Jay
When playing compare the Track bikes - check out this one - also a Colnago
item 7214800942
Seller claims it dates from early 80's. But front fork is very different (and drilled). Lots of tire clearance!
Has track ends in rear, but did this one begin life as a track frame or was it converted?
Ken Sanford
Kensington, MD
> I submitted the first post regarding the ebay Colnago Pista asking if
> anyone could pinpoint a build date. This ebay bike shares some common
> traits with my Colnago Pista and I was looking for confirmation for the
> age of my bike (1983). Colnago track bikes are relatively uncommon, and
> with less equipment than road bikes to provide clues (date codes, etc) it
> can be a bit tricky establishing build dates. These two bikes share a
> number of features including the fork crown, head lugs with cutout on the
> lower lug, and the same BB cutout. The seat stay caps are different. The
> ebay bike's red paint filling in the cutout was done rather crudely, and
> there probably is some photographic distortion present in the BB shot,
> which probably accounts for some of the skepticism. Interesting "story":
> Marcel Calborn, whose in-house brand for his southern CA shop BiciSport is
> Celo Europa (which are made for him by Colnago), told me that my bike was
> originally built for Didier "Didi" Thurau. Just as
> the frame was completed by Colnago, Thurau abruptly changed teams, leaving
> a rather p.o.Ernesto stuck with this bike. He hung the unpainted frame up
> in the rafters and forgot about it until Marcel inquired about it on one
> of his buying trips. Ernesto sold it to Marcel who requested it be painted
> Molteni orange. Marcel hung the frame in his shop with a NFS sign and
> offered to tell its tale to anyone who kissed his ring. A guy in Laguna
> Beach was enamored by the bike and pestered Marcel to sell him the bike,
> which he eventually did. The buyer then fell on hard times, and needing
> cash put it up for sale in a local consignment shop with an online
> presence, where "a former prominent list member" purchased the bike, and
> from whom I bought it. Those of you who know Marcel Calborn, or even speak
> with him for five minutes, know of his propensity for hyperbole. He'll
> tell you how he convinced Ernesto to build the Equilateral, and how he
> designed the lugs for the Arabesque (geez, I'm not sure
> I would even admit to that one). It could've happened. Not saying it
> didn't. Anyway, an interesting story.
>
> Oh yea, play "Compare the Track Bikes"
> http://ebay.com/
>
> and
>
> http://www.theracingbicycle.com/
>
> Jay Van De Velde
> Seal Beach,CA
>
>
>
> Chuck Schmidt <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> I see nothing wrong with the Colnago currently on eBay (Item
> #7214102400). The auction photo of the BB shell with club/flower cutout
> looks like the same one on the three Colnagos I own:
>
>
> The upper circle of the club/flower looks a little pinched in the photo
> but when I look at the cutout in my bottom bracket shells they look
> pinched also from the same slightly sideways (off vertical) viewpoint of
> the photo.
>
> The seller also mentions it might be a repaint but that the decals are
> all original and no guess on the year of manufacture.
>
> I'm kind of concerned about this kind of idle conjecture on the CR list
> about bikes on eBay with nothing noted other than "isn't there something
> wrong with this bike" and nothing factual to back it up. I'd be pretty
> mad if it were my bike for auction being discussed in such a cavalier
> fashion as to its authenticity.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> South Pasadena, Southern California
>
> .