I swear, putting a modern group on a bike that previously had 8-speed Dura Ace STi on it is like getting a brand new machine. I loved the “period correctness” of the last build but man, riding 52/46 with an 11-24t cassette up 5,000+ feet of elevation sucks! So when I came across a deal on my Phil Wood road wheels, SRAM Force shifters and RED Black cranks, I pounced. I really, really, needed to upgrade. But didn’t Merckx once say, “don’t buy upgrades, ride upgrades”? Or something to that effect.

Check out more Merckx Mondays below!

Interestingly enough, Bicycle Magazine has an online article up called the 8 Most Merckxian Moments and what better time to plug it than Merckx Mondays? Check it out here!

The online article coincides with a print article in Bicycling Magazine on Eddy Merckx himself. I just got done reading it and it’s well worth the money on the issue if you’re a Merckx fan.

Chris J is the man. He’s got such an elaborate and eccentric bicycle collection. When he saw my Dura Ace 7403 shifters on eBay, he picked them up. Which lead to a long email correspondence, in which he shared with me his Telekom MX-L. If I were to ever buy another Merckx frame, it would be a Telekom MX-L. So nice!

But I’ve already got a nice MX-Leader….

Love it, or hate it (Sizemore!), I like having a modern group on this baby. It’s like a whole new bike. But please, don’t preach some Campy doctrine at me! Most Eddy Merckx bikes came with Dura Ace and no one wanted to race Ergo in the early days. Also, I like to be able to shift in the drops.

Now that the defensive disclosure is finished, I’m going to go ride this thing again!

If you wanna see more photos of the build, check out my Flickr!