Merckx EM525 Disc Endurance - fork crown issue

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octave
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:47 pm

by octave

hey everyone,

so i recently purchased a Merckx EM525 Disc Endurance frameset from Merlin cycles. i contacted both Merlin and Merckx Cycles already, but am waiting for a reply. in the meantime, i am wondering if anyone can help shine some light on the below issue (basically copied and pasted the email i sent them):

i finally have all the pieces and was getting ready to build the bike up today when i came across a strange problem. once i put on the stem and spacers and tighten the headset to take out any slack in the headset, the fork no longer turns smoothly: i can feel a lot of friction and resistance. this in itself is not abnormal, and often happens, so i added a thin washer between the dust cap and the compression ring as that often solves the problem when the fork binds like that, but i still had the same problem: once the littlest amount of pressure was put on the headset by tightening the top cap, the fork no longer turned smoothly on the headset bearings. i added another thin washer, thus making it 2, but the fork still did not turn freely. i added up to 5 washers but nothing helped.

after faffing around another 30 minutes, what i noticed is that the EM525 disc endurance model has a plastic thing on the fork crown which creates some kind of platform for the lower part of the headtube to rest on (check out a photo online of the frameset and you will see what i mean (see attached photo i found on the internet)). what seems to happen is the rear "shoulders" (because the rear of it is indeed pointed effectively making two "shoulders" at the rear of the fork, one on each side) of this plastic fork crown attachment create friction against the underside of the down tube right behind the head tube. it is the strangest thing. not just strange, but really dumb as i cannot get the fork to sit and turn properly in the headtube because these shoulders stick up and rub against the underside of the down tube....

can you please help me figure out what to do?

thank you

---

so... has anyone built up the Merckx EM525 Disc endurance frameset and had any issues? or successes? this is very strange. for a 'premium' frameset to have this plastic thing that binds and rubs against the frame as an integral part of the frameset?

thanks,

o
Attachments
notice the black plastic thing between the headtube and the fork crown
notice the black plastic thing between the headtube and the fork crown

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Asscdi
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:58 am

by Asscdi

Try to reach out to Merckx Cycling via their Facebook page/messenger. They will respond there.
https://www.facebook.com/EddyMerckxBikes/

I have a similar frame (but not the 525) and can confirm that that plastic thing should not be there.

octave
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:47 pm

by octave

hey asscdi,

thanks for the suggestion-- i will reach out to merckx on facebook. hopefully they have an easy fix otherwise this could become a really expensive headache.

o

octave
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:47 pm

by octave

so merckx got back to me on facebook, told me to take it into my dealer of course. but i bought it online from the UK and i am in the US.

however, a while back a brand new EM525 disc fork popped up on ebay for cheap and since i am kind of a collector of pretty bike things i bought it... and looking more closely at both forks i think i found the problem. the fork that came with my frameset, underneath that little plastic thing on the rear of the crown, there is about a millimeter of paint. on the fork i bought off ebay, there is no paint. it was either never painted or maybe removed at some point. thus, when the plastic thing is put on the fork that came with the frameset, it is not flush with the fork crown... and that extra layer of paint on the crown is just enough to make the plastic thing jam into the bottom of the downtube.

the, question, then, is do i send the fork off to merckx somewhere to get them to take care of it, or just do it myself?

see photos for a better idea of what i am talking about
Last edited by octave on Wed Apr 25, 2018 12:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

octave
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:47 pm

by octave

octave wrote:<t>so merckx got back to me on facebook, told me to take it into my dealer of course. but i bought it online from the UK and i am in the US.<br/>
<br/>
however, a while back a brand new EM525 disc fork popped up on ebay for cheap and since i am kind of a collector of pretty bike things i bought it... and looking more closely at both forks i think i found the problem. the fork that came with my frameset, underneath that little plastic thing on the rear of the crown, there is about a millimeter of paint. on the fork i bought off ebay, there is no paint. it was either never painted or maybe removed at some point. thus, when the plastic thing is put on the fork that came with the frameset, it is not flush with the fork crown... and that extra later of paint on the crown is just enough to make the plastic thing jam into the bottom of the downtube.<br/>
<br/>
the, question, then, is do i send the fork off to merckx somewhere to get them to take care of it, or just do it myself?<br/>
<br/>
see photos for a better idea of what i am talking about</t>

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