Eddy Merckx Team Panasonic 1985, a classic reborn

[Edgy Dee]

Desperately looking for a 'love' button but a 'like' will have to do. That's lovely. I had a pair of Shamals that I've regretted selling ever since!

Never mind the 'love' emoji, where's the 'green-with-envy-I-want-your-bike' emoji!?
Beautifully curated project. Inspirational. Thanks for posting.

 

[booze and cake]

Thanks very much everyone Eddy seems to be regarded as a bit of a looker. I've just been out for another blast around town and can confirm I already love riding this bike and despite cold fingers I was grinning like a Cheshire cat all the way round. @BalkanExpress thanks for the links, those Oakley sunnies are super cool and looks like they can double up as ski googles

And yes @dan_bo I agree I go totally weak for Shamals, those bulbous hubs alone are works of art

...but they can go for silly money now on eBay for a good set. Thankfully I got mine at nothing like the current going rate, but I often see them go for £400-500 for a pair, which for 20 year old second hand wheels is pretty amazing, and surely more than what they cost when they were released new. In view of the current mad prices and with the resurgence of people building up steel bikes and lots of custom steel frame makers, I honestly don't know why Campagnolo does'nt start making them again, they'd make a killing. They are not especially light by modern standards but in addition to being the most pretty wheelset ever in my opinion, they are strong, and when up to speed they really do keep speed well and you really fly along, I can why racers and TT'ers liked them.

And here's a pics from today's ride where Eddy was drawn to another fellow shiny thing

EDIT: and I've already bought a Team Panasonic cap and was wearing it today, on the look out for the jersey next

 

[Alan O]

Wow, as shiny things go, that's the nicest I've seen in a long time.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Just fabulous!!! Dribble.....

 

[Maenchi]

very very nice bikes makes me wish i'd still got my old racing bike, just had to add my compliments to you on your top job on them .....

 

[PHL67]

What a fantastic job. Well done. I find it so satisfying when the build is complete and you see an as new piece of history in front of you. Time and effort put in is all worth the wait. Keep adding to your collection.

 

[booze and cake]

Thanks again everyone, I agree @PHL67 it is a very satisfying experience, especially riding it at the end. I've put about 200 miles on it now and am yet to stop smiling, its really comfortable, I've attacked some hills both up and down, fast, and its confidence inspiring from the off, it feels like I've owned it for ages. I can't wait for the weather to get a bit nicer, a ride to the seaside and back beckons.

 

[booze and cake]

I've been putting some miles on this bike and been loving every mile. The weather has been mostly terrible this year so outings have been rarer than I'd like, but despite the rain I took it out for yesterdays Cobblemonster ride, a tribute to Paris-Roubaix that took on lots of London's cobbled back roads and summited some south London mountains, and this surefooted Belgian glided over the wet cobbles and was right at home. Seen here in the only pic I took for my street art thread.

I got some latex tubes on sale so its currently rolling with them which feel very nice. In true tragic MAMIL fashion I have been keeping an eye on eBay for matchy matchy kit over recent months, to complete the full retro dork look, and so far have.......
A cycle cap

I absolutely love this next one, and when I saw it, I simply had to have it, original vintage 1985-86 so same year as the bike, and in fantastic condition

eBay can be a lottery, and when I saw a short sleeve jersey I snapped that up too, but its a Chinese knock off, the font is all wrong, and all the colours are too far off to satisfy tragic matchy matchy criteria, seen here with the above jacket to show how far off it is, amateurs!

I was a bit gutted by that, but made up for it with a nice blue wool Campagnolo short sleeve top I found

Other eBay MAMIL accessories include some similarly shiny 1984 vintage Metropolitan Police driving glasses, so I can ride around like Ponch from the 80's show CHIPS

I do like the graduated colour fade on the bike from dark blue to white as seen here

So you can imagine that when I saw these sunglasses on eBay I had to have them too. They are not Merckx or Panasonic branded but the colour matching is so good you'd think they were. I know there is more than a whiff of Timmy Mallett with these but I could'nt care less, they rock!

I have seen some cool Team Panasonic cycling gloves on some vintage old racing photos from back in the 80's but have never seen any vintage or reproduction ones for sale, so I have had to settle with these Giro gloves

I can die a happy MAMIL and be lowered into my coffin in full matchy matchy kit, amid howls of laughter, when I have filled the matching socks void. I don't recall ever seeing any Team Panasonic socks. I've trawled loads of sites online, cycling specific and not, but I've not found any socks with similar graduations from dark blue, to light blue to white, ideally in the nice chevron straight line style as on the frame above, no wavy lines please, that would not do. If anyone comes across any socks that will fit in with the above please send me links, I'd be super grateful and will finally be able to sleep soundly at night

 

[Drago]

Lovely indeed.

 

[woodbutcher]

I've been putting some miles on this bike and been loving every mile. The weather has been mostly terrible this year so outings have been rarer than I'd like, but despite the rain I took it out for yesterdays Cobblemonster ride, a tribute to Paris-Roubaix that took on lots of London's cobbled back roads and summited some south London mountains, and this surefooted Belgian glided over the wet cobbles and was right at home. Seen here in the only pic I took for my street art thread.
View attachment 403617
I got some latex tubes on sale so its currently rolling with them which feel very nice. In true tragic MAMIL fashion I have been keeping an eye on eBay for matchy matchy kit over recent months, to complete the full retro dork look, and so far have.......
A cycle cap
View attachment 403618
I absolutely love this next one, and when I saw it, I simply had to have it, original vintage 1985-86 so same year as the bike, and in fantastic condition
View attachment 403619
eBay can be a lottery, and when I saw a short sleeve jersey I snapped that up too, but its a Chinese knock off, the font is all wrong, and all the colours are too far off to satisfy tragic matchy matchy criteria, seen here with the above jacket to show how far off it is, amateurs!
View attachment 403620
I was a bit gutted by that, but made up for it with a nice blue wool Campagnolo short sleeve top I found
View attachment 403621
Other eBay MAMIL accessories include some similarly shiny 1984 vintage Metropolitan Police driving glasses, so I can ride around like Ponch from the 80's show CHIPS
View attachment 403622
I do like the graduated colour fade on the bike from dark blue to white as seen here
View attachment 403623
So you can imagine that when I saw these sunglasses on eBay I had to have them too. They are not Merckx or Panasonic branded but the colour matching is so good you'd think they were. I know there is more than a whiff of Timmy Mallett with these but I could'nt care less, they rock!
View attachment 403624
I have seen some cool Team Panasonic cycling gloves on some vintage old racing photos from back in the 80's but have seen any vintage or reproduction ones for sale, so I have had to settle with these Giro gloves
View attachment 403625
I can die a happy MAMIL and be lowered into my coffin in full matchy matchy kit, amid howls of laughter, when I have filled the matching socks void. I don't recall ever seeing any Team Panasonic socks. I've trawled loads of sites online, cycling specific and not, but I've not found any socks with similar graduations from dark blue, to light blue to white, ideally in the nice chevron straight line style as on the frame above, no wavy lines please, that would not do. If anyone comes across any socks that will fit in with the above please send me links, I'd be super grateful and will finally be able to sleep soundly at night

I've been putting some miles on this bike and been loving every mile. The weather has been mostly terrible this year so outings have been rarer than I'd like, but despite the rain I took it out for yesterdays Cobblemonster ride, a tribute to Paris-Roubaix that took on lots of London's cobbled back roads and summited some south London mountains, and this surefooted Belgian glided over the wet cobbles and was right at home. Seen here in the only pic I took for my street art thread.
View attachment 403617
I got some latex tubes on sale so its currently rolling with them which feel very nice. In true tragic MAMIL fashion I have been keeping an eye on eBay for matchy matchy kit over recent months, to complete the full retro dork look, and so far have.......
A cycle cap
View attachment 403618
I absolutely love this next one, and when I saw it, I simply had to have it, original vintage 1985-86 so same year as the bike, and in fantastic condition
View attachment 403619
eBay can be a lottery, and when I saw a short sleeve jersey I snapped that up too, but its a Chinese knock off, the font is all wrong, and all the colours are too far off to satisfy tragic matchy matchy criteria, seen here with the above jacket to show how far off it is, amateurs!
View attachment 403620
I was a bit gutted by that, but made up for it with a nice blue wool Campagnolo short sleeve top I found
View attachment 403621
Other eBay MAMIL accessories include some similarly shiny 1984 vintage Metropolitan Police driving glasses, so I can ride around like Ponch from the 80's show CHIPS
View attachment 403622
I do like the graduated colour fade on the bike from dark blue to white as seen here
View attachment 403623
So you can imagine that when I saw these sunglasses on eBay I had to have them too. They are not Merckx or Panasonic branded but the colour matching is so good you'd think they were. I know there is more than a whiff of Timmy Mallett with these but I could'nt care less, they rock!
View attachment 403624
I have seen some cool Team Panasonic cycling gloves on some vintage old racing photos from back in the 80's but have seen any vintage or reproduction ones for sale, so I have had to settle with these Giro gloves
View attachment 403625
I can die a happy MAMIL and be lowered into my coffin in full matchy matchy kit, amid howls of laughter, when I have filled the matching socks void. I don't recall ever seeing any Team Panasonic socks. I've trawled loads of sites online, cycling specific and not, but I've not found any socks with similar graduations from dark blue, to light blue to white, ideally in the nice chevron straight line style as on the frame above, no wavy lines please, that would not do. If anyone comes across any socks that will fit in with the above please send me links, I'd be super grateful and will finally be able to sleep soundly at night

An obsession but a healthy one......and its all your doing that l am struggling with my own build

 

[booze and cake]

@woodbutcher definitely healthier than a cake habit

And sorry I've not been keeping up, what struggles are you having? I saw you bought the white frame, did'nt know what happened with that, but next I saw you'd bought the purple carbon TVT, which looks great. Hopefully nothing major, and overcoming the challenges will result in you having more of an affinity for the bike....eventually that is, there may be swearing before that point is reached. Good luck.

 

[woodbutcher]

@woodbutcher definitely healthier than a cake habit

And sorry I've not been keeping up, what struggles are you having? I saw you bought the white frame, did'nt know what happened with that, but next I saw you'd bought the purple carbon TVT, which looks great. Hopefully nothing major, and overcoming the challenges will result in you having more of an affinity for the bike....eventually that is, there may be swearing before that point is reached. Good luck.

No worries l am not so much a cake man more of a booze fan. The TVT is a joy, and in its own way so is the white frame although it is no longer white but more of that later when l get round to illustrating its progress

 

[Alan O]

Other eBay MAMIL accessories include some similarly shiny 1984 vintage Metropolitan Police driving glasses, so I can ride around like Ponch from the 80's show CHIPS

You should have just said "Ponch" with no further detail... those who need to know, know.

 

[booze and cake]

You should have just said "Ponch" with no further detail... those who need to know, know.

Haha but the millennials would not have a clue what I was on about. Strangely that show has'nt been repeated, it must look really bad now.

I think those glasses and those chrome Harley's are probably where my chrome love comes from, that and the American trucks in Convoy.
What I really need now is for the weather to be a bit more Californian and a bit less Belgian, so I can actually use the sunglasses. This years weather sucks. I've got a few days off work and am supposed to leave in a minute to cycle over to Essex to go cycling with a mate for a few days in Constable country, but its been raining all morning and I have'nt got the heart to take Eddy out again in this, cleaning all that chrome afterwards takes ages.

So Eddy gets the rest of the week off and I'll use another bike, and any old random kit as its going to get filthy and unrecognisable.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Really nice looking project, but I do have to say I think classic steel bikes really need wheels with a respectable spoke count to look their best. Wheels having a spoke shortage are one of my many dislikes about the appearance of modern road bikes.