Pre-1970 Colnago bikes are very, very rare. Even rarer is one that appears to be completely original except for the wheels. If your are a Colnago fan make sure you take a close look at this bike which is currently on ebay by a well known French collector.
For a three part video of the life of Ernesto Colnago look here, and more about early Colnago bikes here.
Listing description: "Extremely rare early Colnago in lovely original condition. The bike is presented as found. I believe the parts to be all original except for the Weinmann rims and brakes that have been upgraded at some point in the bike's history.
50,5 cm c to c seat tube, top tube 52,5 cm c to c.
No date stamp on the rear derailleur.
The bike is post Mexico 1968 (check decals), it has all the features of a pre-1970 Colnago so I would say 1968 or 1969.
It would appear that this is one of the earliest Colnagos known, so it is an important addition to the handful of identified pre-1970 models, especially as it is so original : paint, decals and parts.
The bike is presented in unrestored, uncleaned, barn find authentic condition."
Photos: ebay listing
Updated January 2, 2010: final selling price on ebay: $7,101.00
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I would hesitate to use the terms "very early" and "rare" for a bike boom era Colnago of this genre. Yes, it's one that the CR and Ebay types have not seen much of, but should those domains be the measure of rarity? Given that Colnago began building cycles under his name in the early 50's, I suggest that rare be left for early bikes of his design/build. Secondly, this bike appears to have been butchered a bit, with blasphemous Weinmann rims and brakes, ugly inner crank arm milling that obscures the date, and newer Cinelli bars. Also, one should note that there were several pre-date code NR rear derailleur versions, of which this one seems to be the latter. Better details of the jockey pivot stop would help. Let's not get all revved up over something we haven't seen. There are tons of these in Italy.
ReplyDeleteThis bike is rare.Frame build uses the same lugs as the Colnago Molteni team bikes of that date and there are plenty of pictures from that time to back this up. Some components might have been changed over the years due to wear and tear, but essentially this appears original.Although Nisi were the favoured rims of Colnago, there are examples of Weinmann rims fitted to Supers of that era.
ReplyDeletePrevious commenter seems to be clutching at straws trying to find reasons to downgrade this bike for some unknown reason. Seller has great reputation and bike is described within limits of available knowledge and reference material at this time.
I have scoured Northern Italy for years seeking classic bikes and nothing like this has surfaced.
I would have to agree with the first post. Although this bike is a relative ratity amongst newbies, please keep in mind that Colnago's of the early 50's would seem to fit the "rare" moniker. Note that W/c stripes have been added to an original decal set (on downtube and headtube)and the crank has been altered. Many of the components changed to later. However, it is a nice old bike with a nice old finish. But please, let's not beat this "rare" word too much. I happen to own three of this era, and two are original. But I have an advantage, I live in Italy.
ReplyDelete