Tom,
Good post. I think you hit the head right on the nail! I know what goes on in factories and by builders when it comes to showtime. They know that they are going to take extra care and do a super job of the show bikes. This one is a clear example of that. I'm sure the headlugs don't go sideways like my '69, '70, and '72 bikes do. I still love them (to ride and look at) but they aren't nearly as nice work as this one is.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
Ed,
I enjoyed your post, and Ithink that yo made some valid points, but I'd like to present a couple of counterarguments. First, you wrote: "Was this bike built to be hung on a wall or was it built by a man who loved bicycling and who would have wanted his masterpiece to be ridden?"
It was built to be dispalyed at bike shows. Yes, it was built by a man who loved bikes, but I'm not sure he would have cared whether this particular one was ever ridden or not. By reputation, Ernesto was and is a businessman above all else. What he wanted was for people to look at what he and his people could do on their best day and be so inspired and full of confidence in the Colnago operation that they would place big orders. If ever there was a Colnago that WAS made to be hung on a wall and looked at, this is it. I'm not saying you or anyone else would be a bad guy to ride it. It would be yours to do with as you please, once you owned it.
You also wrote: "Consider that really the reason that a Colnago is considered so special is that it was such a wonderful bike to -ride-."
Well, sure, they are special bikes that are really nice to ride. They also display a level of craftsmanship that is special even if it doesn't improve the ride. But this show bike got an extra dose of that craftsmanship, yet probably doesn't ride any better than similar Colnagos or even similar bike of slightly lesser quality. There is no singular ride quality that anyone will miss by not riding this bike. They can get that from a run-of-the-mill (though still rare and desirable) Colnago of similar vintage.
If this was a basic racing bike, with normal NR parts, I'd say that Ernesto certainly expected it to be riden. And, in some way, that might support an argument that it should be ridden today. But this bike is not a race bike, it is a show bike. In some ways that makes it really special, and it certainly makes it rare, and in some ways that sissifies it, makes it the analog of a "pimped ride" not a racecar. Removal of the anodizing on some alloy parts, addition of rust-prone chromed lugs, all the little cutouts and drillings for dirt to build up... this bike is very form over function. For good or for bad, looking cool, not going fast, is it's raison d'etre.
My $0.02
Tom Dalton Bethlehem, PA
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