You're right Steven I came across stronger than I wished. I know Colnago is in the 30 employee zone. Of course in the bike world that is pretty big outside of Asia. The video is from the late-80s I would guess since they're talking about the "new" straight bladed fork.
When I lived in Belgium I saw some really basic bikes with Colnago on them. There was even a mixte with really basic parts down the street from De Hopduvel in Gent. I may have taken a picture of it for kicks but the image would be on Mitzi's computer in Vancouver. I'll look for it when I move up there at the end of the month and post it if I still have it. I also remember seeing a bike or two in Seattle like the one up for auction. This would have been 1991ish and the story I got at the time was they were farmed out.
I didn't mention the contracted stuff because it's the only time I've heard it. I know the whole contract building thing is pretty fuzzy in Italy, but did Colnago ever have anybody else build their stuff beyond the occasional special run? best, Brandon"monkeyman"Ives just trying to get to the truth in Coeur d'Alene, ID.
> Monkeyman wrote:
>
> "This bike would date from the late-80s to early-90s. To my eyes the
> tubing decal looks correct. Also the seatstay caps and rear brake
> bridge
> look right too."
>
> I would tend to agree with Brandon on this point. This looked like a
> legit Colnago bike that was perhaps sold in Belgium by the local
> distributor there. It is not of the level that were then sold in the US,
> but looks plausible. It should also be pointed out that the Belgian
> distributor has an agreement with Colnago to buy frames in unpainted
> state and paint them in his own paint shop, so paint schemes that are
> not or no longer available from Colnago in Italy can at times be found
> through the Belgian sales network.
>
> Brandon then went on to state: "Folks need to remember that Colnago is a
> BIG company not some small handful of guys making frames. Colnagos are
> mass produced on a large assembly line by a bunch guys and some robots.
> If you don't believe me download the video from Mark Bulgier's site
> <http://bulgier.net/vids/Bike/>. On a usual work day each of the
> stations on that frame and fork line would have a person on it."
>
> Here I would like to completely disagree with the Monkeyman. Colnago is
> not a monstrous industrial company. There are not more than 30 people
> total who work for Colnago, whether in the offices, shipping or
> production. By my measures that is a small company. If I am not
> mistaken, even a shop like Dale's has close to that many people working
> for him each year, when you count the part-timers. Then when you
> consider the average employee has worked there for over 15 years, you
> can see that this is not a standard industrial company. The short video
> that Brandon alluded to dates from a number of years ago when they were
> produing almost exclusively steel frame bikes. If I recall correctly,
> the production line, which is located in the basement of Ernesto's home,
> has 14 positions, which actually represents 7 actual brazing positions
> and 7 preheat stations, so at maximum production back in the day, there
> were only 7 frame brazers plus another 3 fork brazers. Today, virtually,
> if not actually all, of the steel frames are made by one single retired
> frame-builder who comes in to earn some pocket money. He generally does
> not use the production line, because the demand is simply not there. The
> fellow checking the frame on the table in the video is none other than
> Vanni Brambilla, Ernesto's son-in-law, and father of Alessandro Colnago
> the third generation Colnago to join the company (who legally had his
> family name changed from Brambilla to Colnago!) Vanni has actually been
> responsible for all new frame designs for close to the last 10 years
> now.
>
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ
> USA