By a great stroke of luck (and charity) a friend of mine offered to sell me a couple of his bikes. He hadn't ridden them in years and decided to stop "kidding himself," and sell them to me at a charitable price.

Since I had essentially been N-1 since giving my daughter my old Schwinn Fastback to ride to work (yay!), there was room in the stable, so I took him up on the offer.

One of the bikes is a 1996 Colnago Decor with Dura Ace components. What a wild color scheme! Silver with purple, magenta, and charteuse highlights. And of all things, BLUE tires.

I found out pretty quickly that the 1996 Dura Ace drivetrain components are an odd animal ... an 8-speed system that is completely incompatible with anything that came before or afterwards. So much for changing the drivetrain for components that give me lower gears than currently (38/26).

I ride a lot in the mountains, but the 38/26 works fine. It just means I need to stand up more and focus on my pedaling technique.

What has amazed me about the bike are the number of compliments I get on it. I've received more compliments on that bike in 4 weeks than I have received about all of my other bikes combined in 20+ years. This weekend, a guy even asked to take a picture of it. I asked why, and was told "It's not something you see everyday."

True enough. I guess it does stand out, even in a cloud of carbon fiber superbikes. I've always liked classic bikes, but had no idea so many other people did.

So anyway, here she is in all her glory. I'm ditching the blue tires in favor of silver/gray ones and getting a different seat bag.

That is a beautiful bicycle. If only they made silver tires.

Great looking bike! Be grateful it is not the 7spd DA! I have the 7400 series on my 91 Pinarello with DT shifters and really enjoy it. Shifts nearly flawlessly. I find that with a light bike, I can live with higher gear sets. What amazes me is the 53 big ring with the 12 tooth sprocket. The only time I can use that combination is going over 25. Rarely do I go on the 13 but use the rest regularly. Enjoy!

You can change the cogs out, should be standard HG. The spacing is the same for all Shimano 8s systems (4.8mm). In addition, you can even run any Shimano 9s shifter, and it'll index properly with the 8s DA RD. So not as incompatible as the 7s (as SJX426 notes), but yes, some issues.

I have some Hutchinsons with silver or gray accents. Don't know if they're still available.

Nice bike, BTW.

wow, gorgeous bike. I'd switch the purple tape before the blue tires...

I just put that on! That purple is the same color as the front of the head tube and the area where the seat and downtube meet.

Silver perhaps?

Schwinn Fastback, out; Colnago, in? I'd say you made a considerable upgrade to your stable. Beauty!

That 38/26 climbing combo would be the death of me, though. Either you're a lot fitter than I or my mountains are bigger

Awesome Decor! Look at Serfas Seca tires for a grey stripe.

That is far more attractive than a plastic fantastic. Ride it 'til the wheels fall off.

Beautiful bike!!! I think I have seen another similar paint scheme on the forums by the owner's own designation, "Disco".

+1

I have a set with the gray stripes and they are a good ride for about $25 each. Just try to look at them in person first to make sure the striping is straight. One of mine was made by someone half in the bag and its a little wavy.

Welcome to the Colnago Club (punfully intended)

Oh, and my Colnago has a 42/21 granny gear.

^ Great pun!

A 42/21 would be no bueno for me in the mountains ... I be walkin'! The corncobs do have a nice look to them, though.

I ordered a set of gray Michelin Pro4 Endurance tires for it ... hope they don't destroy the awesomeness.

My gentlemans racer unless I swap that FW. Too many hills. Hey, those tires will make your ride awesome. Good match I think.

Welcome to the C&V forum, Vic. Nice 'Nago. I hope to see you contribute some of your awesome photography in the "were'd you ride today" here in C&V. It would be a good way to showcase that bike of yours

I sure enjoy your posts in the 50+ 'photo of the day" thread

Thanks! I'll do my best.

nice. The Pro 4s will look great, but I agree with another poster. I'd go with some silver or grey fi'zi:k tape.

Colnago's do required good aesthetics! And it is expected of the owner! I was trashed for using splash tape on mine even though the color scheme worked for me. Truth be told, I was experimenting! Since the splash looks like patina on paint, I thought it might fit well! But noooooo.. the comments kept rolling in!

[IMG]B_Y_DS, on Flickr[/IMG]

So, since I was looking for parts to replace the non-Campy ones, the look become more period correct driving me to use Bennotto tape.

[IMG]1983 Colnago Superissimo, on Flickr[/IMG]

not a Colnago multicolor fan, but at least the skewers match and it has a curved fork.
Good purchase.
I would have set the bars up a bit differently, rotated them down a bit and then maybe moved the levers up after.
Personal taste I know.

What Brand/kind of purple tape?

Splash tape! That was what was on the bike when purchased.

Here's a photo of the splash tape and the top tube from the rider's view ... kinda showing the purple color on the top tube and the front of the head tube (thought to match the (Deda) handlebar tape.

OK -

First, you need to turn the bike around
Second, you need to set her up against a garage door for the photo
Third, box it up and send her to me.

Here ya go. Finally with different tires, and properly oriented. I thought the marble fountain was a good substitute for a garage door.

Yea, I know the QR is on the wrong side.

Quanda bella! She wears the QR on whichever side she likes.
Heh--Palos Verdes, yes? (Love that fountain!)

Beautiful. Looks much better with the black-gray tires, IMHO. The blue tires competed with and detracted from the frame, which should be the focus with such an incredible paint job.