That interview is where I found the evidence that there were two bikes - the contemporary press said they shipped one bike to Mexico.
However, from the photos, it is clear that the backup bike did not have special components. Which makes sense - if the first one broke, you'd want tried and true. I won't reopen the discussion whether all that light weight helped Merckx during a constant-speed effort...
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles
140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com
>There is a very good interview with Ernesto Colnago here that discuss the
>bike(s):
>http://www.cyclingnews.com/sponsors/italia/2004/colnago/?id=colnago4 (and
> go
>on to next page)
> Some quotes:
>-"it's hard to imagine how much work we put into building those two
>bicycles"
> -"no one in Italy could weld titanium, so I went to Pino Morroni in
>Detroit, America to weld the special lightweight titanium stem for Merckx's
>Hour Record bicycle."
> -"We made two road bikes with the same geometry for him."
> -"The only thing we couldn't get for Merckx was Helium gas for the tires."
> and more...worth reading.
> Angel Garcia
>Verona, Italy