The Radavist

Eddy Merckx, 525 victories and style icon. Seriously, that man had such rad sideburns. Classic cycling photography was so good!

*these two photos are from the Merckx 525 book.

As you can imagine, it’s tough to find somewhat original Merckx Mondays content. Not saying this is by no means original, but these excerpts from a photo album haven’t been posted all over the internet… yet.

Roleur posted an extract from L’Album d’Eddy (issue 8) on their blog and I highly suggest you check it out.

Happy Merckx Mondays! This Recent Roll post is brought to you by David Flores and Division 1, a new shop on the east side of Austin, Texas. The guys at D1 flew Mr. Flores out to paint this massive Eddy Merckx mural on the eastern façade of their new building. It’s impressive!

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Fuji Pro400H

Photo by Michael Williams

I receive what I would consider “gems” in the form of emails from time to time. This one in particular came from Michael in Sacramento. A lifelong Merckx fan, Michael actually got to visit the factory back in 1985, where, as he described, he was too much in awe to focus. Literally.

Amazing… Hopefully, there will be more on the site from Michael in the future. Even if I have to travel to Sacramento to document it myself.

How’d I miss this one!?

Well, my Memorial Day has wound down and as I get back to the swing of the work week, I thought I’d kick it off with a nice Merckx Mondays from Fyxomatosis. Well, technically, this one’s from Patebury, an Aussie leather shop. Rather than track down another NOS Sella Italia RS saddle for an Eddy Merckx Professional that Andy’s building, he contacted Patebury to see how close they could come to making one… it looks damn nice!

See more photos at FYXO.

Mr. Fyxomatosis and his #MolteniBaby jerseys sold extremely well. You can’t get any more “Merckx” than Molteni orange and I found this photo quite appropriate for Merckx Mondays.

I wonder if Eddy knew what he’d inevitably end up doing for that sausage company when he signed on board?

Everyone knows that the brand Eddy Merckx isn’t what it used to be. After Eddy sold the company, it kind of went in a different direction. Ok, it totally went in a different direction. Not that the classic Merckx frames suffer from this modern association but there’s something to be said about pedigree and integrity.

One thing’s for sure, Eddy has pedigree and in his old age, he’s maintaining his integrity. Now the brand? That’s up to you to discuss. Take these three photos for instance, sent in by Klaus from Cycling Inquisition. He was in Belgium recently and met Eddy while at the factory.

I love the shot of “Eddy’s Bike”. Too good Klaus!

Oh and I’d still rather see him on a Molteni…

Sun Graphics does a hell of a lot of resprays, oops, pardon me, I meant “restorations”… Shit. Let me start over. In Australia, if you need a place to get a classic Eddy Merckx restored to (or above and beyond) its original condition, the place to go is Sun Graphics.

Andy at FYXO works exclusively with Sun and Shifter to deliver pristine complete future Eddy Merckx classics. Above is one of my favorite Merckx liveries, team Stuttgart. This one’s heading off to Sun for a little TLC and below is a classic Eddy Merckx famed for polished Campagnolo.

I can’t wait to see how both of these turn out. Maybe they’ll be a future Merckx Mondays?

It’s Merckx Mondays (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway) and I’m back in the land of Eddy Merckx. Not Belgium, Melbourne. As far as I’m concerned, classic Eddy Merckx bicycles in Australia is pronounced “F Y X O”. Andy’s supplied the world with great photos of classic steel bicycles over the years and his new 7-FYXO kits are looking great. Pick up the 7-FYXO Jersey here and the FYXO classic bibs here.

Don’t miss the full FYXO photoset here.

Hey, it’s been a while and when I come across something like this, I have to share it. Richard Pool designs and prints these portrait infographics of famous cyclists and the Eddy Merckx designs are so good.

See more Merckx Mondays below!

Even though I have two awesome road bikes, part of me still misses riding my MX-Leader. Sure, they aren’t the lightest of bikes but they ride like none other. Even after parting with mine, I based both of my custom road bikes on its geometry. But this one’s got a history behind it. I rode this bike while I was in Australia last year and loved it. So when I saw Andy was parting with it, I got all pensive and contemplated buying it for a second.

This is one beautiful example of a non-team issue paint job on a stunning MX-Leader and FYXO is selling it now. If you ride a 58cm and have been looking for one, look no further. Check out his eBay auction here.

I came across this late Monday night last week and figured I’d just hold onto it for a week. Perhaps you remember that Merckx illustration for Rouleur Magazine #14? Well, British artist Richard Mitchelson translated his original artwork into a vinyl, 6″ figurine. You can pre-order this pocket-sized cannibal for £35.00 exclusively at Rouleur.

I just got back from Portland after a long day of traveling, to come home to a wonderful Merckx Mondays post from Fyxomatosis. Head over and check out more of this custom, one-of-a-kind Eddy Merckx MX-Leader restoration!

See larger here

David Lundqvist got ahold of a beautiful Stuttgart pista frameset and built it with all Campagnolo C-Record Pista. I am drooling right now. And no, that’s not my old frame. This one’s in much better condition. It’s been a while since a Merckx Mondays, but I thought this deserved one!

There’s one more gem below.

Nobody knows Eddy like Andy White from Fyxomatosis, so when Khalil contacted Andy for a one-of-a-kind MXL, he went overboard. Custom FYXO livery, custom FYXO decals, custom FYXO everything. Or as Andy puts it “no corners cut, no bullshit treatment“. This Merckx Mondays is a dedication to those who do it right. Andy, this is amazing.

See the full project here.

Photo by Christian Wieners

I love the random emails from all over the globe I get with “Merckx” in the subject lines. For today’s Merckx Mondays, two Stuttgart bikes make an appearance, from across the globe. Starting the Christian Wieners’ photo of this Stuttgart road, taken during the Giro de Brilliante 01, which I’m assuming is an event in Austria. You can see more photos from the event here and see more Merckx Mondays below.