"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:"zeno" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
Yeah, no doubt your EX has those "Proprietary" head tube angles.<G>
Tell you what Zeno, I have 10 bikes and the two Merckx's handle better
than
Quoted message said:the other 8. The geometry doesn't look different though there are small
differences between all of the bikes. It is the balance of handling that I
admire. They are fast uphill, downhill and on the flat. The only other
bike
Quoted message said:I have that's close is my Basso Loto.
Sorry Tom, I couldn't resist taking a dig at the "proprietary" thing, which
has always struck me as funny -- a sort of magic formula. It's not like
somebody with nothing better to do couldn't figure the angles in 10 minutes.
I take your point about Merckx formulating unique specs for the EX for the
builder, Litespeed, which I agree results in a "Merckx."
But, I was talking about "rebadging," which is not the same as "building to
spec."
It's widely acknowledged that in his 1993 world championship road race win,
LA road a stock Litespeed Ultimate frame that had been rebadged & painted as
a "Merckx.." Just the other day, I saw an interview with Eddy where he was
talking about his long relationship with LA, in which he said (paraphrasing
the first part), "You know, he won the World Championship on a bike "with my
badge on it"." A little disingenuous on Eddy's part, but accurate.
Perhaps I am more attuned to news about that particular bike, since I have
ridden the same LS Ultimate frame, with numerous component upgrades, on a
regular basis for the last 11 years.
Similarly, LA's first time trial wins in the TDF were on a LS blade
repainted & "rebadged" as a "Trek," until Trek eventually got around to
building their own . I believe you will find that the infamous KOM Richy V.,
rode a rebadged & repainted LS Vortex to victory on more than one occasion
too.
Zeno
