It's not a Merckx but what is it?

[Dancjwood]

I realise that pretty much every post I have on here starts with "I've bought this... what is it?"

I have bought another one; I can't resist the temptation or the curiosity.

It says Eddy Merckx but it has none of the tell tale marks that I can see, I think it's been repainted at some point and the decals are above the clear coat.

The lugs are marked BSE Italy, the dropouts appear to be unmarked but that may just be as the paint is quite thick.

The bottom bracket shell appears to be marked 10 - 87, the serial number is just 15 then there are three small circles to the front and a single zero on the left.

The rear brake cable enters the frame on the right and then comes out on the opposite side.

I have no idea what it is.

 

[one-eyed_jim]

I have no idea what it is.

I don't know what it is either, but that bottom bracket shell is a Long Shen LB-01:

http://www.longshen.com.tw/eng_product.asp?Fid=F000008

It does look a bit like 10-87 upside down!

 

[Dancjwood]

Re:

Oh yes, it's an upside down LB-01. Well that's cleared up one thing. Does that narrow it down at all?

 

[Dancjwood]

Re:

All it took was the handlebars and it went from dorky to fairly cool. I still don't know what it is though

 

[AndyMart]

Strip it weigh it, measure seatpost and at least you'll get an idea about tubing, I'm in same boat with a frame I'm sure we've all been there!

 

[Dancjwood]

Re:

It's a 27.2 seatpost; I'll get it taken apart and weighed; it does seem pretty light. The stronglight 94x headset is proving tricky to undo without the right tool.

 

[Dancjwood]

I've finally managed to strip this down:
The frame is 1.65kg it has a 22 inch centre to centre top tube and 21.5 inch centre to centre seat tube, the seatpost diameter is 27.2. It is bare apart from the alloy headset cups.
The fork weighs 700grams with a 180mm steerer, it has the alloy crown race attached.

Can anyone help identify the steel?

Thanks