cboy1980

Hi guys,



First of all, I ended up on this forum after long searching the net about my bike... mostly I ended up on a thread of this forum so… here I am.

Actually to be honest, I am not a big fan of road cycling… saying that knowing that I live in Flanders, Belgium, I should be ashamed



But let's say something came on my way: A Colnago vintage bike made by 'HENY' in Belgium.

My guess it is build upon request for the customer who bought it that time, I don't have too much info but I try to throw in what I found;



- Paintjob; custom (carbon lookalike), all Colnago decals where gone and replaced by the shopname's decals --- which I already removed

- wheels; Weinmann 'made in Belgium)

- Frame; Colnago --- 'Super 1980' (thx Gary)

- Seat post; Colnago --- nuovo record?

- Saddle; Concor --- Supercorsa (thx Gary, will add pic to gallery)

- Steer; Cinelli --- 66-42 / campione del mondo

- Stem; Colnago - 3ttt

- group; Campagnolo --- I guess full 'nuovo record' group

- Chain ring; Colnago -- Pantograph 'Colnago Ernesto' 52T

- Bottom Bracket cutout; clover shape / stamped 'H 36'

- Brake handles; Shimano - Exage motion

- Brakes : Campagnolo --- Model??

- Headset: Hattaswan -- not the NJS version

- Crankset: Campagnolo 42T
- Cranks: STRADA 170



That's about it what I have with my knowledge of it the setup in big terms.

Pictures: --- seems I can't post them as I don't have 10 posts yet

cboy1980

@hazetguy? Is that a direct link to pics anyone can see?

I tried to put them into the post but was not allowed to….

machinist42

machinist42

Yes.

cboy1980

Ok, Thanks to @machinist42 & @hazetguy..
Following their link to find the pictures.
I will try when possible to upload pics in the post itself.

machinist42

You're welcome, and welcome to the Forums.

Try using this format to link your pictures:

[img]largephotoaddresshere[/img]

It may allow you to post photos to a thread without having ten posts. No guarantee.

cboy1980

@machinist42..

Yip, blocked by the 10 posts rule 😊

jeirvine 

That's quite something. Looks like your guess may be correct, though I'm sure there are some Colnago experts who can narrow down the year more correctly. The faux-carbon paint coupled with the reflectors on the brake bolts - a head-scratcher for sure.

Gary Fountain

Coming from Belgum, you probably have road cycling imbedded into your DNA - haha.

A nice bike to find.

I think 'your' frame is probably a Colnago Super from 1982/3. The saddle looks like a Concor Supercorsa (my absolute favourite saddle). The seatpost is a Campagnolo Nuovo Record that has had the flutes milled into the post as well as a pantographed Colnago logo. The brake callipers are hard to see but my guess would be Campagnolo Record. The crank spider is common for both Campagnolo Nuovo Record and Super Record but the chainrings are Super Record. The cranks are a part of a Colnago Pantographica set of which can be of various varieties due to who does the pantographing but it's basically made up of everything that can be pantographed is pantographed. 'Strada' is Campagnolo's road version of their crank arms - 'Pista' it the track version. It's hard for me to see the Cinelli handlebar to give an opinion as to which model but it is probably stamped on the bar itself. Pedals are more than likely Campagnolo Superleggara (steel spindle).

The groupset is basically Campagnolo Nuovo Record except the chainrings and probably the headset. The original bottom bracket probably was Campagnolo Record but it looks to me like it may have been changed at some time???

Best wished with your perhaps new Colnago and new interest into road cycling.

cboy1980

@Gary Fountain.

Thx for your reply, the reason I guessed it was 80is because of the small tube between the chain stays is still a tube. According to some timeline tables from 81 the chain stay bridge had more like a spool shape + colnago stamped on the sides of chain stay..
But again not an expert, just what I found on the internet from my own research.

I will try to take some more pictures of the clean bike tonight.
The pics I made in album is when I just got the bike (very dirty)

Anyone has an idea about the number 'H36' on the bottom bracket? -- as I think it has not been replaced, but could be wrong also.

cboy1980

Hi,

I added a new album with better pics from clean bike.
I still can't share pics or links.

Sorry

CliffordK

Interesting bike.

Nice decal work. Rust is visible under the decals in a few spots. And, I think a seam along the bottom of the downtube. Probably other tubes too.

Seatpost is Campagnolo (marked near the top front). I presume it is a Nuovo Record that has been machined. One can tell by the seat rail mounts and bolts on top (not visible in the photos).

I presume the frame is from the mid 70's.

By the mid to late 80's, several brands including Colnago were experimenting with aluminum and steel lugged carbon frames.

For example, Giant CADEX



And, the Colnago made the "Carbitubo"



Note, the lugs with lugged carbon don't have the sharp points and other details that the steel bikes had.

That is the reason for the aluminum-like paint on yours, and in many places masking straight across the tips of the lugs, rather than following contours.

CliffordK

During this era, all the pantograph Colnago were over another brand, generally Campagnolo.

Campagnolo cranksets were marked "Strada", and were Record/Nuovo Record/Super Record. With the Super Record having less aluminum on the sprockets.

Your inner chainring may well be Super Record, although it could be machined Nuovo Record. The outer one is probably machined Nuovo Record.

Gary Fountain

I'd like to change my build date estimation to 1980 as I've had a closer look at the frame photos. All indications that date the frame seem to point to 1980. As for the stamping under the Bottom Bracket - it was a common belief that the stampings were undecipherable but now (I think) some guys can interpret these marks.

Why 1980:
- conical seat stay caps
- straight seat stays
- recessed brake bolt heads
- straight rear fork bridge

cboy1980

Also were the first things which had me on that age, just wanted a more expert view on it.
Whatt makes it more nice that it is actually from 1980, which happens to be my birth year
@CliffordK; Yeah I noiced also that the builder did try to copy the carbon look as good as possible with the silver parts (although some do follow contours and the others are just straigt taped)

Any ideas on the gear shifting levers? with the cutouts?


Now I would like to add some Colnago decals on it, but would be nice to have some tips on which ones are typical for the 1980 bike.
I prefer just to have the white letering / if possible with a silver edge, ...Which i haven't found yet

Any estimation on price? Just out of interest, not planning to sell it.

Gary Fountain

It's great to own a bike from your birth year - so far I haven't managed that.

The cutouts in the Campagnolo gear levers were often done to accompany the pantographing and are desirable to this style of embelishment of the bike.

As for the decals - I get mine from "Cyclemondo" which are of great quality for reproductions and are available through ebay or by searching for 'Cyclemondo" on the internet. They are made in Australia and are posted worldwide. You will find many guy's on this forum using Cyclemondo. The owner of Cyclemondo has an extensive fleet of Colnago's which you can see on the website and there is a range of Colnago decal sets to choose from. I suggest you do a search of 1980 Colnago images to see what decals could have been used during that year and see if Cyclemondo has that decal set for sale.

Just out of interest, I would expect your Colnago would be worth in the region of $1500 - give or take. The pantographing may improve that estimate. As with all things, if you want it you can expect to pay a little extra for it. As you say, you don't want to sell it and, in my opinion, you should hang on to it as it's a real classic that others would really desire.

P.S. the first thing I would change on this bike would be the brake levers. I would look for a Campagnolo Nuovo Record pair or, my second option would be a pair of Campy Super Record brake levers.

cboy1980

Well I guess than I am happy to have received the bike... Iguess It was my lucky day.... My brothere works for a company who does clean out houses (waste container rentals...) He just found the bike and brought it in.... SO yes it was FREE
For the decals I will have a look on the website you mentioned / thx!
the brake levers I was also thinking about it altough I love the fact they have the cables running along the steering and not jump out on the top ...

--> extra question, any ideas on good tires? the tubes are still working fine (inflated them and no problems so far) but the tires did have their est time, will replace the tubes also.
tires for just all day use, short trips and sometimes longer trips. Still not really the road guy who goes for 80-150km on the bike...

Gary Fountain

It's hard to see in the photos but make sure your tires aren't glued to the rims as you could have older style (but fantastic) tubular tires???

Now.....If you don't have tubular tires and already have 700c clincher rims and tires just go to the local bikeshop and ask for assistance to choose your tires and tubes to suit your needs. You will like the low rolling resistance of tires and tubes that will take a higher pressure. The harder the inflated tire the easier it will roll along the road. They will cost a little more so it's good to ask for the bikeshop's best buy.

For your information: Upgrading your wheels is the best way of improving your bike.

jeirvine 

This was definitely conventional wisdom back when this bike was made. Recently, most agree that wider, more supple tires, at lower pressure will have at least as good rolling resistance and a much more comfortable ride. You should be able to fit ~28mm tires on a 1980 bike.

And I'm guessing those are clinchers:

cboy1980

Added some extra pictures to the album

https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/14841190
@jeirvine: what do you mean by clinchers? Is it tubeless? The pic you commented on is front wheel which I think might be tubeless
The back wheel is probably a tire... Michelin Select (see album).
@CliffordK : more pics of seat post in the album @Gary Fountain: Saddle is supercorsa as you thought also added picture to the album.

Still nothing on the number on the bottom bracket...

In case of the brake levers... Would like to change them to campagnolo ones... But I like the aero look, not that the cables jump out on top, so I guess there are no aero versions of nuovo /super record... For the search I did at this point.

CliffordK

Thanks for the additional photos.

I don't remember ever seeing front and rear reflectors mounted to the center pivot bolt of Campagnolo brake calipers.

Right, early Nuovo/Super record brakes were not aero.

Campagnolo Chorus had aero levers from the mid 80's. There may have been another one too.

VeloBase.com - Component: Campagnolo Chorus

I think that Campagnolo C-Record also made Aero/Non-Aero combo levers by the 80's.

VeloBase.com - Component: Campagnolo C-Record
VeloBase.com - Component: Campagnolo Corsa Record

As far as your seatpost. As I had suspected. It is a Nuovo Record type post. It should have been a simple round post, but aftermarket flutes were machined in, probably by Colnago.

Officially Campagnolo put flutes in the Super Record posts, but had tapered ends to the flutes.

cboy1980

For C-record, I did find aero on those, but the other ones I did not know about, thank you. Will see if I like the bicycle and riding enough to eventually change them.
--> First new tires / decals.
----> Next maybe the saddle (new leather)
- any tips on removing the supercorsa saddle and maybe how to replace the leather? -

For the decals... I have 2 options in mind.
A) the white panels _ black logo
B) just white logo decals

Will add photoshopped picture later

CliffordK

Small wrenches snag the bolts on top of the seatpost.

Saddles with cutouts are much easier to deal with using a ratchet wrench.

I've never recovered a saddle, and am happy enough with slowly upgrading over the years.

SJX426 

Nice find for free! I would question the $1500 estimate given the repaint. These models typically had full chrome forks and some on the rear, either on the chain stays/ drop out and maybe the seat stay. Often the chrome was painted over.

Looks like you have clinchers. The oil clips on the hubs look foreign to me, not Campagnolo. The stem is a 1A model.

this is my 1983 Superissimo. The date comes from the RD which I 90% sure is original. note the difference in the fork crown. Superissimo model had chrome on the head tube but is nearly identical to the Super. In some cases Super did not have a chain stay bridge IIRC. If you go to my flickr account. You will find hundreds of pics of this bike including the details of the Super Record head set. You can tell the difference by the fact that the SR HS has aluminum race on the bottom. Record had steel and is has "thicker" crown race.

the bike pictures has been brought back to era correct parts with exception of the chain and freewheel. Well some would argue that the stem and HB should be 3ttt to be accurate to a factory build.

1983 Colnago Superissimo by Patrick Boulden, on Flickr

cboy1980

I was already wondering how the hell they had tighten those bolts on top ... will be a hassle, but will manage

Well I like to restore stuff then just replace them otherwise I would not have a 1980's super ... right?