Belgium`s Eddy Merckx Is Riding into the Future

Special Reports
Belgium’s Eddy Merckx
Is Riding into the Future
Text & Photos:Daphne Chen
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BMU 2012 Autumn
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The Greatest Cyclist Ever
With 525 wins under his
belt, Belgian racer Eddy Merckx
is justifiably famed as the most
accomplished cyclist of all time.
He has been referred to the “greatest cyclist ever,” and many sports
journalists call him a cycling god.
He won the Tour de France and
the Giro d’Italia five times each,
and the Vuelta a España. He has
won almost all of the top events,
has won the world championship
as both a professional and as an
amateur, and has broken the world
hour record. He was made a baron in 1996, and in 2005, he was
one of the 111 nominees for the
title of “The Greatest Belgian.”
After he retired from professional
racing, Eddy Merckx drew on his
unparalleled riding experience
to start his own cycle company
in 1980, making top-end racing
bikes out of an old farmhouse in
Heise near Brussels.
Ownership and Markets
Eddy Merckx sold his majority share in the company to
Belgian investment company Sobradis in 2008, while he retained a
15% interest. However, there was
a feeling that Sobradis wanted to
expand the company too quickly
after years of carefully controlled
growth. Eddy Merckx Holdings
raised over €7.4 million last December through a new partnership with Diepensteyn, the parent
company of Belgium’s Palm
Breweries. Currently, 67% of
Eddy Merckx Holdings is owned
by Sobradis, 20% by Diepensteyn,
and the remaining 13% by Eddy
Merckx and Eddy Merckx Cycles
CEO Kurt Moons.
Eddy Merckx produces ESeries carbon fiber racing bikes,
A-Series aluminum alloy road/
racing bikes, U-Series steel urban bike, a women’s series, and
apparel. The Benelux market accounts for 40% of Eddy Merckx
▲Eddy Merckx CEO Kurt Moons.
sales, with 80 bike shops selling
the brand’s bikes and gear. The
UK is the company’s largest overseas market, followed by Japan.
The company moved into sports
shoes recently, and has authorized
leading Belgian shoe maker USG
to manufacture a range of classic Eddy Merckx fashion sports
shoes, which are sold through European sales channels.
UMX
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▲The new Maalbeek facility.
Looking to the Future
▲Marketing Manager Peter Speleens.
▲Assistant to the CEO Ilse Van Calster.
New Facilities
To expand production scale
and enhance the efficiency of
management and assembly, Eddy
Merckx Cycles moved into its
modern plant near the Maalbeek
industrial area near Brussels Airport at the beginning of last year.
The first floor of the new facility
covers an area of 1,500 square
meters and the second floor covers
1,000 square meters. The plant
employees 25 people, with a current annual production of 10,000
bicycles.
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According to CEO Kurt
Moons, most of the equipment
in the new facility was relocated
from the old factory. The new
plant is focused primarily on assembling, though a small number
of hand-made scandium alloy
frames are produced there. The
plant also has complete painting
equipment, and has the capacity for full frame customization.
Some aluminum frames are manufactured in Europe, and all carbon
fiber frames are manufactured in
Asia. All Eddy Merckx frames
come with a lifetime warranty.
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Eddy Merckx technology is
apparent in every bike the company makes. The latest carbon fiber
Eddy Merckx EMX-525 prototype
bike features an integrated frame
and fork design. It emphasizes
aerodynamics and high frame
rigidity, even though the frame
weighs only 1.1kg. The bike is in
full compliance with UCI regulations requiring race bikes to weigh
over 6.8kg.
The company’s latest ETT
time trial bike features a down
tube with three hollowed out slots,
to take aerodynamic advantage of
the Venturi Effect (that the way
that air rotates as it comes off a
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surface), thereby reducing wind
resistance. Eddy Merckx has
done time testing both in a wind
tunnel and in cooperation with
Lexus. According to CEO Kurt
Moon, all Eddy Merckx bicycles
will feature the craftsmanship and
high-end technology of Lexus cars
in the future.
▲►The newest Eddy Merckx ETT time trial bike features three hollowed - out slots on the downtube
for reduced drag.
▲►The special - edition E-7 525 was produced to commemorate Merckx's 65th birthday, and includes all his wins on the rims.
▲►The prototype of EMX-525 is quiet impressive.
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