Colnago: Still Not Sure What I Bought

[Baldanzi]

I made a post on one of the "other" forums but doing some research brought me to posts here that have really helped. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a Colnago for sale locally. I had a Master 20 years ago and wish I still had it.


The bike is in rough condition, the previous owner was the 2nd owner - he bought it in Mexico City from the original owner who only told him it was from the "mid 90's". One of the most useful thread I have found was on this site - Here. Looks like I have a Super Piu, There's a serial number on the drive side dropout 1H240. All of the details match - the mystery to me is the paint job - I think it has been re-painted. Plus it has decals and I think by the 90s most Colnagos had their text/logos painted on?

I'd love to nail down the year and decide what to do - if it was original paint, I'd live with the chips and scratches, but if it is a repaint, I'd love to do it right. I'm not even sure about the tubing since it seemed to change almost yearly with the Super Piu from SL to Tange to Brain. There is an SLX decal which is incorrect (no rifling in the down or seat tube). I'm 99% thinking this is a Super Piu now.

 

[Canuk]

I actually recognise this paint job (even down to the colours) so I'm pretty certain it's original finish. To me it's got all the hallmarks of the Superissimo, and if so, it is SLX. Very unusual to see any Supers with chrome head lugs.

You can visually inspect the inside of the bottom bracket and/or feel the ends of the down tube & seat tube searching for any helicoidal reinforcement bands. If they are present, then the frame is constructed with SLX tubing and is almost certainly a Colnago Superissimo.

 

[Canuk]

Had a look through my Colnago catalogues and 99.9% certain this is a Superissimo in original paint.

 

[Baldanzi]

It would be cool to be a Superissimo. So how pronounced are these reinforecement bands on SLX? I have the BB out and cannot see/feel anything. I still think that there is at least some doubt on the paint: were decals original? I thought "COLNAGO" was typically painted? Also there is paint all over the chrome on the drop and adjustment screws. I'll go back and check more later today and get some diameter measurements of the main tubes.



There's blue paint covering the chrome drop out

 

[Baldanzi]

Oh - 130mm rear spacing.

 

[Canuk]

Yeah, it looks like a mid-late 80's Superissimo. I think they were still making them right up to '96

 

[jim haseltine]

The paint on the mating faces of the rear dropouts is not standard for Colnagos with any chrome on the dropouts. The BB shell is late 80s/early 90s and the frame has also got the rear brake cable routed through to top tube which suggests that it's a Super Piu - although it was a special order option on all frames I believe that Superissimos only got that late in the 90s along with the Precisa forks.
Having said all that, trying to identify a Colnago frame that may not be in it's original paint and isn't carrying model decals is fraught with errors as production control was chaotic at times and the work force tended to produce 'Friday Afternoon' frames on any day of the week. You might have some luck contacting the factory with the serial number, especially as they now have their retrofitting & valiadatoin service. It'll cost 29Euro - refundable if the frame can't be validated.

 

[Baldanzi]

The paint on the mating faces of the rear dropouts is not standard for Colnagos with any chrome on the dropouts. The BB shell is late 80s/early 90s and the frame has also got the rear brake cable routed through to top tube which suggests that it's a Super Piu - although it was a special order option on all frames I believe that Superissimos only got that late in the 90s along with the Precisa forks.
Having said all that, trying to identify a Colnago frame that may not be in it's original paint and isn't carrying model decals is fraught with errors as production control was chaotic at times and the work force tended to produce 'Friday Afternoon' frames on any day of the week. You might have some luck contacting the factory with the serial number, especially as they now have their retrofitting & valiadatoin service. It'll cost 29Euro - refundable if the frame can't be validated.

Thanks for input - I am leaning that way too. The link in my original post shows @Jesper having an almost identical Super Piu... all the details match. I'm leaning towards stripping it and giving it a new paint job. Some of the factory schemes were pretty simple monochrome (red, white, blue).

I did send an email with pictures to info@colnago.com - I did not know that there was a more "official" (I mean revenue stream) way to get the information. As a long time Alfa owner and Italian car-nut... the "Friday Afternoon" aspect is very real.

 

[Canuk]

Thanks for input - I am leaning that way too. The link in my original post shows @Jesper having an almost identical Super Piu... all the details match. I'm leaning towards stripping it and giving it a new paint job. Some of the factory schemes were pretty simple monochrome (red, white, blue).

I did send an email with pictures to info@colnago.com - I did not know that there was a more "official" (I mean revenue stream) way to get the information. As a long time Alfa owner and Italian car-nut... the "Friday Afternoon" aspect is very real.

The only problem I've got with that definition is that the decals and the Colnago SLX sticker all look to be contiguous with the original paint job. The decal has the dirt ingrained under the outer layer of adhesive which is always a good sign it's original. AFAIK, no Supers were ever made in SLX, and only the very late Super Pui's had chrome head lugs. I've seen a few Colnago in this paint scheme, and with the decals and the SLX badging I would probably be leaning away from the Super Pui and more towards the Superissimo. I've got one squirreled away at the back of the loft, with the stem stuck in it. I'll look it out tomorrow and compare.

Either way you've got a very nice frame there. There are almost no Colnago bikes I don't like, so I do have a slight bias