I ask you, do you have any facts to back up your thoughts? Did you actually deal with Colnagos in this time period or at all at any time? Are you a bike painter or have you been to Colango's paint booth?
What I know for a fact is that paint schemes like that go quite a ways back please look at the available catalogs on-line. You are correct that it would be really difficult for a custom painter to create and replicate the masks Colnago uses. Of course it's no problem for Colnago to do this paint job because they're set up for it. You may not remember but the late-80s were all about the look of the bike. There were lots of cheap bikes with snappy paint jobs then. best, Brandon"monkeyman"Ives Coeur d'Alene, ID.
> This post and the others like it are only on topic in the sense that
> they discuss the on topic issue of selling on Ebay and the fact that
> Colnago has had many counterfeits over the years. This is especially
> true of the older ones which we tend to collect. In fact, this is the
> reason why Colnago eventually went to painted decor, rather than decals
> which are now easily purchased on Ebay. The reason I believe this
> particular Colnago is counterfeit is because the paint scheme is from a
> modern bike which I recall seeing in the last few years. This scheme
> was designed for the large tubed bikes that the Italians tend to offer
> now. I also find it very hard to believe that any Colnago had a fork
> identical to the ones that appeared in the late 80's on Specialized low
> enders. (two pieces of tubing bent and welded at the top). The paint on
> this bike is perfect but the low end headset is rusting. The gruppo is
> the lowest of the low end Suntour Blaze of the 80's. If some historian
> knows more about this subject than I defer, but I still find it
> incredible that Colnago or any other company would put a high high end
> paint job on a low low end bike. It just makes no more sense to me than
> putting a platinum ring in a Cracker Jack box.
>
> Garth Libre in Miami Fl.