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I believe I have a Colnago Master Piu - opinions?

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I believe I have a Colnago Master Piu - opinions?

Old 10-27-19, 04:49 PM
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2WheelNut
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I believe I have a Colnago Master Piu - opinions?

Hey everybody, I recently acquired this bike which I believe to be a Colnago Master Piu from the late eighties. It has the correct internal top tube brake cable routing and the 3 pointed chrome lugs. I am sure the bike was repainted at some point - I can see traces of red paint around certain parts of the frame, and I'm also pretty sure the decals/stickers are not correct. I do think the one on the right chain stay is an original decal. The bottom bracket shell is curious to me - it has the club cutout but the stamp says "Colnago" instead of "Brev Colnago". In addition, it doesn't have the fluted (for lack of better word) reinforcements on the front of the shell that extend into the lug itself. The bike came with old rotten tubulars on mismatched rims. I found another NOS Campagnolo Victory Strada on ebay to match the one on the front so I will be rebuilding the rear wheel. New Veloflex tubulars are on the way. I plan to ride this bike occasionally, on nice sunny FLAT rides - it is 7 speed with 13-20 on the rear and 39-52 on the front. I am considering an IRD 13-32 freewheel replacement so I can handle the mountains around here.
I would appreciate any thoughts and insights that any of you have to offer about my bike. I am new to vintage Colnagos and am trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks!























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Old 10-27-19, 05:19 PM
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Crit bike! Lovely.
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Old 10-27-19, 07:13 PM
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Nice score . This is a good place to look at stuff . VeloBase.com
Just a thought , I'm wondering if this bike came stock with aero levers ?

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Old 10-28-19, 07:05 AM
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It looks like a Master Piu to me too. I'd also guess at late 80's or even 1990. The curved front forks suggest an earlier frame but this is not always correct. I remember buying a new Conic SLX in the early 90's (brother to and exact same era as your Master Piu) and was offered my choice of curved or straight bladed front fork. Also, a black Colnago is a very rare beast. I don't think I ever saw a black Colnago from that era although I have seen photos of a black Colnago in company literature. To me, the decals don't look original although the bike does look great. I think you're onto something thinking the bike has had a repaint. I wonder if there is another colour oversprayed in the tubes or bottom bracket?

Some pretty good components over a spread of a couple of Campagnolo eras. If you decide to tweak the components into one particular era, I suggest something C-Record. You already have a good start with a number of appropriate components and you could sell off the Super Record rear derailleur, Nuovo Record front derailleur, Record gear levers and the Record brake callipers along with the unidentified brake levers. This would be a bit expensive to go down this path but C-Record is an appropriate era for your frame. Other than that, keeping it as is, is still fantastic.

It should prove to be a very nice riding bike.

Last edited by Gary Fountain; 10-28-19 at 07:27 AM.
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Old 10-28-19, 02:11 PM
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Hi,

as Gary wrote here above me, this is really a first generation Piu of 88-90 (both cable holes on the top of TT.).Or really 1 / b, because on the first pieces in the first year the seat stay caps were engraved with COLNAGO.

This BB shell can be seen on pieces of '89, rarely. In later '89, the COLNAGO with large letter type BB shell was released. It is likely that yours has a transient type between the brev. colnago and the large letter type for a short period of time.
What's the serial number on the right rear dropout?

If you found red colour under black, the black paint is probably not original. At that time Colnágo used white primer coat. Red is or the original base coat or a new primer paint.

Last edited by Old Fireleg; 10-28-19 at 03:07 PM.
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Old 10-28-19, 04:22 PM
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You could always buy this Ciocc, swap the components, then sell the Ciocc to ME cheaply! Just kidding. Beautiful bike, repaint or not.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1980s-Ciocc...QAAOSwl-NdXZSb

Super Record RD has a mx 28 cog and 26 chain wrap if I recall correctly. It might be worth looking into Campy long cage from that era if you want a bit more of a mountain goat. Or use a 38/39 ring in the front with a 13-28 set-up in the back.
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Old 10-28-19, 04:49 PM
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Beautiful looking bike! I notice the C-Record cranks are missing the one-key release units. It's worth noting the C-Record crank arms cannot be removed with a standard crank puller as it's crank pulling threads are reverse. Getting a hold of some C-Record one-key release bolts would do the trick or possibly campy makes a special crank puller, not sure... I assume they will have to come off at some point for maintenance, etc
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Old 10-29-19, 06:18 PM
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Originally Posted by hazetguy
Nice! Where in WNC are you?
A bit of a hodgepodge (not meant in a bad way) of Campagnolo groups / eras, some early, some later. I'd think it should be all C-Record era stuff. Cranks are C-Record Record. Seatpost looks Victory/Triomphe. Headset looks like C-Record-era. Hubs are C-Record-era. Brake calipers, shifters, derailleurs are earlier than C-Record-era Record. What are the stem, handlebars, brake levers?
Not sure the SR rear derailleur that's on there is gonna handle a 32 tooth rear cog.
hazetguy, I am located in Maggie Valley! I ride with some Asheville guys sometimes. I'm a member of BRBC. Good point about the rear derailleur. I may have to use a 28 instead. I figured the bike might be a mish mash of stuff. I'm new to vintage Colnagos and I might just leave as is for now. Except for rebuilding the rear wheel - with a rim to match the Campy front rim.

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Old 10-29-19, 06:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Gary Fountain
It looks like a Master Piu to me too. I'd also guess at late 80's or even 1990. The curved front forks suggest an earlier frame but this is not always correct. I remember buying a new Conic SLX in the early 90's (brother to and exact same era as your Master Piu) and was offered my choice of curved or straight bladed front fork. Also, a black Colnago is a very rare beast. I don't think I ever saw a black Colnago from that era although I have seen photos of a black Colnago in company literature. To me, the decals don't look original although the bike does look great. I think you're onto something thinking the bike has had a repaint. I wonder if there is another colour oversprayed in the tubes or bottom bracket?

Some pretty good components over a spread of a couple of Campagnolo eras. If you decide to tweak the components into one particular era, I suggest something C-Record. You already have a good start with a number of appropriate components and you could sell off the Super Record rear derailleur, Nuovo Record front derailleur, Record gear levers and the Record brake callipers along with the unidentified brake levers. This would be a bit expensive to go down this path but C-Record is an appropriate era for your frame. Other than that, keeping it as is, is still fantastic.

It should prove to be a very nice riding bike.
Thanks Gary. I might just keep it as is, for now. Over time I may make it more correct. Really, I still get pretty excited looking at my new addition even with all it's mismatched components! What's really killing me is I haven't been able to ride it yet! Waiting for new tubulars to come and a rear wheel rebuild which I am doing myself.
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Old 10-29-19, 06:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Old Fireleg
Hi,

as Gary wrote here above me, this is really a first generation Piu of 88-90 (both cable holes on the top of TT.).Or really 1 / b, because on the first pieces in the first year the seat stay caps were engraved with COLNAGO.

This BB shell can be seen on pieces of '89, rarely. In later '89, the COLNAGO with large letter type BB shell was released. It is likely that yours has a transient type between the brev. colnago and the large letter type for a short period of time.
What's the serial number on the right rear dropout?

If you found red colour under black, the black paint is probably not original. At that time Colnágo used white primer coat. Red is or the original base coat or a new primer paint.
Thanks for your insights Old Fireleg! The BB cutout confused me as I'd seen lots of photos but none looked exactly like mine. I'll get that serial number and post it. Yeah, someday I may repaint it to the original red, but the black is pretty badass!
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Old 10-29-19, 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by jdawginsc
You could always buy this Ciocc, swap the components, then sell the Ciocc to ME cheaply! Just kidding. Beautiful bike, repaint or not.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1980s-Ciocc...QAAOSwl-NdXZSb

Super Record RD has a mx 28 cog and 26 chain wrap if I recall correctly. It might be worth looking into Campy long cage from that era if you want a bit more of a mountain goat. Or use a 38/39 ring in the front with a 13-28 set-up in the back.
Yes, I will have to go to a 28 unless I can find a long cage. I already have a 39 on the front. BTW, I spent much of my childhood in Summerville, SC!
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Old 10-29-19, 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by retrodude
Beautiful looking bike! I notice the C-Record cranks are missing the one-key release units. It's worth noting the C-Record crank arms cannot be removed with a standard crank puller as it's crank pulling threads are reverse. Getting a hold of some C-Record one-key release bolts would do the trick or possibly campy makes a special crank puller, not sure... I assume they will have to come off at some point for maintenance, etc
Thanks retrodude. As I said above I am a novice when it comes to vintage Italian bikes and I am unfamiliar with C-Record. I'll have to figure out what one-key release units actually are! And yes, someday the crank will have to come off so I better figure this out now!
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Old 10-29-19, 08:19 PM
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Very nice! I like the black even if it is a respray. I believe the max cog for that derailleur is around 28, you might have to grind up some of the steepest hills. Beautiful time to ride in WNC. Cheers!
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Old 10-30-19, 09:44 AM
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Originally Posted by hazetguy
Originally, the crank bolts were the "self extracting" type, where the outer "ring" of the bolt was left hand threaded (look at the threads in the crank arms) and you would use a 7mm (i think) hex wrench to remove the crank arms, rather than the typical type crank arm puller.
you can find the special Campagnolo left-hand threaded extractors on ebay. not cheap, but cheaper than destroying the crank arms.
Thanks hazetguy. I will look for them on ebay. Sorry I "liked" your post before I saw your "do not like" message!
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