I did VERY well on the Colnago frame I sold...I may not care for them, but plenty of others who know more than I do certainly do.

Yeah, I think that everyone and their brother knows the name 'Colnago' which gives them a broader appeal. My De Rosa is super amazing and pretty rare, I have never seen another like it in my 25 years of riding in Toronto but no one bats an eye at it. However, my Colnago gets a lot of attention and people stop and stare at it when it is locked up. Very odd.

The geometry of a bike's frame is critical, yet it always comes back to fit for me.

I can make many of the Italians brands fit with various stems, bars, and seatposts.

Another important aspect to this little Italian performance puzzle though, is tire choice.

A tire like the Pasela on the Casati is an inexpensive tire, yet performs ok on a variety of terrain.

Nothing special though mind you.

On the road though, I find inexpensive tires are quite often unacceptable, and greatly diminish the enjoyment of any bike, much less a high-performance Italian racing bike.

I was at the shop this morning, and a fellow was crabby about the cost of a $60 tire, yet he was putting it on a $3,500 Pinarello FP-3.

That simple $60 per wheel decision can make a significant performance, enjoyment, and safety difference in the handling characteristics of that bike.

I'm totally with you gomango (as usual). Sometimes I think we'd be better off spending less on the bike and more on the tires, tape and saddle.

^^This.

Until I got off budget and "ok for a variety of uses" tires, I had not one clue to my name about this. A high quality set of tires can make a mediocre frame sing arias.

You wouldn't put cheap tires on your Ferrari, would you?