Concorde Colombo build
- Thread starter James_CX
- Start date
Re:
Now I got a bit excited with the painting and forgot to take any in-progress photos, so here’s the finished result. I bit boring I’m afraid, the inevitable PDM scheme.
Paint was Halfords enamel paint, so much tougher than their regular car paint, each colour applied in a morning and left to bake in front of the radiator for the rest of the day. Another benefit of the enamel, it doesn’t smell once touch-dry.
The Columbus and seatstay decals were added before the clear coat (not UV stable) and this was given a good fortnight in front of the radiator. Then it was sanded flat with progressive grades of micro mesh, rubbing compound then t-cut. Probably the best rattle can job I’ve ever done and I’ve done a lot!
By chance the other decals arrived from Cyclomondo in Australia the day after this process was finished. Lucky because I might have been tempted to fit them straight away otherwise. They went on a treat and I understand they don’t need a sealing coat. The seatstay stripes were made with 3mm vinyl pinstriping, Amazon special. I’ve still got 9m of this left for emergencies!
Now I got a bit excited with the painting and forgot to take any in-progress photos, so here’s the finished result. I bit boring I’m afraid, the inevitable PDM scheme.
Paint was Halfords enamel paint, so much tougher than their regular car paint, each colour applied in a morning and left to bake in front of the radiator for the rest of the day. Another benefit of the enamel, it doesn’t smell once touch-dry.
The Columbus and seatstay decals were added before the clear coat (not UV stable) and this was given a good fortnight in front of the radiator. Then it was sanded flat with progressive grades of micro mesh, rubbing compound then t-cut. Probably the best rattle can job I’ve ever done and I’ve done a lot!
By chance the other decals arrived from Cyclomondo in Australia the day after this process was finished. Lucky because I might have been tempted to fit them straight away otherwise. They went on a treat and I understand they don’t need a sealing coat. The seatstay stripes were made with 3mm vinyl pinstriping, Amazon special. I’ve still got 9m of this left for emergencies!
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sjcprojects
Orange 🍊 Fan
Looks like you've done a terrific job on the paint and decals there.
I had a Prelude for a few years, which was a lovely ride and I now predictably regret selling it for way less than it took to build it up - but I did pick up a Colombo frame in the yellow-white-silver colour scheme you mention last year (I agree, the blue looks a bit odd - but then Concorde were known for their 'interesting' paint jobs!). The PDM scheme of course looks great. It will be a while until I build mine up, though - the paint and decals are about as rough as yours were.
Looking forward to seeing the final result. I think modern components looks great on these...
I had a Prelude for a few years, which was a lovely ride and I now predictably regret selling it for way less than it took to build it up - but I did pick up a Colombo frame in the yellow-white-silver colour scheme you mention last year (I agree, the blue looks a bit odd - but then Concorde were known for their 'interesting' paint jobs!). The PDM scheme of course looks great. It will be a while until I build mine up, though - the paint and decals are about as rough as yours were.
Looking forward to seeing the final result. I think modern components looks great on these...
Re:
Some notes on the previous photo:
Headset cups reinstalled. I’ve got a bearing press but a squeeze-clamp is so much easier, I always fit cups with this.
BB cups installed, Campy Ultra Torque. I’ve fit a few of these and never failed to mark them, despite using Campy’s own tool. And why are they gold? They must be the only gold component on 99% of bikes they’re on!
The eagle eyed will notice that, a) I did a better job masking the dropouts than Concorde’s painter did and b), the adjusters are missing. After the paint job they just looked messy. One came out fine with a bit of WD40, the other snapped off at both ends. Out came the drill - it must’ve been totally rotten because the drill stayed on track easily and I just had to run an M3 tap to clean it up. So satisfying to see the tap push a load of brown muck out of the end leaving gleaming threads. It now sports some nice new stainless versions and a bit of scalpel work tidied the paintwork.
Some notes on the previous photo:
Headset cups reinstalled. I’ve got a bearing press but a squeeze-clamp is so much easier, I always fit cups with this.
BB cups installed, Campy Ultra Torque. I’ve fit a few of these and never failed to mark them, despite using Campy’s own tool. And why are they gold? They must be the only gold component on 99% of bikes they’re on!
The eagle eyed will notice that, a) I did a better job masking the dropouts than Concorde’s painter did and b), the adjusters are missing. After the paint job they just looked messy. One came out fine with a bit of WD40, the other snapped off at both ends. Out came the drill - it must’ve been totally rotten because the drill stayed on track easily and I just had to run an M3 tap to clean it up. So satisfying to see the tap push a load of brown muck out of the end leaving gleaming threads. It now sports some nice new stainless versions and a bit of scalpel work tidied the paintwork.
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Peachy!":5ngptpo0 said:
There’s the thing, there’s what I planned to put on it and what I ended up using! Safe to say the donor bike still has most of its bits, total mix of SRAM shifters, 105 brakes and Campy chain set plus Bianchi own brand stem, saddle and bars. Now it’s full modern-ish Campy and Italian bits, update coming when I take some photos...
sjcprojects
Orange 🍊 Fan
Oh, and in terms of which frame builders and Concordes, I did a lot of research myself previously, and there doesn't seem to really be any definitive answers out there - but, like you say, Torpado definitely made a fair few of them, along with Billato (the latter just the higher-end frames - the former maybe the lower-end?).
I got an email from someone a while back saying they were relaunching the Concorde brand (they wanted to use a photo of mine for their website) - I've not seen any sign of that happening, though, needless to say...
I got an email from someone a while back saying they were relaunching the Concorde brand (they wanted to use a photo of mine for their website) - I've not seen any sign of that happening, though, needless to say...
Re:
Bike complete, for now.
The chrome on the forks was shot but a previous owner has done a good job getting rid of the rust. I painted over the worst section and left some chrome uncovered top and bottom. I’m quite pleased with this but might keep an eye out for some better Concorde or other Columbus forks if they pop up cheap.
Otherwise, only the wheels, tyres, crankset, cassette and chain came from the donor bike in the end. I was so pleased with the paint job, I felt something better was deserved so it now sports Campagnolo 10s from the early 2000s, a mix of Centaur and Veloce.
Crankset is carbon Record. I think this looks really smart and certainly keeps the bike weight down (to 10kg). I’m not sure about swapping for something silver - opinions? I notice that older Campy group sets all use the Ultratorque system, even the lower groups, so a straight swap for something that might need a bit of polishing.
Wheels are Campagnolo Scirrocco, now the 5th bike these have been on and not a bit of wear showing. These are shod with Pirelli P-Zeros - the best tyre out there IMO. 25mm but I’m surprised to see the bike will easily accommodate 28mm when these wear out.
Shifters are NOS Centaur from the period where they were all Ultrashift with metal components. Annoyingly these feel better than the 11s Chorus on my best bike
I changed my mind on the A-Headset stem conversion and found some NOS ITM bars and quill stem. Nothing flash but they had to be Italian.
Bar tape is modern Fizik. I love that the chrome is visible through the perforations. PDM ‘chrome cassette’ plugs to match! The saddle is brand new Selle Royale Seta, £5. I think it might be a ladies saddle as it’s a bit wide. That’s the trend now so looks quite modern. Pondering about a Turbo replacement though?
Brakes are brand new Centaur, no idea if it’s the old Centaur or the new version, I don’t think they’ve changed anything and they were quite cheap! Not the skeleton version which I don’t like because it reveals the pivot bolt head.
Bike complete, for now.
The chrome on the forks was shot but a previous owner has done a good job getting rid of the rust. I painted over the worst section and left some chrome uncovered top and bottom. I’m quite pleased with this but might keep an eye out for some better Concorde or other Columbus forks if they pop up cheap.
Otherwise, only the wheels, tyres, crankset, cassette and chain came from the donor bike in the end. I was so pleased with the paint job, I felt something better was deserved so it now sports Campagnolo 10s from the early 2000s, a mix of Centaur and Veloce.
Crankset is carbon Record. I think this looks really smart and certainly keeps the bike weight down (to 10kg). I’m not sure about swapping for something silver - opinions? I notice that older Campy group sets all use the Ultratorque system, even the lower groups, so a straight swap for something that might need a bit of polishing.
Wheels are Campagnolo Scirrocco, now the 5th bike these have been on and not a bit of wear showing. These are shod with Pirelli P-Zeros - the best tyre out there IMO. 25mm but I’m surprised to see the bike will easily accommodate 28mm when these wear out.
Shifters are NOS Centaur from the period where they were all Ultrashift with metal components. Annoyingly these feel better than the 11s Chorus on my best bike
I changed my mind on the A-Headset stem conversion and found some NOS ITM bars and quill stem. Nothing flash but they had to be Italian.
Bar tape is modern Fizik. I love that the chrome is visible through the perforations. PDM ‘chrome cassette’ plugs to match! The saddle is brand new Selle Royale Seta, £5. I think it might be a ladies saddle as it’s a bit wide. That’s the trend now so looks quite modern. Pondering about a Turbo replacement though?
Brakes are brand new Centaur, no idea if it’s the old Centaur or the new version, I don’t think they’ve changed anything and they were quite cheap! Not the skeleton version which I don’t like because it reveals the pivot bolt head.
