive and race ready to be a bit harsh on the longer rides, not so, this bike really does it all.


Bang for buck ya just cant go past this bike for a race/training bike! Sure there's some nicer smoother bikes out there, if you are prepared to pay $15k plus, but for $5-7K (depending on the groupset) you just cant go past one of these bad boys!

Like I said, she's not retro but my word it rides so good I cant see me riding anything else for sometime yet, good enough to keep as a future retro ride!

cheers......ride safe, G