Celloplus 

I recently bought this bike, but I would like to return it more or less back to orig condition. From what I know, its from the first run of these bikes back in the 80's. I have the orig seat post and saddle, but I am wondering about the stem and bars, as well as what components would have been sold on this bike. Many thanks in advance for your input.

ham

Wrong photo? That bike is from the early 2000's and looks mostly or possibly all original already.

treebound 

(edit: oops, posted a Cannondale link, sorry, oops.)

What I've learned from researching my Master Light is that a lot of these were sold as framesets and built up by various bike shops and end users, so if you're looking for what was originally on your specific bike then your best bet might be to make an assumption.

edit2: not much help here either:
https://velobase.com/ViewBrand.aspx?B...80fa606&From=T

Celloplus 

Forgot to mention that the wheels that came with the bike are the campy proton.

Celloplus 

I do know that the seat post, stem and bars are not original, but I am getting the orig post and seat. Also, how do I know what year the bike was built? Is there a way to tell from the serial number?

Kevindale

This is exactly the same thing I've learned out Tommasini's sold in the US in the early 1980s. I think I have everything from my bike's original build, but if your bike has gone through more than one owner, or been ridden a lot, it may be impossible to tell what the original build was.

treebound 

Yep, so probably easiest to just go period-correct if you want to do a functional restoration, or use what you would have used at the time if you were the original owner.

ridelikeaturtle

I was under the impression that you should be able to tell the year & month of manufacture, and the sequence, from the serial number, and it should be stamped on the rear dropout by the derailleur.

Mine's stamped "7F687", which makes sense as the tubing - "Crystal" - seems to come from the late 90s, making it a June 1997 bike, sequence number 687.

Bianchigirll 

If that is from the '80s the fork is not original. Threadless headsets didn't come along until '90/91 and were usually only on MTBs until the late '90s.

Bianchigirll 

PS could you post some more pics of the frame? Lugs, tubing sticker etc

GravelGuy

Not a first generation Master, it would have a chrome curved fork, Colnago didn't produce the straight steel fork until a couple of years later let alone the carbon fork. The paint is much more recent. I'd say mid-late 90's. Many early Masters had a "fishnet" paint scheme. You might have an early Master Light, but those came after the original Master and the Master Olympic...which the IOC went after Ernesto for.

Celloplus 

Pmore pictures when I get the bike.

Celloplus 

You expressed exactly what I was trying to say. I'm good with period correct.

Kevindale

If it is from the '80s and you want to replace the stem and bars (likely both Cinelli products in that period on a high-end Italian bike), which in this case means replacing the fork, which I think would be an expensive and difficult to find.

If that's the original fork, then it sounds like from other comments you need to rethink this bike's age before going further.

ridelikeaturtle

Could you narrow the age range down by determining what the tubing is?

Celloplus 

Here is the Columbus sticker.

ridelikeaturtle

Gilco - my guess is that'd confirm it as a late-80's Master.

ham

I still say it's almost certainly a ~2001 Master X Light.

ridelikeaturtle

Obviously more info is needed Serial number, more photos of the lugs, bb, etc.

There are smarter experts here than me for sure!

crank_addict

Nice bike.
Suggest to google a German website devoted to vintage Colnago. Somewhere I was able to dl neat Colnago catalogs. Many models depicted but not offered in the US.

jet sanchEz

Early 2000s, there will be a serial number on the front derailleur braze-on tab or on one of the rear dropouts. Send the serial number to info@colnago.com and they'll tell you the exact year.

As already mentioned, these were sold as framesets so what you have is probably what the original owner put on it. I don't see much point in changing it as long as it works, these are great riding frames with the carbon fork, enjoy it.

Celloplus 

Thanks for the responses and resources. As soon as she comes in I will have pictures up with more info!

treebound 

I'm going to have to try that Colnago email and see if they can pin down the date of my MasterLight. Thanks.

treebound 

Try to get a good picture of the model name on the top tube. Mine has Master Light with the words offset from each other and without an X. I can't tell for certain, but it looks like your's might have the X between Master and Light. Fairly sure mine is mid to late 1980's, so if your's has that X in there then it is either newer than mine, or else someone did a real nice job repainting it to factory graphics format.

Edit: if this link works, it should show mine's top tube text to compare to your's


Pps edit: I hate the "soft paint" text on mine, makes people want to jam a thumbnail into the paint to see if it is "soft". I've been told that soft paint means not clear coated or something like that.

Spaghetti Legs 

On the C40, the cycling man on the top tube wasn't used until about '97 or 98. My 40th anno catalog (1994) is all side view shots but it looks like clover leaf on the top tubes, like on my '96 C40.