The Radavist

Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx? Sure!

In cooperation with Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, 9000 studios will make the new website Mercxickx.be. Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx might be the greatest sports icons Belgium has ever produced. In 2015, both gentlemen are blessed with 70 candles on their birthday cake, which is celebrated with a grand exhibition.

Grand, like the careers of both gentlemen. Eddy Merckx, the best cyclist of all times, won everything there was to win, including five GC victories in the Tour de France, The Giro, The Vuelta and seven times Milaan San Remo. Jacky Ickx is one of the most complete car racers to ever press down a throttle pedal. Amongst other things, he won 8 F1 grand prixs, six times the prestigeous 24 hours of Le Mans and the Paris Dakar rally. Two international sports icons, two proud Belgians. If anyone deserve’s an exhibition, it’s them.

See more at 9000.be. Nice find, Tracko!

Vintage, black and white photos of Eddy Merckx will always be my favorite. Here’s one from 1969, Eddy racing in the TDF time trial race Revel-Revel. On his yellow jersey is the number 51, a marveled pairing of numbers in the Tour’s history.

Back then, “Champions are born with the back number 51” was a common saying in the Peloton and with good reason. Many legends were adorned by these digits: Eddy Merckx, Louison Bobet, Bernard Thèvenet and Luis Ocana. All of which exceeded a simple win and elevated themselves into cycling’s history.

Thanks to the Flickr stream of Walter Vermeulen for this week’s Merckx Mondays!

I keep going through my hard drive and finding little gems like this. If you’ve ever seen the old Eddy Merckx Professional catalog photos, then you’ve seen this frame before. These gold-plated Merckx frames are extremely rare. So rare that this is the only one I’ve seen and it was sitting on the counter at Shifter Bikes when I visited Dan last month.

The original finish is still intact, save for where the precious owner’s sweat caused the plating to chip off. This patina tells a story and I can only hope that it’ll never have a respray.

Check out a few more photos below.

Gabriele Benvenuti’s Merckx illustrations make the cannibal look like Superman. Although I suppose he wasn’t that far off. Check out more at Gabriele’s portfolio site.

A few years back, I posted about these shoes, which I still have in my possession (obviously). While they’re no longer NOS – after a few rides on the track bike – they are in still pristine condition. As a matter of face, I have all three of these shoes in the “Related” sidebar, all sitting in my office now after living in storage containers for years. I’m not sure what sparked this particular Merckx Mondays, other than seeing Golden Saddle Cyclery using their Merckx Adidas shoe box to hold limes when I was in LA last week…

Nothing wrong with that!

The summer of ’69 was a good one alright – right down to Eddy’s wrist brace. Although 1970 was pretty good too! I love the Tour.

This is, without a doubt, the best Eddy Merckx Professional restoration I’ve ever seen. Andy really took this job above and beyond, both in final build and historical documentation. Head over to FYXO for this insane Professional photoset!

For reference, see the catalog photo below.

If there is one man who is truly obsessed with Eddy Merckx, it’s Bret Horton of the Horton Collection. To celebrate this obsession – that I think we all have, at least in some capacity – the Horton Collection is offering a limited run of Eddy Merckx lithographs.

So how many of these 20″ x 24″ prints were made? You guessed it, 525.

Pick up a set at the Horton Collection.

Artist Richard Pool makes yet another submission to Merckx Mondays with his cycling-inspired Nike shoe illustration. Molteni SBs anyone? Follow Richard on Instagram and thanks for sharing this work man!

Few people go through this degree of pain and few’s faces will ever be this iconic. Celebrate Eddy Merckx’s pain with this screen print from the Foot Down! Thanks for sharing, Ty.

Man, I should just get Tracko to do Merckx Mondays from here on out. Where does he find this stuff?

I love this artwork by It’s Jerry. Great find Tracko!

Photos by Marty Wood

It’s not everyday that I get a Merckx Mondays submission featuring a practically NOS Faema Merckx, shot in a studio nonetheless. Todd Schmidt is the owner of this bike and Marty Wood shot the photos. Both of which work at Q in Minneapolis. I met Marty during Frostbike and he said he had a Merckx to share…

Todd picked this up while he was working for Wares’ Cycle in Milwaukee. He was 16 when he started at Wares’ and instantly became overwhelmed with all things cycling. Back then, the heroes had frame companies. Names like DeRosa, Lemond, Colnago, Motta, Moser and of course, Merckx.

Fast forward to modern day. Todd, like many people, still want to relive the days of yore (i.e. the steel age). A random friend sent a note to him about a customer selling this very bike: a 1985 Eddy Merckx Professional made from Columbus SL and it wasn’t some ordinary factory paint, it was in the Faema Team livery.

Below is a rather lengthy description of what Todd did to restore this bike, which I won’t even begin to paraphrase. If you’re looking for a good read and photos, check out more below!

M-m-m-molteni Monday! While Tracko’s got a sweet Merckx Mondays post up, I’m adding to the bike coveting with this sick Molteni Pista up on eBay. If I had the money and if this thing was a little bit bigger, I’d swoop it up for sure. Some background, this is being sold by a reader, who’s a photographer in need of some new glass. I’ve been there before and it’s a tough sacrifice to make.

See the rest of Anthony’s Eddy Merckx Pista in high res here or try your luck, bidding on it at eBay!

A reader forwarded me a scan of this photo, featuring Eddy Merckx at the Miroir du Cyclisme in April 1975 during the Paris-Nice Prologue, while in the commune of Fontenay-sous-Bois. In his hand, a Merckx-branded, DeRosa-built road bike.

I’d love to see a modern take on this photo!

One of the first Merckx Monday posts I ever made was on Eddie’s Hour Record track bike. Go back and check it out if you missed it. When I saw this artwork by Richard Pool, I immediately thought of that beautiful machine!

Many thanks to artist Richard Pool for this week’s Merckx Mondays portrait!

Photos by Giovanni Pirajno

Sorry for the lack of updates today, I was out doing reconnoissance in the Angeles Forest. That and Tracko doesn’t have wifi at his bachelor pad. Speaking of no wifi, I doubt the De Rosa factory has it either.

I can’t get over this De Rosa-built Molteni road. Gahhhhhh. See more at FYXO!