Don asks about bottom-end Merckx frames such as the one recently on sale on French Ebay.
Until Eddy started his own framew-building company he licensed other companies to use his name. In England it was Falcon who produced some pretty grotty bikes with Eddy's name on them, but the license for France, Holland and Belgium ..and possibly Luxemburg..can't be sure about Germany, was held by Bernard Dangre at Valenciennes.
Dangre was better known for a full range of bikes under the STARNORD, NORDSTAR, FRANCE SPORT, and PARIS SPORT brands. He did a couple of "amateur race" models under the "Eddie Koepler" brand too.
The French eBay bike is gas-pipe tubing as were virtually all of the Dangre-made Merckxs.
Dangre was an unusual company in that it held no stock of bikes..all bikes being to individual order..and any model of bike could be ordered in any colour..but Dangre would only use French components, believing that French accessory makers and bike manufacturers must remain loyal to each other. The company would also make other "own-brand" bikes and was a supplier to several super and hypermarches, but never with the Merckx brand.The company's output was prolific..and all based in a block of five houses knocked together on the street-side. The curious feature was that the family in the middle house refused to be bought out, and so lived their lives literally surrounded by the factory. Presumably their central-heating bill was very low.
Norris Lockley...Settle UK
Norris Lockley