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Close-up of a vintage bicycle's rear wheel, chain, and derailleur.

Colnago Eddy Merckx – 1971 Team Molteni Replica

A Tribute to Cycling's Greatest Champion

Few riders have shaped professional cycling like Eddy Merckx. Known as "The Cannibal", Merckx dominated the sport throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, winning virtually everything there was to win. This bicycle pays tribute to the machine he rode to victory during the Team Molteni era, a period widely regarded as the peak of his extraordinary career.

Rather than creating a modern interpretation, the aim was to preserve an exceptionally original example while celebrating the design, engineering and character that made these bicycles legendary.

The Restoration

Remarkably, almost every component on the bicycle remained original. With authenticity central to the project, the focus was on conservation rather than replacement. The frame retained its original finish, which was carefully cleaned, polished and protected to preserve both its patina and history.

The Campagnolo Nuovo Record groupset was fully stripped and rebuilt, while alloy components were painstakingly detailed and the original paint infills restored. Every mechanical system was overhauled in-house to ensure the bicycle performed as beautifully as it looked.

The Result

The finished bicycle captures the elegance of professional cycling's golden age. Visually untouched yet mechanically renewed, it retains the authenticity and character that only an original machine can possess.

Projects like this require restraint as much as craftsmanship. The goal is not to make the bicycle look new, but to preserve everything that makes it significant. More than fifty years after the Team Molteni era, this tribute remains a fitting celebration of one of cycling's most iconic machines..

Start your restoration

hello@bellsbicycles.co.uk
0203 355 0108