I recently purchased a 80-something Colnago Superissimo in very nice condition off of Craigslist. It rides great – not very light, but nice solid feel. I’m just noticing that there is no Colnago decal on the seat tube of this bike, while every other Colnago I’ve seen from this era does. Also, there are no water bottle bosses on the seat tube. I thought by the 80’s, they were doing that. How much would I pay a framebuilder to install the bosses? Also, I’ve searched the web for history/hierarch of Colnago models, but haven’t found too much. Any suggestions?

I’m planning on installing Ultegra 9 speed STI brake/shifters. The rear wheel spacing fits my 9 speed cassette, (what’s that, 130mm?) so that’s no problem. I’m currently running 9 speed friction shifting. I’ve got a few questions about the conversion:

Will I need to replace the front derailleur? the Campy crankset? the BB? If the BB, what size is it?

I was reading on Sheldon Brown’s web site that the older Cinelli stems had a 26.4 clamp? I want to change out the narrow 40mm handlebars for something wider. Should I just covert it to a threadless stem? Will I need to change out the Campy headset if I do that?

Uh, I guess that’s more than just a few questions. Thanks in advance, for the help.

First of all, please don't add bosses.... Next, have a look at the Colnago scans here:

https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/

You probably don't need to replace any of that stuff. STI front shifting is fussy with triples, but doubles are generally pretty trouble free.


If the stem is the right length for you, there's no reason not to just use a shim to let you fit in newer handlebars.

It would be a crime to discard the original fork, so converting to threadless is not a reasonable option. Quill stems are readily available in lots of different dimensions.

Sheldon "New Gears, Good; New Fork, Bad" Brown

The timeline and history of Colnago is something of a mystery that is being worked out a little bit at a time, even as we speak. Colnago (and many others) used subcontractors to make frames from time to time, and the serial numbers and details of these jobber frames are enough different that the water surrounding Colnago history is very muddy. Unless you can identify your bike directly using one of the catalogs on the Bulgier site, or another trustworthy site, you can be comfortable that no one will argue with you when you say "80's".

mmmm, sometimes I wonder how people can quote something like this...
were you maybe a subcontractor for colnago???

nah. I just have one and have been fretting for the last year about what it is. There is a bunch of disjointed information over on CR, and scattered throughout the internet. Whenever a Colnago of the right vintage comes up on eBay I ask the seller for the serial number. I save pictures that I find on the internet with a date guess. There's a guy on CR right now that is trying to pull together a comprehensive timeline for older Colnagos, but I dunno if us common folk will ever see the end result.

what is CR? I'd like to poke around if it will give me some clue about my colnago's history.

thanks!

Classic Rendezvous. They have a Very Serious email-based discussion group, and extensive and very worthwhile archives of the aforementioned email group. Luminaries like Sheldon Brown, Brian Bayliss, and Hilary Stone are regular discussion members. If you join, remember that nothing post 1982 gets discussed, and topics other than old bicycles/memorabilia are verboten. If you post something for sale without a price fire will undoubtedly rain on your head. There are other rules, but you get the drift...

Contrary to Sheldon sage advice, I have plenty of double FDs, even many shimanos that don't work well with Shimano STI front shifters. It cost you nothing to try the Campy one you have, but don't waste alot of time messing if it doesn't perform. It's easy enough to change out the stem for one with a different clamp size, or troll Ebay for older Cinelli 26.4 calmp bars.