Said conglomerate also owns Legnano and a few other
brands--they were set to sell Gitane, Peugeot, and
Legnano in the US a few years ago but things didn't
work out. Jerry tells the truth about ownership of
these brands; what factories turn out which bikes I
don't know.
Davi dFeldman
Vancouver, WA
> I think snake-oil-vendor is a bit harsh for Ernesto
> Colnago. Certainly the
> quality of Colnago does not compare to a Baylis, a
> Sachs, or a Confente, but
> they are not his competition, His competition are
> the other firms supplying
> the pro peleton - Bianchi, Peugeot, Gitane,
> Pinarello, etc. The first three
> I believe are all owned by the same conglomerate and
> produce pretty much the
> same TIG'ed aluminum frames painted in different
> colors. I'm not sure if
> Pinarello even produces a lugged steel frame any
> more, and if so they rarely
> advertise it, while the Colnago ads still feature
> lugged steel along with
> carbon and aluminum models. Granted they are steel
> frames with overdone
> paint schemes that feature straight forks which I
> always suspected, and
> Brian confirms, are designed to simplify production,
> not improve
> performance. But compared to most of the
> competition, the Colnago Master X
> Light is pretty darned classic. Certainly Ernesto
> Colnago is a showman and
> a shrewd businessman, but how else could he compete
> in the high-end high
> volume bike market? I thnk he has more regard for
> traditional construction
> than any other high-volume shop except maybe Eddy
> Merckx, but he is also
> clever enough to ride current trends with other
> models, which is why he is
> still a major player in the road bike market. And
> while some of his past
> innovations were of questionable usefulness, he did
> after all produce Eddy
> Merckx's Hour Record bike, even though it had
> Windsor decals slapped on it
> at the last minute. Give Ernesto a break, he's no
> Brian Baylis or Richard
> Sachs, but his name isn't on the Chinese-built
> TIG'ed aluminum mountain
> bikes at K-Mart either.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "The Maaslands" <TheMaaslands@comcast.net>
> To: "Classic Rendezvous"
> <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 11:42 PM
> Subject: [CR]Bob Jackson
>
>
> > In response to Brian Baylis' wonderful Confente
> treatise, I would like to
> > say that it pleases me to no end to witness the
> dressing down of the
> > modern-day snake-oil vendor of the bicycle trade,
> namely Ernesto Colnago.
> > Although my frame building expertise is limited to
> a few frames, I believe
> I
> > have reasonable understanding about such things. I
> have always been amazed
> > as to how Colnago has been able to weave his
> schuckster magic for so long
> > without any drop in his 'mojo' factor. The same
> also holds true for
> another
> > Italian from the Veneto, who will remain nameless,
> as I claim him as a
> > personal friend.
> >
> > Further to the Colnago part, and as an owner of a
> Bob Jackson short
> > wheelbase racing tandem, I can attest that Bob
> Jacksons too are not the
> > greatest works of the frame building art.
> Non-existent mitering, cooked
> > tubes, sloppy braze-on alignment, incompleteness
> of brazing are all
> visible
> > on my bike. It is however perhaps slightly better
> than average for a
> > Jackson, but nonetheless a far cry from what can
> be found elsewhere. I do
> > however willingly accept this 'crudeness' because
> it is the sweetest
> riding
> > tandem that I have ever had the pleasure to ride.
> >
> > Steven Maasland
> > Moorestown, NJ
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> > From: Brian Baylis <rocklube@adnc.com>
> > To: <GPVB1@cs.com>
> > Cc: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 9:21 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CR] eBay Confente
> >
> > Among many sage comments, Brian mentioned:
> >
> > > Well the best example I can
> > > think of is the Bob Jackson. The article in
> Playboy many years ago
> > > featured a Jackson as I recall and suddenly
> these frames were highly
> > > respected and sought after. Still some of this
> remains. The bike looked
> > > nice in the photos and gushing text was no doubt
> included; but the fact
> > > is as a framebuilder of about 30 years now I can
> say that few bikes
> > > rated that high in Mojo are as poorly built. No
> doubt the people who
> > > have Jacksons they love will take exception. I'm
> seperating the emotion
> > > from the facts. Fact is they are crude in so
> many ways but they work
> > > fine, so there.
> > >
> > > Brian Baylis
> > > La Mesa, CA
> >
> >
> > ---
> > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> > Checked by AVG anti-virus system
> (http://www.grisoft.com).
> > Version: 6.0.372 / Virus Database: 207 - Release
> Date: 20/06/02
> >
> >
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