Paul, I think the Arabesque lugs first appeared in 1983 or so...
Angel Garcia Long Valley NJ
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: neithernors <neithernors@gmail.com> Date: Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 4:46 PM Subject: [CR] Another Colnago Date Question: Pista To: CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Hi everyone,
To now I've only replied once or twice to some questions but I have been wanting to ask you others your opinion about this Colnago frame I bought a few years back.
According to what I've read here the details mark it as a 71 Colnago except that it is a track bike. So would the dating details be the same or given the persistence of tradition in track racing might they continue through to later years than they would have for a road frame? The guy I bought it from recollects that it is a mid 70s frame but some of his information is contradictory. He owned a couple of shops here in Vancouver and sold a lot of bikes. I'm not sure of this but he may have imported it originally, or maybe he got it somewhere else - not sure about that. He recalls selling it to the previous owner, a well ranked racer, in about 1975, he says but he also says the previous owner stopped racing in 1975, so that doesn't sound right to me and he is not interested in period correct details anyway.
When I got it, the frame had been re-painted as a Marinoni. Apparently they would provide free paint jobs for any, or I suppose, any decent bike, but only if painted as a Marinoni. So there was no original paint or decals left. The guy I bought it from re-painted it for me with mid to late 70s decals and it was only later and reading here that I began to wonder about the age he declared it to be.
The details are this: a Colnago Pista frame. The fork has a semi-sloping crown, chrome plated with four holes, two on either side, plain on top, no club. The fork tanges are long and narrow, no holes, no clubs, just plain. The fork tubes are oval, not round but it is a true track fork with no clearance or drilling for a brake. (The same as the seat stay bridge, which is, of course, not drilled.) The fork tubes have the Columbus type oval shape and the fluting in the steering tube; the frame looks to be all Columbus. The lugs are typical Colnago with the arabesque-like profile on the sides of the head lugs. All three lugs have the club cut outs. The lower head lug club cut out is larger than the top two. The seat lug also has a single hole drilled on the bottom tip that faces the seat tube. It has the club cut out under the bottom bracket and no other drilling there. The seat stays are very thin and double tapered, tapering to both ends. The tops are quite narrow and have plain flutes. The chainstays are crimped 70s style for wheel and chainring clearance. Campagnolo front drop outs track rear drop outs. There are no braze-ons anywhere, of course, and no other details.
Any opinions as to dating this, the same as a road frame or not?
Paul Arbez Vancouver, B.C. Canada
My spell checker keeps insisting the I change Colnago to Synagogal. _______________________________________________
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