Help with Colnago ID
 

Hey all,

My buddy just inherited this Colnago from his uncle that recently passed. I haven't been alive long enough or studied Italian bikes enough to ID it, so I was hoping some more learned folk could lend me their $.02. The group is mixed Campy/600, but as I understand this is exactly how his Uncle ordered it. Thanks for any info.https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c6ba093610.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9d6ef08dca.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0c13698f35.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...95b3a42ce3.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...da51971091.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ec09b2ef58.jpg

It's a Colnago Super from around 1983.

DD

Yep..........................................................although I'd say around 1984, just to be different, haha.


My favourite Colnago head tube lugs. Nice bike.

Given the chrome treatment of the head set, I would call it a Superissimo.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3764/...b2a088a5_z.jpg
P9151224, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/...08ddd971_z.jpg
1983 Colnago Superissimo, on Flickr

Thank you everyone, sorry I've been away for a bit. What distinguishes one model for another on these things?

I thought your seat stay tops, with the 'Colnago' cast into the plug showed me that your bike was probably a 83, 84, 85 build. I would guess at 1984. There was also another seat stay cap in use in 1983 and your caps were the updated version.

If your frame's decals are original, I looked at the Columbus Decal which indicated that your frame was probably made out of Columbus SL tubing which was typical of a common Colnago 'Super' model. If it was a Columbus SLX decal I would have suggested a Superissimo model. The difference between a Super and a Superissimo is the tubing material. I don't go much on the amount of chrome used on a Colnago frame or where the chrome might be found as frames of this era could be ordered with your choice of finish no matter what the model.

Needless to say, dating a Colnago and identifying the model is not an exact science.

The sloping front fork crown, single point head tube lugs, etc, all add to the story of a Colnago frame.

Yes, this Superissimo-question is a swamp soil. There are a relatively large number of such Colnago bicycles. However, it does not appear in any of the known catalogs, just as the model known as Profil CX (this has also chrome head lugs). It is also true that from the mid-1970s be found Super bikes with chrome head lugs, none of them said it was a Superissimo. The general justification for the '70s bikes: at the dealer's request, produced such Supers as well. In the first half of the '80s this model has been manufactured for several years. Prove that the earliest pieces have still flat fork crown. Then they were already aero fork crown but still with clamp-on FD and in last time already with braze-on FD