Vintage De Rosa versus Kessels bicycle.
Period 1977 - 1978, Fiat en C&A

Vintage Kessels Merckx first generation racebike 1971 - 1973

How to identify a high-end frame?
How to identify a Kessels 3nd generation frame?
How to identify a Kessels 2nd generation frame?

Vintage Kessels Merckx frame,  third generation 1977 - 1979, how to identify a high-end frame?

It is always a subject of discussion. The thread running through every story is: Kessels did not make frames but imported them from framebuilders. Vaneenooghe in Ruiselede and Gaston Orlans in Gistel, both in West Flanders Belgium were two of the builders. 
On the photos below you can see only high-end Kessels-Merckx framesets  similar to the ones Eddy Merckx used in different races between 1971 and 1977.

Vintage Kessels Merckx bike, first generation 1971 - 1973

Kessels Molteni Merckx low-end bike (1971)
By Jan Vandevelde
How to identify a Kessels Eddy Merckx frame

I found my 1971 Molteni bike three years ago, in a hedge(!) here in Bruges. When I asked the neighbours for the owner, they told me that it was a student’s bike. A couple of weeks later I managed to buy the bike for 50 Euros. It had been converted to a fixie by the student, and on top of that, nature (the hedge) had also taken its toll.