With a name regularly prefaced with ‘The World’s Greatest Cyclist’, Eddy Merckx’s eponymous bike company has a lot to live up to. Over its 35-year existence, the company can chart many highs during the steel and aluminium eras, but fewer since the early days of carbon fibre. Recent years have seen a revival, and with Eddy again fully involved, the Belgian brand is on the up.
Merckx’s palmares lists a never-to-be-surpassed 525 victories, and offers fertile ground for naming bike models. Every current Merckx is named after a famous race or stage win, with the back story to each often relating to the bike’s attributes. The road season’s first Classic from Milan to San Remo was a happy hunting ground for Merckx, winning seven of his 10 participations, and this bike celebrates his final victory in 1976.
The longest Classic of all, Milan–San Remo is more about endurance and speed than climbing, earning it the title of the sprinter’s classic. Although the hills that litter the finale can end the ambitions of some sprinters, they favour power rather than pure climbers.
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Picture duly painted, we felt we had a good idea of what to expect from the San Remo 76, but did it confound our preconceptions?
Aesthetically the frameset has a largely conventional outline, with a fairly level top-tube and dropped seatstays, but closer inspection highlights some aero tube shaping and often very angular profiles. From the large down-tube to the kinked top-tube and chunky asymmetric chainstays, the overriding impression is of solidity and uncompromising strength. If you like your bikes burly, you’re in luck.
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