dddd

For lack of many low-priced Colnago listings on CL, I jumped at this one as it was my size. It was priced accordingly with it's poor condition and randomly-mixed parts ensemble.

The frame seems really odd on this bike, anyone seen one like this before?

There is much paint damage, and there's a dent in the right seatstay on the chromed portion unfortunately.

I might make another "rider" out of it, but it needs a lot of work.

Right shifter main lever seems to do nothing through it's initial 15+ degrees of sweep, so I can only get it to click two shifts toward bigger cogs, something's not right there.

Seems to have quite a long reach to it, I'll measure it up in a minute here, but I already went full-forward with the saddle and the stem is only about 10cm.

There is something loose inside of one of the fork legs, seems like something more substantial in size than I've come across before.

The train-wreck rare Colnago:

Spaghetti Legs 

Interesting with the Tange logo on the chain stay. I have a '94 catalog and several models are described as made from Tange tube sets, including the Master Olympic. Despite that, all the pictures in the catalog have Columbus stickers! The extension of the seat tube is most often seen on Colnago "Freuler" geometry frames, usually larger size, but my catalog also has the configuration on the Master Triathlon frames. Cool bike. Sounds like the shifter needs a rebuild. That can be a do it yourself project or there's a guy on Paceline who does that.

crank_addict

Clearly see the Columbus GilCo tubing but what's with the Tange decal on the chainstay? Tange components or tubing elsewhere?

dddd

So maybe it's not so weird after all, and like Spaghetti Legs said, this frame is dimensioned for a larger rider as I measured the TT at 58.5cm, and also the seat tube C-T.

The frame angles are about 72.7ST X 74.5HT.

There is a number-plate tab under the top tube, and the frame bears no serial number.

Luckily it has a 39t chainring, so I can actually ride this around here even with the 13-23t 8s cassette. I would need to get a zero-offset post for a perfect riding fit, which would position me rather aggressively.

I don't think that I will put much into getting this bike set up for myself, since it's not sized for me. I'm a long-legged 5'9" and this frame has 2-3cm too much TT length.

PilotFishBob 

I have similar extensions on my Master Light - brings it up to 60cm. Head tube extension is fully chromed though.

dddd

This brings me to my next question, do you think that this bike is a Master Light?

And, does yours have a number-plate tab under the TT?

Drillium Dude 

Interesting that there doesn't appear to be any engravings whatsoever on the fork crown. I would bet it's a replacement - it would be chromed, at least partially, I would think. I also think the red paint at the head tube extension was added later - it seems a different hue than the rest of the frame.

DD

PilotFishBob 

On mine the stays terminate behind the seat tube which is why I think it's a Light - never got confirmation on a serial number query to Colnago and I may be mistaken.

PilotFishBob 

Oh, and yes mine has the number plate hanger. I purchased it from a seller in The Netherlands.

dddd

Thanks for this info. Where do you see a serial # on your frame?

I was thinking that maybe mine had no # because it was supplied to a team rider, which would explain the oddly long geometry, but maybe I only thought that it has no # because I cannot find it.

Looking closely, under controlled lighting, the paint on the headtube extension seems to match the paint elsewhere, other than where the paint fades to white.

When I find a bike that is so far removed from it's original glory, I kind of wonder if the original owner perhaps died or something, or that perhaps the bike got stolen or was given away to a young relative.
But this one having no serial # has me still thinking that it's just a more or less discarded race bike, that may have suffered the devaluing dent early on. The stay was also slightly bent and I straightened it with a block of wood and a hammer. Paint chips patterns suggest it was roughly handled over a long period of time, and it appears that it was ridden with a lock dangling from a chain slapping the toptube. Original component spec appears to have been Record Titanium, with Chorus Monoplaner calipers.

PilotFishBob 

The S/N on mine is stamped on the drive side dropout - only instance I've ever seen one there. It was equipped with Chrorus 8sp, not sure that's original but still I'm guessing it's '93/'94 - I should ping Colnago again soon to find out for certain. I have two other bikes with no S/N - a '99/00(?) Vianelli and '72 Bottechia. The missing serials bug me way more than they should.

jet sanchEz

I would never have guessed that this frame is a 58