Colnago Super - NOS...ish

A few pics of my Colnago Super, that I built up many moons ago (2000 at the latest). I was living at my mam's at the time and, seeing that I built it to look at rather than ride, I ended up leaving it in the attic rather than take it with me when I moved house.

I dug it out today and, much to my surprise, it seems to have stood the rigours of time very well. The frame and forks came, I think, off one of Ray Etherton's old photocopied lists - everything else was sourced pre-internet...some swaps, some from Dave Marsh and some from parts fairs.

It's a mixture of C or Super Record - the exception being an Ofmega headset as I couldn't find a NOS Campag one at the time for love nor money and the hubs, which I think were Ritchey built onto L'Arc En Ciel. The toe clips are Ale titanium and, naturally, the Campag bottle went missing. The rear mech and pedals came off a bike that a pal at work gave me - the mech had two scuffs to the black enamel, which I had 'invisibly mended' by another pal who fixes stone chips and scratches to cars. The rest is all pretty much as new - the brakes were out of a dealer list, where they had been kept as spares...sadly the dome nuts weren't available and I made do with nylocks.

And, near neighbour (at the time) Tim Gould did the spanner work and fettling hence the neat bar tape and overall top drawer attention to detail.

Very nice indeed.

You will probably be able to find the correct nuts for the calipers easier now than when you built the bike

Very nice indeed. Needs to be ridden now of course - is that your plan?

Do you mean THE Tim Gould, of Peugeot MTB fame?

I can't see me riding it to be honest and it will probably end up on eBay once I've gotten bored of dusting it. I just wanted to build up a nice frame for the fun of it and I'd be too worried about scuffs and chain suck.

And yes, that Tim Gould. He was at Fred Salmons for a time, mending bikes - fantastic mechanic (as are his brothers) and massive breadth of knowledge on bikes and bike parts. And one of the funniest people you could wish to meet, to boot.

Well you know, you've got a buyer sitting right here in front of my computer.

Is that a portacantena I spy, along with the fly on the seat tube.

Great Super, or should I say super, Super?

Nicely done!

I'd change the handlebar tape & saddle so that they are the same colour as that would set this nice machine well & good