new “Eddy 70” to Jim Dillard of Sequim, Washington.
(Photo: Burlingame Bikes)
Road racing legend Eddy “The Cannibal” Merckx turned 70 this year. To mark the occasion he had 70 very special bikes made and offered them to his worldwide fan base at the cool price of $17,500 a piece.
Only 10 “Eddy 70” bikes have been sold in the United States and two of them ended up at Burlingame Bikes in southwest Portland.
Advertisement
The shop was selected to assemble and deliver the bikes because they’re an Eddy Merckx Cycles dealer.
We heard the news from Glenn Vanselow, who owns Burlingame Bikes with his son Marc.
“We are proud to have these two fantastic bikes come through our shop,” Vanselow said. One of the two bikes, No. 31, was delivered to Jim Dillard of Sequim Washington last week. Dillard’s wife bought it for him as a birthday present. The other one, which is in the shop this week, is going to a cycling enthusiast and bike collector who lives in the Columbia River Gorge.
The bikes draw inspiration from ones used by Merckx during his heyday on the Faema team. They’re hand-built and painted in Belgium by Johan Vranckx, the man who has been Merckx’s personal builder since 1980. The frame material is Columbus XCr stainless steel with a carbon fork. The special edition drivetrain components are Campagnolo Super Record 11-speed adorned with the “Eddy 70” logo. Each bike is numbered and personally autographed by The Cannibal himself.
“This a cool tribute to Eddy Merckx,” Vanselow said, “and a pretty darn nice bike, too.”
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org