My '84 Master has flat SS caps with COLNAGO pantographed into them. They are a little odd in that the flat of the cap is not long enough for all the letters in the name, so the last "O" is on the round part of the stay. It looks as if all the letters would have fit if they were started a little higher on the cap. The letters actually get progressively smaller. It has a full-sloping fork crown that wraps over the outside of the blades. The crown has clovers in the top and the entire fork is chromed. With the exception of the lack of polishing of the chrome on the underside of the fork crown, the workmanship is as nice as I have ever seen in a production frame.
--Steve Barner
> Brad Stockwell wrote:
> >
> > >I don't believe '80/1 had longpoint lugs like David's has. Longpoints
are
> > >a '70's indicator.
> >
> > SEATSTAY CAPS GO FROM FLUTED TO LABELED IN 1981?
> >
> > On page 99 of the August 1980 issue of BICYCLING!, there was a roadtest
of
> > the Colnago Super written by Michael Kolin (famed co-author of the
'Custom
> > Bike Book').
> >
> > This roadtest shows a picture of a Colnago Super with fluted seat-stay
caps
> > and just to put a point on it the caption below the picture states:
"Colnago
> > uses fluted seatstay caps, an allen key seatpost binder bolt and brazed
on
> > cable guides."
> >
> > So I'm figuring that Colnago changed from fluted-seatstay-caps to
> > flat-caps-with-"Colnago"-molded-into-them (like on David's
bike!)sometime
> > between mid 1980 and the print date of the Summer '81 Bikecology
catalog.
>
> I have what I think is a 1981 Colnago Super. It has straight seat stays
> (no taper and not biconical) with _flutted_ caps with "COLNAGO" panto'd
> in them.
>
> It also has the semi-sloping fork crown with flower and Colnago
> panto'd/cast in the top. Full chrome fork and no chrome on the frame.
> One clover panto'd in the lower head lug point.
>
> My understanding is that 1981 was the first year of pantographed seat
> stay cap (concave) and the last year of the semi-sloping fork crown.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> SoPas, SoCal