Good opportunity to check the archives.
Richard Sachs wrote in 2002: "rolls was a brand name that came on frames imported to the u.s. in the early 70s by rosario ando of new york. in the beginning, all rolls were colnago supers, except they had a rolls decal on the down tube, all the while having all the other typical colnago decals on the other areas of the frame. the rolls decals were clearcoated, not stuck on. mr. ando was having colnago make the frames for him. it was in that time that colnagos were a hot bike, and rolls were the exact same bike except for the graphics. ultimately, there would be price point bikes from rolls, just as there would be from colnago.'
Jim Cunningham wrote, in 2002 also: "My memory of Rolls bikes is that I purchased one new from Park Ridge cycles in New Jersey. I even remember an odd snobishness at the time as mentioned in one of the replies. I rode trhe bike for several years and took it with me to California. Mine was not a great bike and was equiped with the dreaded Campagnolo Valentino derailleurs. I'm sure there were higher priced models at the time. I lost that frame in the Confente shop lockout, as it wwas in for refinishing. Since I was not impressed with the frame in any way excep that it had served me well, I planned to set it up as a back-up for my new bike. I replaced the 27" wheels with a proper set of sew-ups and had some better brakes ~ Universal Extras, I wanted to fit. They would not span the looong reach so I replaced the brake bridge with one in a lower position. The reach on the fork was also far to long for any decent brake so I came up with a playful solution: I put in a second brake bridge under the fork crown! Goofy looking, but I think it would have worked just fine!"
Last year there was a Rolls brochure on ebay indicating "Rolls team issue bikes are designed and built by Colnago and Marastoni."
Angel Garcia Long Valley, NJ
> just stumbled over this one.
> Rolls-Colnago? made in italy. has anyone ever heard of that name? the
photos
> are badly yellow toned and the true colors can only be guessed. the frame
> looks good to me but what about the mix of parts? and those "lowered"
> brakes? any suggestions?
> no relation to seller
>
> martin glaettli
> winterthur switzerland in snow forever (since 4 weeks at least)