A perfect pairing: Molteni orange and a 50th-anniversary Campagnolo group
This 1990 Eddy Merckx Corsa is about as classic as it gets, equipped with a complete Campagnolo 50th-anniversary component group, shallow-profile Nisi tubular wheels, and cockpit components from Cinelli and Selle San Marco
This 1990 Eddy Merckx Corsa is about as classic as it gets, equipped with a complete Campagnolo 50th-anniversary component group, shallow-profile Nisi tubular wheels, and cockpit components from Cinelli and Selle San Marco - James Huang / Immediate Media
For the record, this bike's owner isn't 100 percent certain about when the frame was made but is fairly sure it's a 1990 model based on a few key details. The frame was also repainted by Waterford Cycles in Molteni orange - James Huang / Immediate Media
Back when frames were actually made where you thought they were made - James Huang / Immediate Media
Eddy Merckx aficionados will often use the shape of the fork crown to help determine a frame's production year but in reality, there were no hard and fast rules inside the factory - James Huang / Immediate Media
Whereas the convention now is to use clear vinyl decals or fabric wraps to protect the driveside chainstay, back in the day steel tubes used sections of chrome as a way to protect the surface from chain slap - James Huang / Immediate Media
The gum rubber hoods have seen better days but in fairness, they're more than 30 years old - James Huang / Immediate Media
So you thought the 26.0mm vs. 31.8mm stem clamp debate was annoying? Remember that Cinelli long used its own 26.4mm size - James Huang / Immediate Media
Campagnolo's 50th-anniversary group featured unique etching as well as real gold badges - James Huang / Immediate Media
While functionally identical to the Cobalto brakeset of the same era, Campagnolo's 50th-anniversary brake calipers were given extra-special treatment to commemorate the occasion - James Huang / Immediate Media
Remember: Campagnolo isn't just a brand name - James Huang / Immediate Media
The matching crankset was given similar treatment, with specially etched chainrings and crankarms plus dedicated dust caps adorned with a gold winged logo - James Huang / Immediate Media
Needless to say, this group hasn't seen many miles - nor will it likely ever - James Huang / Immediate Media
Even the matching pedals haven't been spared - James Huang / Immediate Media
Such delicate linkages wouldn't be acceptable on modern componentry but there's a certain elegance in such minimal construction - James Huang / Immediate Media
The arched shape of the brake bridge serves no real purpose aside from effectively 'hiding' behind the brake caliper - James Huang / Immediate Media
The paper-thin Benotto Cello plastic handlebar tape is finished off with a little tricolore plug - James Huang / Immediate Media
The seatpost is clamped in place with - naturally - a Campagnolo binder bolt - James Huang / Immediate Media
Seatposts used much thicker walls back in the day, leaving more than enough material for decoration like this - James Huang / Immediate Media
Selle San Marco's Rolls saddle has carried many riders to victory over the years - James Huang / Immediate Media
The Cinelli Top 64 bar included holes for internally routed brake housing. What once was old is new again - James Huang / Immediate Media
Yes, even the keyed washer is branded - James Huang / Immediate Media
These friction shifters may not set any benchmarks in terms of technology but they're undeniably pretty - James Huang / Immediate Media
Though they're not especially well sealed, these Campagnolo hubs can last forever if properly maintained - James Huang / Immediate Media
Campagnolo hadn't yet adopted the more modern slant parallogram geometry when this derailleur was released - James Huang / Immediate Media
Gorgeous - James Huang / Immediate Media
The Nisi Countach rims are wrapped with Clement Futura tubulars - and the wheels are handbuilt, just like they all were back in the day - James Huang / Immediate Media
Given that Campagnolo first made its name with the invention of the cam-type quick-release skewer, it would have been criminal to not give these anniversary-edition skewers the same treatment as the rest of the group. Note the brand of the dropouts, too - James Huang / Immediate Media
Yes, kids, there was a time when bottom bracket bearings actually had to be adjusted - James Huang / Immediate Media
Cable guides are cast right into the bottom bracket shell - James Huang / Immediate Media
Rear cogs didn't always wear the complex shaping they do today. And while driver mechanisms are now built into the hubs, back then they were bundled with the cogs - James Huang / Immediate Media
Even the tool used to install and remove these dust caps wore 50th-anniversary markings - James Huang / Immediate Media
Campagnolo left no stone unturned here - James Huang / Immediate Media
Leather toe straps - with a twist! - James Huang / Immediate Media
Simple, elegant, and beautiful - James Huang / Immediate Media
Normally when you buy a brand new – and highly sought-after – component group, your first instinct is to install it right away and then start riding it as much as possible. That wasn't quite the case for Peter Chisholm and his 50th anniversary Campagnolo group. No, this ensemble needed a backdrop more than a chassis, and he had just the thing in mind.
Up until very recently, Chisholm was the co-owner of Vecchio's Bicicletteria, a small shop he founded in downtown Boulder, Colorado, that prides itself on top-notch service, frames hand-built from metal, and Campagnolo. Naturally, Chisholm had to have a 50th anniversary Campagnolo group for himself – the former Navy pilot has a Campagnolo tattoo on his forearm – and a Molteni orange Eddy Merckx only seemed appropriate.
For the record, this bike's owner isn't 100 percent certain about when the frame was made but is fairly sure it's a 1990 model based on a few key details. the frame was also repainted by waterford cycles in molteni orange
Waterford Cycles did the superb restoration work on this 1990 Eddy Merckx Corsa
"I received the group as a bonus while running service at Pro Peloton, around 1997 or 1998," he said. "Ian Birlem owned the place then and asked what I wanted. I did some research and found it at Euro-Asia. I think he paid about US$2,200 for it."
Chisholm originally hung the group on a custom Eddy Merckx MX Leader frame but its shaped tubed didn't seem quite right for the 50th anniversary group's more classic aesthetic. So he ended up buying a used Merckx over the Internet for just US$660, complete with a Shimano 600 group that he promptly discarded.
"I didn't give it away," he told BikeRadar proudly. "I threw it all away!"
Campagnolo hadn't yet adopted the more modern slant parallogram geometry when this derailleur was released
Not that we have anything against Shimano's old 600 group but there's little arguing that this is far more desirable
In its original guise, the frame wore the red, white, and blue of Team Motorola and while it was advertised as a Century model built with Columbus TSX tubing, it ultimately proved to be a Corsa built from more basic Columbux SL pipes.
Nevertheless, Chisholm sent it off to Waterford Cycles for a full restoration anyway and then transferred his cherished Campagnolo group there after it came back (that MX Leader now wears a Campagnolo EPS electronic group and is Chisholm's 'daily driver').
The matching crankset was given similar treatment, with specially etched chainrings and crankarms plus dedicated dust caps adorned with a gold winged logo
Each piece of the 50th-anniversary Campagnolo group wears special etching and logos
Chisholm fully realises that merely breaking the seal on the original packaging's zippered case instantly decreased the group's value, let alone installing it on not one, but two frames, and then riding it. The crusty (but oddly likable) now ex-shop owner wasn't deterred in the least, however, and while the parts have been ridden just a bit, the bike is now a semi-permanent fixture hanging on the wall at the shop he started in 2000 – right next to the gorgeous custom Moots that he received as a retirement gift when he stepped away from the business last year.
These friction shifters may not set any benchmarks in terms of technology but they're undeniably pretty
Simple and elegant
"The value goes down by two-thirds when you build it but so what. [That group is] the epitome of road componentry of the day: titanium, gold highlights, with Tullio's signature. It is just exquisite."
Complete bike specifications
Frameset: 1990 Eddy Merckx Corsa
Headset: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Stem: Cinelli 1A
Handlebars: Cinelli Top 64
Tape/grips: Benotto Cello
Front brake: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Rear brake: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Brake levers: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Front derailleur: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Rear derailleur: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Shift levers: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Freewheel: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Chain: Sedisport
Crankset: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Bottom bracket: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Pedals: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Rims: Nisi Countach tubular, 32h
Front hub: Campagnolo 50th anniversary, 32h
Rear hub: Campagnolo 50th anniversary, 32h
Spokes: DT Competition w/ brass nipples
Front tire: Clement Futura tubular
Rear tire: Clement Futura tubular
Saddle: Selle San Marco Rolls
Seatpost: Campagnolo 50th anniversary
Special thanks go to current Vecchio's owner, Jim Potter, for pulling this bike down from the ceiling for this photo shoot – and to Peter Chisholm for stepping away from his grandkids long enough to answer my inane questions.
James Huang is BikeRadar's former technical editor. After leaving BikeRadar in 2016, he worked at CyclingTips and Escape Collective. He now runs the Substack cycling publication N-1 Bikes.
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
