1996 Colnago Tecnos decor build

shawnb

Senior Retro Guru
I won't say this colour scheme will be to everybody's taste but I can't deny the quality of the paint and finish !
I bought it a couple of months ago looking dodgy exchanging cash for it wrapped in a black bin bag outside a London train station :LOL:
It came looking like this

colnagodecor.jpg


I knew those forks would have to go !

Another ebay purchase (for a good price and honestly described as needing a re-chrome)

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Better but still pre re-chrome
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Fast forward a couple of weeks and it's coming together

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Frame: Colnago tecnos decor. Belgium via London

Fork: Original colnago. London.

Headset: chorus/record? London.
Stem: 3TT Pantographed. Spain.
Handlebar: nos 3TTT Ergo power TDF. London.
Bar Tape: nos '90's ambrosio/colnago. Italy.

Brake Levers/Brifters: '96 only 8 speed record ergopower. Vancover.
Brake Calipers: Last generation deltas. Paris.
Brake Pads: nos.
Brake Cables: generic

Shifters:
Front Derailleur: '96 8 speed record. Vancover.
Rear Derailleur: '96 8 speed record. Vancover.
Derailleur Cables: generic.
Cassette: nos record full Ti 8 speed. Hungary.
Chain: record 8/9 speed nos. UK.
Cranks: '96 Record 8 speed. New Mexico.
Chainrings: 53/39.
Bottom Bracket: Record. New Mexico.
Pedals: nos record delta style. Milan.

Rims: Shamal 12/16 HPW Titanium. Pennsylvania.
Hubs: HPW Titanium. Pennsylvania.
Hub Skewers: Record
Nipples: N/A.
Spokes: Straight pull flat blade type.
Tyres: Vittoria corse evo sc 23mm. UK.
Tubes: Continental 50g super sonic. UK.

Saddle: Colnago badged rolls. London.
Seatpost: '00 record carbon. UK.

Weight: 8.5kg / 18.7lbs.
 
I have a bit of history in my teens up until 1995 ish riding with local clubs and having relatively nice bikes, mostly good 531c raleighs with a bit of ultegra (or would it have been 600 back then?) but I always lusted after a colnago with shamals and deltas !! I could never afford all that back then with an expensive girlfriend and unreliable classic rallycar :LOL:
I recently split a really lovely near nos specialized s-works mtb on ebay and made shocking amount of profit (that never happens with me !) so set about loading the frame with some flash gear that would do it proud. I initially was going to stick to 1996 parts and keep it as it might have been built up then but as the hawk eyed will see some parts just caught my eye and couldn't be overlooked. My hunt has seen me buying parts from nearly all corners of the globe as I have listed above. The deltas really are mint and although 1994(?) at the latest and not year correct really look the part as do the shamals. Again these wheels aren't subtle but i've always loved them & work well. (in my eyes).
I can recommend London and Brighton plating in Shoreham, West Sussex, they charged me £42 to strip and re-chrome the forks to a brilliant finish, I did however take them away and do the polishing myself with every grade of wet and dry between 120 and 2500 - this meant I got my forks back much quicker (the longer timescale and backlog is with the factory polishing them for you) they would have cost £110 for them to do it although would have taken 4-5 weeks as opposed to 1 week.

I feel as the bike is being built up the colour scheme is getting not so in your face as the parts are detracting a little from it and seem to take the eye away from the frame alone (if that makes sense!).
 
The Shamals had the rarer alloy hub and (thanks to info on here) required a certain cassette. That certain specific cassette was the full Ti version of the record cassette. Off to ebay again.

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New cassette.

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Have changed the '96 record seatpost for a '00 carbon record for the mo as it has an extra 50mm in length and I like my frames slightly small and a high seat. I'm built with long legs and a shortish body so this has always worked for me.
 
mycolnago012.jpg


And here I am up to date, just got to wait for the postie to deliver the '96 record cranks and bb from New mexico and I can fit these too.

dnje.jpg
 
JAYZUS!
that is absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!
What a beautiful bike - your first ride on that will be sublime.
WOW! WOW! WOW!
:cool: :cool: :cool:
 
Thanks for the replies. I have weighed the bike and as it stands it's 7.5kgs / 16lbs. Of course there's still the crank(695grms), the pedals(430grms) the chain(300grms) and BB(250grms) to fit. I did consider getting all weight weenie on it :LOL: the brakes could save a little bit if I went for '96 record calipers, modern pedals would save a bit and I could probably save a great deal on the rims. I may even consider trying a period correct black/grey mavic ceramic wheelset but I'm not too flush at the moment :LOL:
I'm not sure how accurate the above weight is, I tried the standing on the bathroom scales then holding the bike as well trick ! the scales are good ones so I don't think it's miles off though.
 
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