1973 Colnago Super Project
 

This popped up on the "Are You Looking For..." thread. A week of somewhat sketchy back and forth emails later it was still there, and after a ~4 hour rainy round trip this morning with my very cool wife, it is now mine. 61 cm - so a perfect fit for me.

From the frame characteristics, it looks like a '73. No significant dents or wrinkles, and the fork is straight. Rear triangle is ~6mm out of alignment as measured at the seat tube, but nothing a competent frame shop can't straighten. RD is Pat 73, and arms are 172.5 (my size) w/no date and in nice shape. No dates on the front hub lock nuts - looks like somebody re-laced radially it to an 80's rim and the original dated lock nuts probably went then. FD is post '78. BB is in great shape and had aluminum crank bolts. Seatpost and stem are milled, and big ring drilliumed, but they don't look like factory work. Pedals are Superleggera (not SR). The brake levers are the early longer style with round cable holes.

As of now I just need to get the fixed cup and stem out. Both are soaking. Here is the as-found pic from the ad. I'll post more progress pics as it goes. I'm very glad it ended up being worth the trip. :)

https://images.craigslist.org/00R0R_...A_1200x900.jpg

Great acquisition! Congrats!

Very cool! I can't wait to see it once it's cleaned up!

Oh, sweet!!!

Reminds me of my bike... many moons ago. :eek:

Ok, so I'm partial to that era of blue and yellow paint. :)

You did loosen the stem bolt (1/4" or so), then give the bolt head a good whack with a hammer, right?

Yes!! This is gonna be nice!! So glad you got it!!

I was seriously tempted, after a few days of silence. But too many other projects, one of which is a ‘73 Super.

Happy to hear you got it, and looking forward to the pics.

I'll join the "looking forward to the afters" crew. And as said by [MENTION=392454]CliffordK[/MENTION], the blue/yellow is going to lend itself to one sharp-looking ride when all is said and done. :)

Congratulations! Glad it is only modestly askew. I'll pile on and express anticipation for forthcoming photos.

Thought it might be a '70 or '71 because of the apparent absence of top tube cable guides, (which seem to show up in 72), and the single clover on the fork lugs, sans the engraved "Colnago" underneath, (which also shows up later in the 70's). But I could be wrong...

(I will confess some jealousy, as if a bike of interest has 172.5 arms and I'm on the fence, that'll tip me over. Stan never got back to me on crank length. Did he maintain his "highest bidder" stance?)

It sounds fantastic. What a great pick-up. So worth a long and rainy drive.

Glad it found a good home. I got a couple of extra pics from the seller and thought about going to get Wed or Thursday (4 hours round for me too) but decided I wasn’t ready to take on a “project bike” . Have fun, waiting for pics!

You've got my attention. 'Super' project! :thumb:

What a babe. Love the Supers. Indulge!

So glad a forum member got it; can't wait to see the build thread. And from what I remember of the price, you got a steal!

Yeah, I said "I'm showing up at 10 with $300". No haggling. I'm not worried about the stem - it's already budged a tiny bit, but I want to soak it a bit longer to minimize extraction marks. For dating it, I'm going by this guide:
...
1971
- Fork crown semi-sloping, flat front and back with two holes in the points at each side and clubs in top
- Fork tangs narrow, no cutouts (rarely no tangs)
- Club cutouts in all three lugs but club in lower head lug is now larger
- Hole in lower point of seat lug (last year)
- Bottom bracket shell with club cutout
1972
- Black Club/COLNAGO decal on head tube/seat tube (two seat tube Worlds bands) and COLNAGO on down tube
- Fork tangs with two holes (rarely three hole tangs or no hole tangs or no tangs)
- Derailleur cable guide braze-ons top of bottom bracket shell
- Water bottle braze-ons on down tube
1973
- Wreath seat tube decal with Worlds band at top and bottom
- Fork crown with clubs in top but no holes in each side
- Fork tangs with club cutouts (rarely two hole tangs or no tangs)
- Club cutout in lower head lug only
1974
- Shifter braze-ons on down tube (available as option before this)

Frame details from what I saw in the pics look identical to my ‘73. How many holes in the fork tangs?

A bargain price.
Tolerant significant other.
Valentines Day is coming...
You know the value that present will be measured against. The Blue images a bit differently from the expected Electric Blue of the era... Plenty of color variation on these. I have a Blue one, it will get "smart super record" steel spindles. These bikes handle well, great entertainment. Not an all day ride bike, but who gets to do those that often?
A smart purchase. Lower head lug appears to have lost some paint? That may be the biggest challenge.

It seems this one drew a lot of attention even before the thread went up; I counted at least two others that had considered going to look a it.

Looks as if it will clean up nicely. How's the paint? Are the head lugs chromed? It seems that the lower head lug looks different than the blue paint of the surrounding areas, but that might just be a trick of the lighting.

I agree it looks very 1973-ish. Holes or clovers in the fork tangs? Does the BB shell have oval windows in addition to the clover cutout or are they bare? I ask because my 72-or-73 has two holes in the fork tangs and no windows in the BB shell. That early Super Record post is a nice score. Heck, for $300, the whole deal is a score!

What are your plans for this diamond in the rough?

DD

Very cool. Only a 4 hour drive. Only 300 bucks. Only a stuck stem. My wife is cool. Maybe one day I will get a blue (or red) Colnago Super too. In the meantime...

Great score, I look forward to seeing it cleaned up. Enjoy!

Looks like a fun project. If the blue is anything like my blue Super, it will clean up nicely.

Some updates. Top tube has blue paint brushed on, but appears OK. Fork tangs are two-dot. Crank arms are actually mismatched, with 172.5 no-date NDS, and a 170 <3> DS. BB has clover cutout only.

http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago2.JPG
http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago3.JPG
http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago4.JPG
http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago5.JPG
http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago6.JPG

There is a small dent just above the lower head lug, which also has paint flaked off the chrome underneath. Blue tape on seat tube covered a lot of bare steel, but no dents or damage other than surface rust as far as I can see. Seat post came out ok, and it's not a Super Record, but a fully fluted NR, and is in OK shape, but not perfect. And at the Westminster swap meet I grabbed a pair of HF Recurd wheels that will do nicely.

At this point I'll Get it straightened, and remove paint/rust enough to identify any issues. It will be a repaint, assuming it checks out with no serious issues. I needed a winter project, so very much enjoying the tear-down and cleaning up the parts.

http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago7.JPG

http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago8.JPG

http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...ueColnago9.JPG

http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...eColnago10.JPG

http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...eColnago11.JPG

http://thejennifers.com/Bike_Pics/Bl...eColnago12.JPG

At the price you could do a top level re-paint and probably still have less in it than a very nice original would run.

Oh boy, this a great score. Way to go. Like that you're taking your time with it.

Hmmm, if that's chrome on the head lugs under paint, I'd have to wonder if this color scheme is a repaint. I mean, why chrome the head lugs to begin with if one's going to paint over them?

I hope you can bring them back to presentable shape for the repaint. Chromed lugs didn't get to be common on Colnagos until the early 80s. In the early 70s they were rarely found outside of show bikes.

From the pics, the post looked like Campy's first-gen Super Record two-bolt post, the one with the flutes, reduced wall thickness and modified cradles.

The new pics show a high level of workmanship for the production frame that it is. Those head lugs are plenty thin (as are the diamond reinforcements at the brake bridge) and their shorelines are near-perfect. Take lots of pics when you get it down to bare metal; believe me, you'll be glad you did!

DD