I think Colnago made more of an effort to meet demand for his bikes by the use of subcontractors in the 80's than did Pogliaghi or Cinelli. I have nothing against his bikes and I own three of them, including a C-50, but I, personally, don't consider Colnago bikes from the eighties "collectable". This doesn't mean that they're not quality products. I think Cinelli and Pogliaghi were closer to, and remained closer to, the concept of the artisan builder than Colnago. Roland Porter, Hinsdale, Illinois
> Roland wrote:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> "Personally, I don't have much interest in Colnago vintage bikes that
\r?\n> were
\r?\n> built after "colnago" was pantagraphed on the upper part of the seat
\r?\n> tube.
\r?\n> There are other aspects of archaeolgical interest on Colnagos that help
\r?\n>
\r?\n> date them and they have been dealt with at length by astute and
\r?\n> knowledgable CR members. The DeFlaminck Colnago would hold zero
\r?\n> interest
\r?\n> to me even though I admire that great rider of Gios bikes and who could
\r?\n> never complete one Tour de France. We must remember that Ernesto
\r?\n> Colnago
\r?\n> was a great publicist (vis the gold plated bike he presented to the
\r?\n> Pope)
\r?\n> and wasn't directly involved in building by the mid 80's. His story
\r?\n> is
\r?\n> rather unlike that of Sante Pogliaghi or Cino Cinelli, two great men
\r?\n> indeed. "
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I am somewhat confused by this post. Are you saying that Ernesto wasn't
\r?\n> directly involved in building any frame by the mid-80's? On what
\r?\n> authority are you able to make such a statement? What do you understand
\r?\n> by the term 'directly involved'?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> You then go on to state that Colnago's story is unlike that of Pogliaghi
\r?\n> and Cinelli. I suppose that you are well aware of the fact that Cino did
\r?\n> not build a single frame himself. This fact was oft confirmed by Cino
\r?\n> during his life and reconfirmed by his son Andrea recently. So does this
\r?\n> mean that Ernesto built everything himself?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The truth of the matter is that Ernesto Colnago, to this day, is
\r?\n> involved in frame development at the eponymous company. There is not a
\r?\n> day that passes, when he is at his home, that he does not visit the
\r?\n> production and follow all the aspects of production. Does he do the
\r?\n> gluing, welding or brazing of the frames? No he does not, but virtually
\r?\n> every person who does has been directly or indirectly trained by
\r?\n> Ernesto. In fact the average employee at Colnago has close to 20 years
\r?\n> work experience with the company. The frame geometries are generally
\r?\n> designed by his son-in-law Vanni Brambilla, but on specs that are agreed
\r?\n> upon by Ernesto. Even the paint schemes are decided by Ernesto. It is my
\r?\n> contention that Ernesto has not actively held a torch since the late
\r?\n> 60's. Not even during the period in which he was the chosen builder for
\r?\n> Merckx. It was not his prowess with the torch that made the man and his
\r?\n> reputation, nor has it made the reputation of anybody else. Colnago is
\r?\n> respected because he was able to supply a large number of pros with
\r?\n> acceptable quality bikes and frames that worked well in their intended
\r?\n> purpose. He has supplied many more pros than any other Italian
\r?\n> framebuilder. (Cinelli and Poghliaghi have never supplied frames or
\r?\n> bikes to any complete pro team)
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Steven Maasland
\r?\n> Moorestown, NJ
\r?\n> USA