since6

It must be flu season, March Madness, again way to big for me, but someone on this forum over 6'2" should give this a look. Currently $25.00 at Goodwill. Look at those lovely chromed lugs and looks like first generation Dura Ace gruppo. Makes me crazy.

Who would give a Della Santa away? Who would give a Colnago away?

Maybe it's best we don't know.

Lemond1985

Sounds more like Della Santa Claus. If someone passed away, there could be other bikes in the same store donated by the same guy.

since6

In this case different stores, Della Santa Hillsboro Oregon, Colnago Californa with pretty reasonable shipping.

merziac

A Nago with a dork disc, will wonders never cease?

Narhay

I need a link so I can check it impulsively and then not bid

CroManganMan

TenGrainBread 

That's not a 1st gen Dura Ace group. More like late 80s 7400.

Wow, that is a STEEP-angled bike. Steering must require constant attention.

The Kryptonite lock dangling from the handlebar is a nice touch XD

dddd

That bike looks to have not been ridden in decades, so the owner may very well have passed away, or has others making life decisions for them.

The brake pad stud's positioning suggests that perhaps some 27" wheels have been fitted. Freewheel looks like 30 or 32t.

Colnagos often have relatively short top tubes, so with a longer stem the weight distribution and handling characteristics should be extremely favorable.

Jon T

Ooh, Orange County Goodwill is right down the street and around the corner from where I work. I could save the shipping and handling charges. I just might have to check it out. That 'nago would look sweet sitting next to my '84 PH10.
Jon

Lemond1985

You can buy suits that originally cost $800-1000 at thrift stores for like $15. Maybe at some point vintage bikes will be that cheap, as almost no one in my area rides bikes (or wears suits) these days except homeless people.

DiabloScott

On what appears to be a sew-up wheel, too.

merziac

Just keeps getting better and better.

Giacomo 1 

That geometry doesn't look right me. Way to steep to my eyes. Bent fork or headtube maybe, but it doesn't look like Colnago geometry. Does the panto on the seat stay caps actually say Colnago? I can't zoom in enough to see it. And a dork disc? That's a first on a Colnago!

dddd

It's hard to judge geometry very accurately from a photo on a computer screen, but a 1980's Colnago typically has steep frame angles and a relatively short top tube. Larger frame sizes would have a progressively slacker seattube angle, but the headtube angle would only get steeper on larger frame sizes.
Below is a photo of a 1974 Peugeot with parallel 76-degree frame angles, possibly a degree steeper than that Colnago!
Any frame damage would be hard to see, but isn't really indicated by those photos imo.

The wheels aren't tubulars, looks exactly like a (heavy) stock pair of 27" wheels taken from a mid-range Japanese sport-touring bike.

CroManganMan

What does a parallel 76 degree frame ride like? Sounds like trying to ride a cat, it's just going to scamper all over the place. What was in the Gauloises back then?

dddd

It can vary tremendously, depending on how the bike+rider distributes weight between the front and rear wheels.

As shown (fitted to a light rider of relatively long inseam length), that PX10LE is good for 50mph descents. That's in the drops of course, and when sitting up to take a drink it seems a bit light on self-centering force.

The Peugeot team riders who first rode this geometry likely were positioned so as to place a good enough percentage of weight over the front wheel, so the handling was likely perfect for them. Set up though as a touring upright, the handling would likely be overly nervous as the speed increased.
Having the rider's mass more forward of the bb balances out higher pedaling forces, so if the bike is set up (fitted) for the more-intense pedaling efforts of a pro racer (or for shorter, faster rides), a steep-angled bike can actually be appropriately stable in use.

I've ridden the same frame model in smaller size and having the same stem length. The handling was much twitchier the smaller one, apparently because my body positioning moved rearward due to it's shorter toptube (so with reduced wheelbase AND a more-rearward weight distribution).

Where there is much adjustment for rear axle positioning, moving the axle rearward can also effect a very noticeable increase in stability, something that I messed with while sorting out my '79 Fuji Profesional (having 74STx75HT).

VintageDude

You people are virtually damaging my new Colnago before I even win the auction! I'm local to the OC Goodwill and figured I bid on it. Take a gander at the chrome lugs - Colnago Master, perhaps? Dunno, but it would be a nice addition to my collection if it turns out to be legit. I don't see fork crash evidence - that tire clearance to the downtube looks just right to me. The decals look really good as well. If I win the auction, I'll post more pics and details. If I lose, then I was at Eroica CA at the swap meet when the auction was closing and simply couldn't bid fast enough. Oh well.

johnnyace 

I ended up winning the Della Santa for $276. Going to pick it up on Saturday. I can tell you, I will be paying more attention to shopgoodwill.com from now on!

CliffordK

Hard to say.

A lot of people have no idea of a bike value, and wouldn't differentiate between a Schwinn Varsity and a Colnago Master. In fact, the Varsity might have more chrome.

We're likely in an era of Classic & Vintage where people bought the vintage bikes new 30 years ago, then for one reason or another got tired of them and hung the bikes in the back of the garage. Now... as the original owner passes on, the wives or kids just want to get rid of the stuff.

Not a lot of places will sell bikes on consignment. And, it may well be easier to give them away than to try to sell them.

One can take "Tax Deductions" from donating to Goodwill.

That one is probably worth just slightly less than this one. Colnago, $110,000

A donation may well be much better than trying to sell.

CliffordK

Definately NOT a Colnago Master. Tubes look round to me.

Looks "Legit" to me. I can't quite make out the logo on the seat stays/chain stays, but I'm pretty sure it is "Colnago".

Probably dating from mid to late 70's, with flat fork crown, one set of water bottle bosses, mid length campy (Colnago) horizontal dropouts, & white logo decals.

I'm guessing it is a "Superissimo"

The bike is pretty tall. 62cm?

The_Joe

I love and hate that darned Goodwill site. So many good deals can be had but mostly pick up only. I don't live anywhere near any of those places. Yes, I do know about the facilitator thread. Sometimes I'd rather go see things in person because you can't count on the employees to know anything about the products. Anyway, this problem has likely saved me thousands of dollars .

since6

You see strange things on Goodwill, granted these are now 19 years old, but in 2000 these Revel Ultima Studio speakers sold for nearly $11,000.00 and were, and still are, some of the best speakers every made. They went for less than $2,000.00 in tested mint working condition.
It's like Joni Mitchell said "That you don't know what you've got till it's gone".
But I'm not going to wait, as grand sons and grand daughters grow up they're going to get first dibs on the vintage collection of bikes. The last one to go, my Stevenson will go to my bike riding daughter.
What do you take with you when you leave, love, memories, what better memory than that day you give a bike away and see the life dance in their eyes.

treebound 

since6

Treebound we only get so many tugs and it is what makes a person or a thing matter, regret that's the hard thing, so I share this:

“Life is trouble,” Zorba continued. “Death, no. To live – do you know what that means? To undo your belt and look for trouble!” I still said nothing. I knew Zorba was right, I knew it, but I did not dare. My life had got on the wrong track, and my contact with men had become now a mere soliloquy. I had fallen so low that, if I had had to choose between falling in love with a woman and reading a book about love, I should have chosen the book. “Don’t calculate, boss,” Zorba continued. “Leave your figures alone, smash the blasted scales, shut up your grocer’s shop, I tell you. Now’s the time you’re going to save or to lose your soul.”

Zorba the Greek

And if you risked and were wrong, it is the best risk of all, you risked to know yourself, and that long after the mistake bike is gone, will still be yours.

treebound