Nice paint. Not too wacky IMO. I think I can go with over the top paint. Life is short as they say.

I have a number of Colnagos. There is a slight evolution of the geometry over the decades, but all share a common theme.
For their lot they are a bit sharper handling, they request attention and deliver entertaining handling.
I think they are best at rides under two hours, not my first choice for an all day last two hours finding one very tired ride.
Not a classic 70's criterium bike, the bottom bracket is too low, they do have in general short front center dimensions, the mix of head angle and fork rake makes the steering rewarding but I think requires attention more than say a Masi of the same year.
The Mexico model one feels a bit "loose", I will attribute that to the light tubing.
In my size range, they are otherwise probably all SL or equal to SL, I place SLX essentials the same, only advantage is a stiffer tube to mount the front derailleur braze on to.

Gios went shorter on the top tube for a given size but added a bit of fork rake at least in my sizes.
My Grandis is my "poor man's" Colnago, very similar.

Currently I have ten Colnagos, and while my Masters (Olympic and Piu) sure have great paint jobs they're not my "best riding" bikes by far.

My preference would be my C40, closely followed by my Superissimo and both my Nuovo Mexicos (Zoetemelk liveried Nuovo Mexcio is the prettiest bike ever), my 1999 Tecnos, my Crystal and only then the Olympic and Piu. Funnily enough my other two Tecnos are my least favorite for whatever reason.

Personally I just find my Masters not as lively compared to the much "lighter" feel of the Mexicos and the Superissimo. I just always associate my Masters with the hard slogs through nasty winter and spring weather that I use them for
The C40 is just all about day long comfort to me. I rode that bike home when I bought it, 105 miles in jeans on a saddle I didn't even like, and it was just a joy from start to finish.
(anyone need a Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Flow Team Edition in white but with a slight blue hue ?)

Respectively, a C59 or C60 is a whole different thing. Mod, might be classic at some point, but not yet and not vintage. I like the C60 concept very much, but just not ready to open the wallet for one.
As this is the C&V part of the forums, I am referencing bikes between 1968 and 1983. That is the age range of my Colnagos.

Thank you for your opinions. I've never ridden a Colnago and have wondered what they are like.

Ditto. I have been informed by the seller that the one I am interested in is a Master Light, not Olympic, for what it's worth. If I buy one what's the worst that can happen? I ride it and see for myself.

IIRC the Master Olympic and Master Light are the same frame. I believe the International Olympic Committee objected to Colnago's use "Olympic", so the name was changed.

[MENTION=103617]jetboy[/MENTION] for your reading pleasure too.

Volume # 1, February, 1971


So as to keep this relevant to cycling:
I'll make amends in my next post.

verktyg

Why do I need six bikes?

Because having 92 Rolls Royces means you have too many enablers.

My 1988 Colnago Technos. It's not a Master or Master Olympic but the predecessor to those models.

In 2006 a local frame builder friend was going through some old frames he'd stashed away. He pulled out the Technos frame and I said WTF???

I'd never seen a frame that OTT. The maroon and purple fade paint was spectacular. The bulged oversized top and down tubes reminded me of a Bates Canteflex but with grooves formed in the tubes. It was just my size 55cm x 55cm so I took it off of his hands.



Mine is one of the early Technos frames made of ultra thin wall Columbus Technos Nivachrome main tubes. This was before Columbus started using the Gilco name for these shaped tubes. The later versions used slightly heavier walled main tubes.

The frame was so weird looking that I had to build it into a frankebike. I had most of an NOS 1987 Shimano Deore XT MTB gruppo so I used the 48-38-28t triple cranks, derailleurs and hubs which I had built up with Mavic Open Pro rims plus Continental Grand Prix 700x23c tires. I installed a Campy Chorus headset and 27.4mm Campy SR seatpost. When I originally assembled it I used Shimano Ultegra side pull brakes.







I got a set of prototype Bontrager Speed Limit brakes to evaluate. The perfect addition to my frankenbike. These prototypes had a potential problem with the QRs opening but I've never used brakes that stop as well while still keeping control. Locking them up approaches the point of retinal detachment!




Years back my friend had taken the Technos in as a partial trade on a custom frame. The original owner said Technos handled squirrely. My friend realigned the forks but that didn't help.

When I got it home I threw a set of accurately trued wheels in it and checked the alignment. Right away I saw that the rear triangle was off 11mm to the right side.

I took it back to my friend's shop and we put it on his layout table. Not only was the rear triangle out but the seat and head tubes were out of alignment 1/4" in opposite directions (1/2"). So much for famous Italian quality!

Now for the ride and handling details. After I built it up I found that it was an interesting riding frame. I'd had a 1978 Colnago Super and I have a 1983 Colnago Super. They both had/have classic Colnago ride and handling.

The Technos is very different. It has a smooth ride with brisk responsive handling and no hint of twitchiness that you might expect in a short wheelbase frame. It corners on fast descents like it's on rails. The rear triangle is latterly stiff and it climbs like a mountain goat. There is no sign of any flex (good or bad) in the forks. They don't absorb much shock but the front end of the main triangle does.

One word of caution the bike has spilled me twice hitting large bumps at very low speed like pulling into a driveway. Those are the kind of bumps that a normal curved fork would go up over in stride. The straight forks turned to the side.

Comparing the ride to several of my other bikes with light weight tubing and racing geometry: 1985 Raleigh Team Pro 753, 1988 Peugeot Chorus 753, 1992 Paramount OS, 1990s Gitane Team Bike Columbus ELOS and a few others, those bikes have smooth shock absorbing rides and handle somewhat the same, like classic racing frames. The Technos has a pleasant springy ride that some may not like but it gives a nice sporty feel. It's more for criteriums than long road rides.

One last thing, I really like the color combos on a lot Colnago Master and similar models but "the man in the boat" on the top tube is a bit too much for my tastes!



verktyg

Yup, them's the ones. The FFFBs were great fun; even better was Fat Freddy's Cat. The look on his face as Fat Freddy utters the fatal words: "Well, I'll be dipped in dog sh*t . . . ." Priceless.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. (pun intended)

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. What was it? Oh, yeah, Colnagos. (Or is the plural of "Colnago" spelled "Colnagoes"?) Carry on.

The real question is " Who does not need one?"!

I'm with [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION]. I find many Italian bikes to be gaudy. So you can take away my C&V membership card now.

Sorry but that's a 1997 Tecnos.
I have one of those in yellow, and I have a '98 in the same colorway as yours.
These were only made from 1995 until 2000 and they were supposedly the lightest production frame at the time.
(but my Nuovo Mexico and my Superissimo are both lighter)

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish architect from wence the word gaudi came from. Think the cathedral in Barcelona, Spain.

The state of being gaudi isn't limited to the Italians. For example, my 1989 Peugeot Chorus 753. Now to my eye, this is gaudi too! I like it!

Pics are not my bike but they show the gaudi colours:




A 1979 Peugeot SLX that I briefly had. Same bike but Columbus SLX frame rather than Reynolds 753.



From the late 80's until the end of their run, Peugeot offered a lot of different models with 2 tone fade paint jobs and color splash decals.

At the opposite extreme, we started selling Trek bikes and frames soon after they hit the market in the mid 70's. They had austere (stodgy) colors which appealed to a lot of our customer base who were engineers, scientists and so on and were commuters/tourists as opposed to hot zoots racers. We carried a nice selection of hot Italian frames for the fast set.

verktyg

Interesting info. Not disagreeing with you as I've just found a number of websites with newer info on the Technos frames.

I did several years of research on the frame 10-12 years ago and came up with the 1988 date from a number of sources. Frame builder Ed Litton who I bought it from recollected that he worked on it and then took it on a trade in the early 90's.

I built frames back in the 70's and both Ed and I think that the top and down tubes have a 0.3mm wall thickness midsection. You can squeeze them a little bit. I did find BITD that Columbus increased the wall thickness in the thin sections of the frame tubes for the Technos tubing (just like they did with the seat stays and chain stays on Columbus SL tubing). That's why I think that I have an early version Technos.

Date doesn't affect my opinion of the frame.

verktyg

I can certainly understand that, but I love those bonkers paint jobs. The only tricky thing is finding a groupset and wheelset that pairs well with a nutty paint scheme. My Masi Nuova Strada does not like black pieces, but I have solved that riddle. The Guerciotti from '83 or so? Easy: high polish. Thankfully there are many Italian bikes with mature paint work, so we rejoice!