Skip to main content

2000ish Colnago Tecnos

It has been quite a while since Ive pulled the trigger on adding another bike to the stable but that all changed on this beautiful Friday afternoon. Hard to believe that I managed to not add another one since 2022. The Wilmington market isn't the greatest for vintage italian steel frame bikes and I really didn't look hard in Charlotte either. Occasionally one comes up for sale that's really nice and really expensive, so it's rare to get too excited about the possibility of adding something interesting to the collection. However, today was a bit of a jackpot. A nice gentleman from Wilmington listed two steel beauties for sale on FB marketplace for only $1200! The first is a 2000 Colnago Tennos, The second is a Casati Gold Line (more on that later). 





The Colnago has all the detailing that makes those frames sublime. The frame is 56cm, Columbus Nivacrom Tecnos tubing(which is shaped and fluted), Campagnolo Chorus Racing Triple 9 Speed Groupset, Campagnolo Headset (Ugly) Salsa stem (replaced already with a VO), Nondescript seatpoat and saddle (replaced with a Campagnolo seatpost and Brooks professional Saddle). Campagnolo Hubs laced to Mavic OpenPro SUP rims.



 

It was so clean and dailed in for my specs that I was literally able to drive home from the sale and ride it immediately, which felt amazing!Considering the Master Olympic was a 58cm frame, it just never really felt comfortable riding. This one however is sized perfectly. For a steel frame bike it weighs in less than 19 pounds and rides like a dream. Now Im back up to 13 bikes, so something has to go. Might be time to part with the Serotta. Im getting used to that notion, I think.

Popular posts from this blog

2002 Bianchi XL Boron

Many changes since the original post but here is the current build: Bianchi XL Boron 56cm steel frame, with serial number 116B1328  Cane Creek Forty threadless headset Kestrel EMS Pro carbon fork FSA OS-99 stem  FSA Wing Pro compact bars FSA KForce Compact Carbon Crankset Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed shifters Campagnolo Record brakes Campagnolo Record front and rear derailleurs Campagnolo Proton Wheels Vittoria Open Corsa CX  23c tires Thomson Elite seatpost Brooks Cambium C17 I picked up a new frame this passed week from West Roxbury, MA on ebay. Built it up over the last couple days and took it on its maiden voyage this weekend. Decided to retire the 2008 Bianchi Via Nirone frame for this steel celeste beauty. Its a 2002 Bianchi XL Boron. Boron Steel is evidently a proprietary Dedacciai EOM 16.5 tubeset made for Bianchi. It weighs in at 18 lbs, which for a steel frame bike sounds pretty good. It's basically the same setup as my 08 e...
Read more

1990 Basso Loto

UPDATE: Already switched up a few things. Swapped the threadless stem with black Cinelli bars, 1R stem and seatpost. Keeps the black and white theme going well I think. Much more comfortable with a little height on the bars.  Score! I finally found a Basso Fior di Loto. I've been searching for this color variant and model for a while now and this one popped up on Ebay from Brownsville Texas. Super excited to build this up with the Campagnolo parts from the Pegoretti upgrade that's in the works.  From what I have gathered so far, this frame is most likely from  1990. Its a  55cm  Columbus SLX steel frame and fork,  Basso Fior di Loto model in the Caribe colorway. It has a few fandom stickers on it that removed fairly easily and with a little elbow grease. The paint polished up nicely afterward and there are only a few nicks and scratches.  This 1990 Catalogue cut shows the color variants available for this...
Read more

1989 Pinarello Treviso

I was able to find a new frame update for my collection, this installment is a 1989 Pinarello Treviso, Cobalto Smoke, 56cm frame. It was in decent shape when I purchased it locally off a bike forum member in SC. It has some ugly stickers on the top tube (subsequently removed) and a paint scheme that can only be described as.... classic 80's italian. An odd "smoked" blue, thusly named Cobalto Smoke, from the catalog. Here are some pics from the forum post. The paint was pretty dull and very fragile.  One of the first tasks completed was to remove the unwanted stickers and try to rehab the paint. I tested a few paint options, using thinned testors model paint, and found a near match for the base blue. My brush technique wasn't great but it worked well for small scratch marks. Added a duple-color clear coat after a thorough polishing. Turned out well and should be better protected. Next up was to replace the decals, which were long gone, but g...
Read more