crank_addict

Stumbled upon this link, nothing to confirm the story but found it interesting.
Courtesy of CycleEXIF

Dancelli Lo-Pro | Cycle EXIF

The story of the Italian racing bicycle is convoluted and incestuous, with enough twists and turns to make the Stelvio Pass look like a Roman road in comparison. Michele Dancelli is an Italian racer who is at the center of a fascinating chapter: the origin of Colnago’s ‘Ace of Clubs’ logo.

There are numerous versions of the story, but each mention Dancelli and his 1970 Milan—San Remo victory aboard a Colnago. The win broke a drought for Italy and Ernesto was roused to immortalize the occasion by establishing a new logo for his business.

However, whether he was inspired by the springtime flowers of San Remo, the Dancelli family crest (which bears a clover), or the Gazzetta dello Sport reporter Bruno Raschi and his colorful dissertation of the event, is another discussion.

Logos and brands aside, the strength of these marques is the name of the man behind them. Dancelli frames may be lesser-known, but they are equally as fascinating as a Colnago, if not more.




(Also, dig the Gipiemme Crono parts. By chance if anyone has junk or parts of these pedals, I need a toe clip cage and right side axle shaft cover.)

Sir_Name 

I remember finding a similar account a few years back while doing a bit of research on the brand, though I didn't find that site. Plenty to look at on the Dancelli, the seatstay construction is interesting (in a good way).

rccardr 

Ah, yes. I owned a Dancelli for a while couple of years ago, in Columbus Max. Great looking, pink, nice rider.

KonAaron Snake 

I always thought it was because Ernesto was a hawkwind fan embittered about the success of lemmy's ace of spades. He repped the club as opposition.

Spaghetti Legs 

I read somewhere that it was chosen because it was an easy logo to make. 3 circles and a triangle.

CliffordK

Hmmm, that can only be part of the story.

I have one of the circle of holes Colnago Super bikes (1968 or 1969?).

Mine came with clover stencils (no decals, as far as I can tell). But, I didn't buy it until 1982, and I don't have the history of the bike before I purchased it, or if I was told, I don't remember. So, there is some question whether it might have had a factory repaint. Bike purchased used in Parma, Italy.

Anyway, while it had the circle of holes on the bottom bracket, it also has clovers on the main lugs.

So, while Colnago may have chosen to redesign their stencils and decals after 1970, the clover on the lugs would have pre-dated that redesign.

repechage

I too have one of the bikes prior to the Club cutout in the bottom bracket, the "ring of holes" with a center hole of the same size. Most likely from '68-'69… but it does have in each lug a club like cutout.
The shape of the down tube lug club is different than say a '72 and onward as the lug set is different, less surface area to work with. With this example and others I have seen, there must be more to the story than just the Milan-San Remo victory. The graphics package was soon to change and the club featured more prominently but they were used before.