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IB16: Eddy Merckx debuts Aramid reinforced Strasbourg 71 gravel bike, adds carbon disc Sallanches 64 road racer

2017 Eddy Merckx Strasbourg carbon fiber and kevlar gravel road bike
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The Strasbourg 71 gravel road bike debuted in summer 2015, and we’ve reviewed it here. Now, there’s an all-new Aramid reinforced carbon fiber model with additional bottle mounts and very clean stealth fender and rack mounts. Inside the frame are carbon fiber tubes to guide the cables, giving you quick and easy changes should things get Dirty Kanza nasty. Check it out…

2017 Eddy Merckx Strasbourg carbon fiber and kevlar gravel road bike

Full length internal cable and hose routing keeps it clean looking and shifting smooth. Oversized cover plates open up wide to direct the cables into the full length internal channeling.

2017 Eddy Merckx Strasbourg carbon fiber and kevlar gravel road bike

2017 Eddy Merckx Strasbourg carbon fiber and kevlar gravel road bike

Protecting the seat tube’s backside and the bottom of the down tube are external layers of Innegra Aramid fibers. They left it visible to show it off. The combo of Innegra and carbon fiber is said to be half the weight of just using carbon, yet 50% more impact and damage resistant. The protective sections actually extend further down, wrapping around the bottom of the BB shell.

2017 Eddy Merckx Strasbourg carbon fiber and kevlar gravel road bike

Note the bonus tire clearance, making room for mud or the rack/fender mounts. Lower mounts sit flush on the seatstay just above the Syntace X-12 thru axle.

2017 Eddy Merckx Strasbourg carbon fiber and kevlar gravel road bike

12mm thru axle up front, too.

2017 Eddy Merckx Strasbourg carbon fiber and kevlar gravel road bike

The front derailleur mount is reinforced to hold up against the powerful new electronic derailleurs. Or, remove it and install the cover plate for cleaner 1x builds. Below it is an adjustable chain catcher to prevent it from dropping off and damaging your frame. Further up the downtube are four sets of water bottle bolts. While they’re spaced a bit close for actually putting two bottles on there, they do give you flexibility in where you want your bottle or allow for accessories below a bottle. Look for three complete build options – Shimano Ultegra, Shimano 105, and SRAM Rival1. All three get Prologo saddles, DT Swiss R23 Spline wheels and Clement MSO 700×36 tires.

2017 Eddy Merckx Sallanches 64 gran fondo road race bike

The Sallanches 64 is their gran fondo race machine. The name celebrates Eddy’s win to become the amateur world champion in 1964. For 2017, it gains a carbon fiber disc brake model.

2017 Eddy Merckx Sallanches 64 gran fondo road race bike

Like many of the Merckx bikes, it gets extensive tube shaping and angling.

2017 Eddy Merckx Sallanches 64 gran fondo road race bike

It’s running flat mount brakes and 12mm thru axles front and rear.

2017 Eddy Merckx Sallanches 64 gran fondo road race bike

2017-eddy-merckx-em525-endurance-race-fondo-road-bike01

The EM525 race bike adds an “endurance geometry” model, which essentially just swaps in a taller head tube to bump the stack height and decrease the reach, putting the rider in a more upright position without adjusting any of the angles:

2017-eddy-merckx-em525-endurance-race-fondo-road-bike05

2017-eddy-merckx-em525-endurance-race-fondo-road-bike03

The stack and reach of their bikes progress somewhat linearly across the size range, as does the size of the steerer tube’s taper. They all get a 1.5″ lower cup, but the length of the taper is longer on the taller frames, which creates a stiffer fork for larger frames. Note the clever front brake entry point on the front of the head tube.

EddyMerckx.com

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Craig
Craig
7 years ago

There’s a lot of cool design work going on with the features on the Strasbourg 71 gravel road bike

Eric
Eric
7 years ago

Will these be available as a frame only option?

Cam
Cam
7 years ago

Innegra is not an Aramid. Does it include both Aramid and Innegra or just Innegra?

Erik
Erik
7 years ago
Reply to  Cam

Looks like Innegra H which is carbon and Innegra. Not aramid.

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