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Haha, no worries, I feel like most people probably have better ways of spending a late monday night after a long weekend... I'm definitely not particularly knowledgeable about these framesets (or bikes in general for that matter), but having looked around, I can't find anything immediate what would make me doubt the bike's authenticity. According to one internet source (so grain of salt), the flat crown fork was used as one way to save weight on some of these framesets (STI weighty, and last of hurrah of steel in these years).

What more specifically do you think looks off? Apart from black bottle cages, and a set of different pedals (the original look pedals are also included)? When looking at other 1992 Motorola's this looks very similar (especially the flat fork crown). This was the rider's reserve bike for the 1993 world championships, at which point he had moved on to a different team. So some small details might have been changed.

Of course. I'm just curious if anyone has had any experience with these types of bikes, and how to think about their value. The use value of a bike like this is not necessarily that high given that it has probably been ridden harder than any non-pro top of the line Merckx from that era . I don't know that any great races were won on this particular bike, and the rider is definitely not a legend outside his own country (where he is extremely well known however). But I'm 99.5% certain it is a legit bike, with the current owner giving me a plausible story of how it came into his ownership.

Great - thanks @SideshowBob

Wheelset also looks like DA7400 hubs laced to what looks like Mavic rims, but hard to tell from photos I have seen.

These would just be general values for frame and parts though? Not taking into account the possibility that some people might actually want to pay extra for an ex-pro bike?

It does fit. I could probably afford it.

MXL - but fork is not (original though).

How much would you be willing to pay/think is fair price for a 1992 Team Motorola Merckx former pro bike fully kitted with original DA7400/7410, with rider name, and in good condition? Rider has a palmares that includes stage wins in the Tour and Vuelta.

Black 26.8 seat post sorted via forum. Now just a painful wait for Praxis bb-tool to arrive, hopefully will be resolved by next weekend. I'm sure it'll be raining sidewise by then.

2nd dibs on the Thompson, I do not need to measure :-)

Thanks Howard, looking at photos they seem like they are slightly different.

Ah too bad, thx though.

Praxis m30 BB tool, does anyone have one in London? Weather is looking good and I really want to go ride this weekend.

Hey! Do any of you have the m30 bottom bracket tool, and if so could I borrow it for a day or two?

Came up locally, bike has been hanging in a garage since the late 80’s. Owner claims it used to belong to a local pro. Cromovelato paint, mixed bag of components, looks decent but like it needs a good clean. Am curios of model (Nuovo Mexico?) and rarity, how much is this something worth picking up?

Looks like a plastic front piece has gone missing?

Really glad/sad I'm broke atm.

Frame arrived!

That was the original plan, but couldn't find a cheap 26.8 one that was decent looking. So possible upgrade as soon as I get my hands on one!

Last bits in place thanks to @JoeC @fizzy.bleach and @marky_marksafc

Now just waiting for the frame and looking out for a cheap bike that I will actually dare to lock up outside.

As I already said, this project sort of was a failure from the start in that the frame is way too nice to be clad with shit parts. Arrived in London yesterday, and some stuff has already trickled in through the mail.

One more thing that I’m bringing from Norway in order to keep costs down: wheels borrowed from my rando bike (a neo-retro Nishiki Continental). Currently have Panaracer Pasels 28s on them, interesting to see if they’ll fit...

Pretty quickly had the idea that I would build it up as a 1x10, thinking that there are no proper climbs in south England, and making it mechanically just a bit simpler. Because of how dark the frame is I was thinking I would go with mostly black components. Found these for cheap on the Norwegian version of gumtree (which is were I aquire almost all of bike stuff). Norway is strange place in that everything is really expensive (£10 pints etc), yet newness seems to wear off quickly. So often you can find lightly used (or as in this case only unpacked) things at bargain prices.

Only downside to these was that I had to order a praxis bb, as the one included does not fit the frame. Apparently you need a special M30 bb tool as well to assemble the whole thing. Anyone know of someone/someplace that might have one in London?

Frame is being shipped straight to London, and I’m not arriving until next week. So have used the last week to assemble and order a motley crew of parts to the London address where I’m staying for the first week (poor friend did not know what they were getting into when offering me a place to stay). I really had planned to keep this budget project, bringing some random things I have in the basement and buying some additional bits and pieces here. But I feel this plan of fell apart a bit already with the acquisition of the frame, which looks a fair bit nicer than what I originally had in mind. In order to pretend like I’m still somewhat sticking with the original plan, I’m bringing a worn random Selle saddle I had lying around, which will hopefully help with making the bike look at least a bit ratty.

Exciting bike, just me being ignorant.

I'm currently doing my PhD, which means I end up spending a lot of time thinking about bikes and biking. While definitely a form of procrastination, I also think of it as part self-preservation. Years of doing mostly self-directed work is hard, and writing critically on technology and urban development is quite depressing these days. Riding is one of those things that keeps me sane enough to keep at it with the research, even when frustrated. So as long as I end up riding more, I usually give myself a pass when I come up with some excuse to build another bike.

Now I'm about to spend two months in London doing fieldwork, and of course started considering the bike-situation before sorting out housing or my work schedule. However, I've had some bad experiences flying with bikes recently, and just don't really want to go through another nervous unpacking upon arrival (it is also surprisingly expensive to bring a bike from Oslo to London). Plus, none of the bikes that I currently have would really work for what I saw myself needing in London anyway, as the bike needs to double as mode of transportation for getting around (to and from interviews, to events), and as therapeutic device for fast laps around the park and longer rides in the weekends (excuses excuses). So ideally, it should be a bike that is decently fast and reliably, but also unassuming enough that I feel like I can lock it up outside from time to time without worrying too much about someone immediately carrying it off.

Long story short, I somehow came up with a plausible enough narrative to justify getting myself another (temporary?) bike. Started browsing a bit in the classifieds section, and pretty quickly stumbled upon this which at first didn't look very exciting. But as I scrolled through the photos I got hooked on the paint job which is really pretty amazing. So kind of checks the box of unassuming at a distance, yet is actually a bit of a gem. A quick exchange with HerrJ later, I had myself the beginnings of a new project:

Looking for black quill stem 110-120 mm plus handlebars max width 42cm, preferably compact/not too deep drops.