29) 1971 Colnago

SPECS

Status:  Sold
Frame was made in Italy by Colnago for the 1972 Canadian Olympic cycling team
Size: 52cm
Frame & Fork:  Columbus SL tubing with Campagnolo dropouts
Rear Derailleur, Shifters, Brake Levers, Cranks, Bottom Bracket, Headset, Seatpost, Pedals:  Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Front Derailleur: Zeus
Brake Calipers: Universal Extra (Brev 453949)
Saddle:  Selle San Marco Rolls​
Wheelset:  Ambrosio 19 Extra Elite rims on Rino hubs with Michelin Dynamic Classic 700x23c tires

BEFORE

This bike comes with an amazing story.  It was 1971 and olympic cyclist, Jocelyn Lovell, was dating olympic discus thrower, shot putter and javelin thrower, Carol Martin.  Lovell was working with CCM, bringing in frames made in Italy by Colnago that were to be painted and built up for the Canadian olympic cyclists.  Lovell acquired one of the frames in Martin's size, had it painted stealth green, outfitted it with a mostly Campagnolo Nuovo Record groupset, and gave it to Martin as a gift.  Martin says that in its original configuration, it had drop bars but as she got older, she needed a more upright riding position.  It's seen some some wonderful days and was well loved by Martin, for sure.  The finish is in rough shape now and will need to be repainted.  I also think I'll try to find drop bars and brake levers so I can return it to its original configuration.

AFTER

I put more hours into this bike than I could count but they were all worth it!  I couldn't be happier with the result. 

The frame had no obvious Colnago identifiers, such as the club cutouts in the lugs, since it was intended to be branded as a CCM Olympic bike, but it has signs of a Colnago  build nonetheless.  The lug work is beautiful.  The vent hole under the top tube at the seat cluster is something that was done on early Colnagos.  The crimped chainstays with the tubular chainstay bridge is also similar to early Colnagos.  As well, there were some early Colnago Supers made with the same bottom bracket cutouts that are present on this frame.

The paint turned out beautiful and the decals from velocals.com look very classy.  It is definitely NOT a stealth Colnago anymore!  I painted it with a vintage red colour and decorated it in the style of the Colnago Super.  I left off the "Super" decal on the chainstays as it is not actually a Super model.    The parts polished up beautifully, and as typical for Campagnolo, work really well.  I replaced the original wheelset which had rusty, steel Zeus hubs and Weinmann concave rims with this nice set of gold anodized Ambrosio rims that I had from a previous parts bike.  The gold anodizing was still in excellent condition so I decided to build around that with the gold decals, gold bar tape and gold accented Rolls saddle. 

I am super happy with the result.  This bike is absolutely stunning to look at and it is also a pleasure to ride.  The only thing that would make me happier is if Carol Martin could take it for a ride.  I'd love to see the smile on her face!