1994 Eddy Merckx MX Leader - Vlaanderen 2002 team bike

A Merckx MX Leader was another one that was always on my wish list of classic steel frames.

In the 90's Merckx was at the forefront of steel frame tech, and these were in production right at the conclusion of the heyday for lugged steel frames.

Merckx took Columbus' MAX tubeset, reoriented the top tube, and made some other tweaks. The result is what many people consider one of the stiffest and best riding steel frames ever produced. Eddy Merckx's extreme attention to detail and frame geometry also gives these frames something magic that is hard to describe, they just ride beautifully and corner like they are on rails.

The downside is that they are heavy! Mainly because the oversized tubing required oversized lugs, and those lugs are beefy! A joy on lumpy, rolling, or flat roads, the experience isn't super pleasurable on any long or steep climbs.

This one came to me from a fellow collector in Belgium. When discussing the purchase we got to talking and it turns out we had actually raced many times against each other in Under23 events in Europe. The world is small sometimes.

The color scheme is from the 1994 Vlaanderen 2002 Team. This was a Belgian development team sponsored by the Flemish sports council. Although the team was professional, their aim was to develop young Flemish riders and get them into bigger teams. As they weren't a top tier team they used Campagnolo Chorus components. I was able to find a complete donor bike with a 1994 Chorus groupset to get this bike built correctly.

The frame was used by Thierry Heirbault who was the best friend and training partner of the star young rider of the Vlaanderen 2002 team, Tom Steels. Tom went on to be one of the best sprinters in the world, and I imagine this bike was only plenty of training rides with Tom in his days as an up and coming young professional. It definitely has the battle scars to show it!