Classic & Vintage - Components help for my New Project: Vintage 90s COLNAGO C94 frameset

I just won this frame on ebay and need help building it up. It's my first road bike, I'm used to riding a fixie around town so I don't have much experience or knowledge about road bikes. It will probably be used as my Sunday ride to do 20-30 mile, relatively hilly rides. No racing. I'd like to keep it as classy looking as I can with modern components (i.e. ergo shifters). So I'm looking for Campy alloy silver, no carbon. I have a budget of around $1200 for all other components (groupset, stem, handlebars, wheels, seat & post). I'll also need help selecting the correct sizing for most of the components. The frame is a 51cm, I'm a 5'6 female.

Info I have on the Frame
~ Frame dates from the mid 90s and is made of Columbus Thron Super tubes

~ Frame comes with a 1" threaded Colnago fork.

~ Bottombracket is Italian threaded.

Seat tube (A) = 51 cm (C-C)
Top tube (B) = 53 cm (C-C)
Head tube (D) = 10.3 cm
Rear spacing = 130 mm


Possible Campy groupsets budget: $650
~ Centaur 10 speed
~ Athena 11 Speed

Possible wheelsets budget $350
I currently run dura-ace to open pros on my fixie so I'm thinking campy hubs laced to open pros for this? Maybe Ambrosio Excellence rims.

stem budget $50
no clue.

handlebars budget $50
cinelli or nitto drops?


seat & post budget $100
I have a Thompson seatpost and Brooks saddle on my fixie I might just swap over depending on how much is left in my budget.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/jtso23/246187b4.png

Nice frame, be sure to keep us posted on the build! Looks like you need a quill stem on this build, so might I be so free to suggest a Cinelli 1A? classic simple lines and beautiful anodizing. Being a girl I guess you don't need a really wide/deep bar, so be sure to be on the look out for a matching set of cinelli Giro d'Italia bars. They measure center-center as opposed to nitto who do outside edge/outside edge, so be wary when comparing bars that you've got your measurements right. I personally ride campy on all my bikes, and Centaur (10 speed) on my most modern build and I'm really happy with it. About hand-laced wheels, campy only sells record hubs and a pair of these will run you more then 350$ alone, so maybe you'd be better of to buy a used set (the bearings last forever) with rims that have a lot of life in them.

Bottom line: scout for deals. I got lucky, I had a complete centaur group, wheels (mavic CXP-33, centaur hubs), seatpost, ITM bar+ stem for 400$ (converted) that worked great and only needed a bit of cleaning.

Thanks for the bar/stem suggestions. Found a set on craigslist for $25 I'm gonna check out. What's the year range for the groupset I should be looking for?

What happened to the photos?

What happened to the photos?

link from the auction expired. I put one back up.

anything north of 2001 in terms of groupsets put you in the 10/11 speed range. Pre 2008 shifters are rebuildable. BTW for the saddle, check out the San Marco Rolls. Slightly wider than normal (so good for women, or guys with wide sitbones -big butt- like me). plus, it has the classic ornate italian style appropriate for this frame.

Many pro teams rode dura ace 9 speed during those days, if that matters to you. they were the group set to have. You can always install Campy. Italuminium is right. Back in my racing days, many women on our training rides rode turbo saddles or rolls. I like the Turbos a lot. Brooks saddles just funny on a Colnago like that. Just my stupid opinion.

Brooks would look out of style. A black sforato regal, rolls or turbo, would not:) Dura ace 9 speed is also ok, but not as pretty IMHO. But I think the OP and I are on the same boat of liking alloy campy groups.

Thanks for the saddle suggestions guys I'll definitely look into those. My Brooks isn't even close to being broken in yet so trying something else could be a nice change. Unless I can get a killer deal for a dura ace group, I'm pretty much set on getting an alloy campy groupset.

picked up a used san marco rolls for $40. still can't find a decent campy groupset and I've been lurking craigslist/ebay daily. can any colnago fans shed some light on the frame I have?

Finally got all the components and got it built a couple days ago.

- Campy Record/Chorus 10 Aluminum
- Cinelli Giro d'Italia Bars, 1A stem (bolt stripped and cost $50 to replace)
- Campy Eurus Wheelset, Gatorskin tires
- Miche seatpost, San Marcos Rolls saddle (not as comfy as my Brooks B17, might look for something designed for women or give it a little more time to break in)

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/jtso23/d17262aa.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a57/jtso23/3f33c26d.jpg

That's a stunner. Excellent choice on the components, very similar build I have on my Merckx.

Beauty. I love it.

great looking bike!

Wow! Did everything go according to budget?

I was around $300 over budget.. didn't anticipate the $50 stem bolt replacement or the $150 build up cost.

San Marcos Rolls saddle (not as comfy as my Brooks B17, might look for something designed for women or give it a little more time to break in)


Don't know if you can ride one but a black Brooks Swift with chrome rails would look great. Your bike is beautiful!

Beauty! Now ride the wheels off of it!

Oh man, what a beaut