Rare hand-made in Belgium Eddy Merckx 525 Super Bike that has placed top 5 in several road races. I have not ridden it much at all in 2018 and 2019 (new business) and then since 2022 (new bike), so I was holding on to it for sentimental reasons and just need to let it go to a good home. It’s a cool looking bike that fits and at the right price! Note: pictures with garage door in background is the actual bike, pics without it are professional pics from the EM website
> Lightweight at 17 lbs with pedals and cages!
> Size is between Small and Medium: I’m 5’10 and it fits me. The size is a bit odd because the top tube arches and looks smaller, but its longer wheelbase and lower for more aggressive rider position. The seat tube is 21 inches=53.34cm.
> Shimano Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting
> 50mm deep Reynolds wheels with Cyclops rear hub power meter
> Includes lightweight carbon aero bars (optional free and already installed)
> Light wear from my foot rubbing the crank and chain stay. Has carbon wear from dropped chain, but now has a chain guard installed
> Adamo saddle installed (very comfortable, especially in the drops/aero bars), but I still have the original PrologQ saddle and a Fizik R1 carbon racing saddle ($179 value)
> Garmin mount included
> No peddles included
> Optional custom-tailored wool Molteni jersey and shorts similar to what Eddy Merckx raced in (custom padding can be replaced). Worn only a few times. $80 extra (separate transaction)
REVIEWS:
"The 525 represents the number of his wins, and if you want to know about bike envy, you should try riding this fella – in our experience, even bike shop employees may swoon just a little.
It’s not a bike you can miss. Even by today’s standards, its down tube and BB86 bottom bracket shell are monsters. Throw in deep, asymmetric chainstays, zigzag seatstays and forkblades that kick forward at the dropouts and you have one distinctive machine.
Unusually in our age of ultra-light bikes, Merckx espouses ‘speed, stiffness, stability and safety’ first, which is reflected in a weight that isn’t that light and in the 525’s geometry. The head tube is as short as you’d expect on a road bike, but compared with the Specialized Tarmac and Trek Madone, for example, frame angles are a degree or so shallower and the wheelbase longer, which certainly aids stability.
The asymmetric frame is designed to cope with the uneven forces put through a bike’s collection of tubes, and Merckx’s own tests suggest its head tube and bottom bracket stiffness are equal or superior to anything else on the market; our less scientific testing – riding lots – did nothing to suggest otherwise.
The 525’s super-stiff and responsive ride never lets you forget this is a pro-level racing bike, and something you can feel when you put the hammer down. All that beefiness comes to the fore in a whoosh – instant acceleration!
The big-is-beautiful head tube and all-alloy cockpit mean the front end is rock solid too. The result? Great descending with the sense that you’re always in control. And though race- rather than endurance-orientated, its comfort is better than we expected. It’s not plush, but fine even for long days."
- Simon Withers
BikeRader