Ran across this and have to say I'm baffled - which isn't surprising, since I'm certainly no Columbus expert and don't speak Itallian.

Here's a close-up of a Columbus fork sticker I'm having trouble deciphering. (I don't own the fork.)

The Columbus part and the dove I understand. And per Google translate, the two bottom words translate as "original fork", which makes sense.

I can't quite make out the word in red. But I'd guess someone here probably will recognize it from past experience.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

I'm not seeing any photo but the red lettering sounds like Matrix or early Cromor, A silver background, as opposed to gold, would provide confirmation. Both names were used for the same tubeset, which was a mid-range, seamed, double butted, CrMo. The red lettering, was used during 1986-1987 but the frame could be slightly newer, depending on the amount of leftover stock and stock rotation practices by the bicycle manufacturer.

[MENTION=20650]T-Mar[/MENTION]: oops. Yet another case of insufficient caffeine intake before posting.

Here's the photo:




It's on a separate fork vice a frame or frameset.

That's definitely not Matrix/Cromor. I believe the red text may say RIVERNICIATO, which means it's a repaint. I've seen this on the main tubing decal but do not recall seeing it on the fork blade decals.

Thanks, T-Mar. That might be it. The fork appears to be fully chromed. Perhaps the chrome plating was done (or re-done) years later.

"FORCELLA ORIGINALE" refers to Columbus' oval blade profile and fork blade butting.

I agree with [MENTION=20650]T-Mar[/MENTION] that it is a "riverniciato" or "repaint" decal. It does seem odd on a chrome fork, though.

Could it be a fork that was originally just polished chrome socks (the rest of the chrome under paint) and the paint was removed and the whole thing polished when the frame was repainted?

first time for me too, never saw Columbus fork blade decals with "riverniciato" before now, and even more odd on a chrome fork.
Can you post a photo of more, if not all, of this fork Hondo6 ?

OK, here's a photo of the fork. Doesn't show the upper part of the steerer tube, but shows the lower half or so part of the steerer and the rest of the fork. (It's threaded and appears to have been cut to length already.) It's also the photo that shows the decal in question most clearly.



An eBay vendor in Germany has it; may or may not ship to US (haven't yet queried the vendor about that). Claimed weight is around 750g.

Sticker caught my eye. Was wondering what the red part said and if it gave a clue as to the type of Columbus steel in the fork. But I couldn't make out what it said.

More photos at the listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185620329232

I guessed it might mean something along those lines ("original design" would have been my guess). Thanks for the confirmation, [MENTION=20548]JohnDThompson[/MENTION].

I do appreciate everyone's input - it's much appreciated, and I've learned much.

That's an attractive fork and an attractive price, but shipping could be the deal-killer. Don't know who made the forkcrown, it's a variation on the Cinelli internal-socket but doesn't look exactly like the big "C".
My guess is the forkblades are what would be included with all Columbus SL tubesets, in which case the steerer should have "rifling" in the butt section

I can only confirm the "riverniciato" in italian means "repainted" and "forcella originale" means "original fork". I never seen myself this sticker...

looking around in italian forums, it seems that the "riverniciato" decal was used only on old series Cr-Mo,Cromor and Thron tubing, when those were restored, mainly by the bike producer

The Riverniciato decal was Columbus' generic replacement decal in the days prior to the rise of aftermarket tubing decals during the last couple of decades. When tubesets were sold to bicycle manufacturers and framebuilders, they issued only one decal per set. This was to prevent the proliferation of fake Columbus frames.

However, back then, like now, there were a lot repaints and owners were anxious to display the heritage of the tubing. To appease owners, Columbus created the Riverniciato decal. These were issued to bicycle companies and framebuilders. who bought Columbus tubesets, to apply to frames they had repainted. Basically, they acted as Columbus' agent to authenticate that the decals were only being applied to frames that were actually built with Columbus tubing. It wasn't too difficult to obtain these decals even if it was only to replace a damaged decal.

The drawback to this decal was that you lost the identity of the tubeset itself. Your frame could have been Zeta, Aelle, SL, SLX, TSX, etc. They all got the same decal. Once aftermarket decals became readily available, the Riverniciato decal started to disappear. Owners would rather pay a premium to have the original looking decal that displayed the tubeset name (if appropriate). Of course, these aftermarket market decals have circumvented Columbus' original intention and have give rise to a new spate of fake Columbus frames.