Dan,
What are the serial numbers on your frames? Are they stamped on the rear dropout? Wahat is the number? All of the early Colnagos I've seen are like that but the number doesn't seem to indicate a year. I think there is some other purpose for that number. My 1970 has the #4 stamped on it. My 1974 has the #13. The other '74 I had has a #15 stamped on it. I have a '77ish frame here and it is stamped with #9. I think possibly these numbers relate to a sub contractor or maybe it is used for keeping frames and forks together since most of the bikes have the same number on the fork. My recollection of the '72 fork will be the 4 holes in the crown and the club engraved on top. Most seem to have panels on the seat tube. Most have the holes in the fork tang, but that does vary as you know. Any chance your bikes have a #2 on them? If so, I don't think it indicates year.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
>
> Hello CR,
> I have two 1972 Supers. I discovered that the serial # on each
> indicates 1972, which seems to be a no-brainer in IDing these early
> Colnagos. Do other listers 70-73 Colnago serial #s indicate year? I'd
> be curious to know.
>
> Both of my bikes have long inside fork crown tangs, but one has the 3
> hole cutouts in the tang, one does not. Neither of my 1972's have the
> oval cutout in the bb shell.
>
> -Dan Borden in Brookline, MA
>
> At 8:45 PM -0700 6/11/03, Brian Baylis wrote:
> >Angel,
> >
> >My '70 does not have the oval cutout. I also have a '74 that does not
> >have the oval. I had another '74 that did have the cutout. I normally
> >look at the fork to determine the age of the early ones when the bike
> >has been repainted. That doesn't always neccessarily work either; the
> >'74 I still have has no fork tang at all (never seen that before), no
> >holes in crown but does have club engraved in the top of the crown. I
> >think in '75 they began the engraving of the word Colnago along with the
> >club in the crown. I see the club in the fork tang of the bike in
> >question also which I think is '74. Having discussed the minor
> >variations in Colnagos during any given year with a few Colnagophiles we
> >have concluded that these things did happen. The other '74 I had was
> >unusual in that two of the lugs had the club cutout (the DT and ST
> >lugs!) when normally the bikes from '73 were the last to have cutouts in
> >all three lugs and in '74 there is only one in the DT lug. Perhaps the
> >frame is later in '74 as opposed to earlier. I wouldn't be surprised if
> >the '75's all had the oval. I'm still in favor of '74.
> >
> >Brian Baylis
> >La Mesa, CA
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Perhaps not worth mentioning but my 1973 (or 1974) Colnago Super has a
> >> slightly different BB where the down tube meets; mine does not have an oval
> >> cutout like the one pictured in the photo of the bottom bracket:
> >> http://ebay.com/
> >>
> >> Angel Garcia
> >> Long Valley, NJ
> >>
> >> snip:
> >> Looks to be 1974.
> >> Brian Baylis
> >>
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