Jakarta’s Forgotten Eddy Merckx Pursuit Bikes by Fadel
By Fadel
Hello everyone! Today’s feature is by someone newl! Fadel and I met through a common friend, and as documenting the Indonesian cycling scene has been on my radar for a while, I was beyond stoked when Fadel was down to share some of his recent shots with not one but four amazing Eddy Merckx track bikes. If you’d like to submit your guest articles, don't hesitate to use the contact page to get in touch!
Enjoy the read!
All of this started at Trackend Jakarta, 2025, the day I saw three Eddy Merckx MX Leader Pursuit frames in one place.
Trackend is the kind of event the fixed-gear scene deserves: a year-end social ride organized by Yahya (@yakurss), Kiki (@mnk.cyc), and the crew at @fundayservice. It's truly a gathering that reminds you why you started riding in the first place, and as this was the second edition, rolling from Blok M in South Jakarta, a.k.a. the meeting point of the city's cycling community, all the way to Taman Menteng in Central Jakarta, a place that holds a special kind of nostalgia for anyone who was part of the fixed-gear scene in the early 2010s. Because it's a track-dedicated event, a criterium was also held, but as you may already know, at every event like this one, and even if racing gets the crowd going, it’s the “grail bikes” that stand out for most of us.
That day, three of those grails happened to be Eddy Merckx MX Leaders.
Earlier in the day, I'd already approached Dipa to photograph his MX Leader, built with a Mavic 3G 650 up front. But as the event went on, I realized there were two more: Byakto on the one with a Gipiemme front wheel, and Amad, who was riding a frame lent to him by its owner, Daiyan, fitted this time with a tri-spoke. So, together, with a fellow bike photography enthusiast, we asked all three to meet up so we could shoot them side by side. An array of MX Leaders, all in one frame.
(Dipa @dipaadi / Byakto @byaktos / Amad @zror_ / Daiyan @daiyanaiyad / Satria @noddle_rides)
A few days after the shoot, on a cold, rainy afternoon in Bumi Serpong Damai, I heard from Kiki that these frames weren't just any MX Leaders, they had been custom-built for the Jakarta National Pursuit Team. To dig deeper, I got in contact with Mr. Agus, who I initially assumed was a former rider who had raced on one of these very bikes. But it turned out he was a sprinter on the Indonesian National Team who raced primarily on Corima Cougars. Still, he lived through the prime era of these frames, knew their history well, and what he told me was quite the story! In 1995, only six of these MX Leader frames were made during a training camp in the Netherlands for the Jakarta National Team. They drove all the way to Belgium to commission six custom-geometry frames, one for each athlete. And these weren't standard production bikes either! Beyond the bespoke geometry, they featured a colorway distinct from the MX Leader sold to the public at the time: a vivid red that gradually fades to clear white along the down tube and seat tube, which was a clear nod to the Indonesian flag, and then finished with chrome on the stays in the tradition of the finest frames of that era.
Mr. Agus was the only person I could find that had the chance to ride one of these frames in its natural habitat, the Jakarta Velodrome in the late 1990s. He described the MXL tubing as offering exceptional stiffness and power transfer, engineered for one purpose: speed on the track. According to him, one of the Jakarta Team Pursuit riders was also a member of the National Team, which won two gold medals on his MX Leader: one at the 1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai and another at the 1997 SEA Games in Jakarta. Between those two editions, all six frames also took gold at the Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON), Indonesia's national domestic championship. Which specific frame won which medal is difficult to confirm today, but the legacy is clear and impressive. Today, of the six frames originally made, four are still known to be riding around Jakarta, while the whereabouts of the other two, unfortunately, remain unknown.
Because yes, there was a fourth one in Jakarta.
A week before this shoot for Slow Spin Society, Dipa told me about this additional MX Leader belonging to Satria, who built his up with Eddy Merckx pantographed components. While each rider approached their build differently, all four share Campagnolo Record Pista crank arms as a common thread, varying only in generation and chainring choice.
Byakto runs a 53T Gipiemme chainring, Satria uses a Campagnolo Eddy Merckx Pantographed one, also in 53T, Dipa keeps it stock, running the original 48T chainring that came with the crankset, and Daiyan opted for something more funky, with a 49T Sakra chainring.
On the wheel side, Dipa, Byakto, and Daiyan all run classic double-wall rims, a nod to the original training wheelsets these bikes would have been built with. Satria went a different route with a Campagnolo Khamsin, which is period-correct and feels entirely at home on a bike like this.
As I was stating earlier, four of these frames still roll through Jakarta, turning heads on group rides and outside cafés. Bikes with real palmarès, still being ridden on and off the track.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
Eddy Merckx MX Leader
Chainring and Cog Campy Eddy Merckx Pantone 53T & 17T Cog
Crank Campagnolo Record Pista Gen.2
Seatpost and Saddle
Campy Eddy Merckx pantographed & Selle Italia RS Eddy Merckx
Handlebar
Cinelli pantographed Eddy Merckx Stem & Cinelli LA 84 bars
Wheels
Campagnolo Khamsin & Campy C Record laced to Nisi 36H
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
Eddy Merckx MX Leader
Chainring and Cog Gipiemme 53T & and Eightinch 17T Cog
Crank
Campagnolo Record Pista Gen.3
Seatpost and Saddle
Unbranded 27.2 seatpost & Selle San Marco Supercorsa
Stem and Handlebar
Deda Murex & Nitto B259 x EAI
Wheels
Dura Ace 32H laced to Clincher Araya double wall & Gipiemme Tecno 416
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
Eddy Merckx MX Leader
Chainring and Cog Campy Record Pista 48T & EAI 17T Cog
Crank
Campagnolo Record Pista Gen.3
Seatpost and Saddle
Kalloy seatpost & Selle San Marco Laser
Handlebar
Folding Bike riser bar
Wheels
Phil laced to Araya RT520 & Mavic 3G
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
Eddy Merckx MX Leader
Chainring and Cog Sakra Kanta 49T & 17T Cog
Crank
Campagnolo Record Pista Gen.2
Seatpost and Saddle
Ducas & Selle Italia Flite Titanium Alpes
Stem and Handlebar
SimWorks Tacos stem & random riser bar
Wheels
Novatec laced to Mavic Open 4CD & HED 3
Hard to choose huh…
✍️: @metalandrubberrrrr
📸: @metalandrubberrrrr
🎞: Kodak UltraMax 400
📷: Canon Eos 50
📍: Jakarta