Otis

Child's play. I'm going on ten years.

Kactus

Ed does beautiful work but I don't think he's ever been accused of rushing a job.

merziac

Good, fast or cheap, pick one.

jeirvine 

Update: the Colnago is on the way to Franklin Frame, where it will get aligned, stripped, chromed (fork crown), and painted. I'll handle the decals when I get it back.

RunForTheHills 

Yes, that photo was taken in his shop.

jeirvine 

Some updates (winter projects take longer when it's summer). I found a period correct wheelset at the Westminister swap meet. When I went to repack the bearings, the lock nuts were dated 73. Lucked out there. The tied/soldered spokes are a first for me, and both rims were dead true. So maybe the tied spokes helped? They cleaned up nicely, and the bearings were great. Before pics:



I got the frame back from Franklin, and they did a top job on the color match, chroming, and painting. The frame was also aligned, and drops set to 120. All for a very reasonable price.

satbuilder 

Nice to see your project coming along. Beautiful work.

jeirvine 

I wanted the decals to be over the paint, and not clear coated (as originals would have been). I ended up getting them from Velociao, and applied them myself. They went on great, and look the business. I put the finishing touches on the build yesterday, and took it on a shakedown ride this morning. Everything that could have gone wrong didn't. Rode great. Some cell phone pics from the ride.

satbuilder 

Beautiful job.
What tires did you use?

jeirvine 

Non-period correct parts:

• SPD pedals
• Sram PC830 chain
• Suntour Ultra 6 14-28 freewheel
• Rustines hoods
• Clement Futurα tires

The shifting is actually really nice with a low-mileage Ultra-6 and an 8-speed chain. And the RD handles a 28 cog fine, with just a little jockey wheel noise. I did not end up using the original milled stem which came with the bike as it was just too long, but I had a shorter period correct Cinelli. The milled superleggero seatpost cleaned up nicely. @qcpmsame sent me a correct FD (much appreciated!) The original NR Rd was toast, but I had a SR in my stash, which looks the part even if it's dated later. The cranks are place-holder 170's until I can find a matched 172.5 pair. I'd still like to clean up the drillium on the original rings, rebuild the SL pedals (in case of l'Eroica), and so still a few odds and ends to do. But I'm pretty happy with a nicely re-done '73 Super for well south of $1K.

repechage

Usually true. How about meh, slow, (well beyond time estimate over 2x) not so cheap and damaged on the transit back to me?
In person I think would be the only way to go.

repechage

Presents very well. I would be on the watch for a #66 handlebar, big frames just look better with the big hooks and they are easier on your palms.
A milled Superleggero seatpost... you are allowed to paint the flutes you know

jeirvine 

The 66 CdM drops are just too deep for me, and the Giro bars just feel like home.

repechage

You need model 63's.

greg3rd48 

Splendid, just a beautiful build. It is always nice to hear when everything comes together in the end and the shakedown ride goes off without a hitch.

Giacomo 1 

I followed this thread all the way through and I just wanted to say how beautiful this resto came out. That Colnago just looks great, or should I say Super! It would certainly put a smile on Ernesto's face.

I own a 78 Super and I love the ride. Nicest handling bike I ever rode and I "feel" very quick on it. It was my grail bike. How do you like the ride?

jeirvine 

Slight update. I took the DIY drillium chainring that came on the bike, and used a dremel and a drill press to clean up and bevel the holes, and finished off the previously half-assed club cutout. It still looks DIY, but a whole lot better, and more worthy of the bike it came on. It's by first attempt at such things, and it was pretty fun and low stress, since it was on a used and already modified ring. I think this bikes done at this point.

And I love the ride. Can't really feel a difference from my '76 Super, which I think differ more in tires than in anything else.





Ring drillium before:

Sir_Name 

Nicely done, enjoy! Bottle cage looks like REG?

Giacomo 1 

Well now your just showing off! 😁

Nicely done.

Sir_Name 

It looks great and with character. Having a taste of wood and metal working machines since back when, I think that finally having a nice sturdy workbench means that I also need a half-way decent drill press. You know, for starters. And a Bridgeport would be the dream...

I have a dremel, but I don't see free-handing the work @Drillium Dude can knock out.

63rickert

Yes. This is the way to complete a project. Colnagos are daunting just because they can be so good. This good.

Drillium Dude 

I love the final result - looks like you did a great job on decals and yellow accenting. The updates to the drillium look fantastic; you drilled the clover in the chainring all the way through? The original pic seems to show only an engraving of the clover shape.

I've never done/been able to do clovers on the chainstays with my Dremel method. The alloy was just too damned hard to work...but I'd have loved to have been able to do one chainring with 5 clover cut-outs. Oh, well.

I'm sure you'll be very happy with that beauty for years and years to come. Congrats on a super build

DD

repechage

This metallic Blue would not be the color I would have sought out long ago, but it looks very handsome. A definitive 70's Race bike.

CliffordK

Beautiful job. It looks a lot like my bike did 35 years ago.

As far as paint over the decals, I don't think that is quite correct.

My bike has (or had) a deep rich blue color. I don't know how it was achieved.

However, the only decals were the "La Marca Dei Campioni" decal, and I presume the tubing decal.

I can not find any signs that the logos were applied with decals. Rather, I'm pretty sure they were stenciled on, which is one of the reasons for the yellow with black border.

So, in thoery, a top clearcoat to help integrate the decals into the paint would give a more realistic finish job.

repechage

Up till the graphic change in '74-'75, Colnago used Varnish fix transfers, they were silk screened onto a carrier which dissolved as part of the application process, so the appearance of stencil if one looked close enough and saw the screened edges.
jeirvine 's machine is from the varnish fix era. The original finish Colnagos I have from 1972 & '73 are not clear coated over the graphics. one '73 is single color, the other a two color. I think it depended on the overall paint color.

The tubing graphic could be foil, decal or transfer- Columbus was not very consistent!
Some bikes received a Made in Italy sticker.