Colnago master / best road frameset ever ???

[Jamiedyer]

I sold my Master Olympic. A very nice frame but I certainly wouldn't think of them as the be all and end all. There is certainly a lot of hype these days, definitely a great riding frame but for the premium they attract, then they should be. There are many other frames out there that ride well. I think the Master is a brilliant frame but others don't so always try and find what works best for you rather than buying because others say they are the must have. Of all my frames I let go the Colnago isn't the one I regret, the nicest riding frame I have sold would have been my Concorde Squadra.

Jamie

 

[bikenrrd]

Re:

If you want to buy a nice frame quickly and cheaply then you could do a lot worse than a Merckx Supercorsa. Available for £300 to £400 on eBay or a bit less on LFGSS.
I have a '98 model in a very 90s purple colour scheme, kitted out with 9sp Ultegra of the same (roughly) period. It's the nicest steel frame I've ridden and I had a custom Bob Jackson (which I really didn't rate) at one point. It weighs 9.5kg. More modern parts and (especially) high end wheels would shave a kilo off that.

I'm only 63kg and ride a 55 so frame flex is not really an issue for me. This puts me off modern steel frames with their massive downtubes and chain stays. I think the builders are moving too far away from what makes a steel frame desirable and are just making aluminium or carbon inspired frames which have the ride characteristics of oversized aluminium - stiff, harsh - but with a weight penalty.

I also have a modern Canyon carbon fibre frame with Campag Chorus and tubeless tyres. Very modern, very light, stiff yet comfortable and great handling. It's different to the Merckx, rather than being nicer or not as nice. I ride both equally, depending on what mood I'm in.

I have a significant birthday next year and my present to myself is likely to be a Tommasini Tecno in slightly oversized Nemo tubing, or another Genius / Nemo frameset with modern parts.

 

[kermisking]

Re: Colnago master/best road frameset ever ???

I have owned a 1990s Colnago master and still own a early 1980s Super. Both bikes rode very nice and I think that says something about the consistency of quality of the brand. The only bad thing I have heard first hand from a Colnago owner is the finish and chrome wasn't very durable. During 1994/5 I lived in the Netherlands road racing there and many times in Belgium. The Colnago super/ master seemed to be standard equipment for Belgian road men . A rumour that went round was if the Belgians wanted a new frame or the insurance money for their old frame they got a local farmer to run it over with a tractor!. Having worked in production engineering for 30 plus years, one thing I have learnt is you get a lot of practice at getting things right first time so I tend not to knock production frames. My favourite ride is a Tommasini Prestige circa 1986.

 

[jalfk]

Update: i got a master PIU with precisa forks, fitted it up with new shimano 105 (but with a tiagra crankset - im not rich), fulcrum wheels, a quill stem adapter and ritchey classic high polish silver hardware and sele italia seat and tape. I don't like the bottle cages and will get silver ones of some kind.

Historical accuracy and connoisseur brownie points awarded to me: none

The frame and fork on ebay cost 395€ including p&p from spain... pretty good deal right? The paint has a lot of chips but that doesn't bother me that much as I like a slightly worn look to my things.

However it rides frikin nice! I think better than my carbon ROSE X-LITE which is a couple of kg lighter. But I only rode one 100k so far and will need to spend more time with it and figure out what I want before selling my carbon bike ha ha.... probably will keep both.

 

[pigman]

Re:

Nice frame, you done well.
Quill stem would be a better finish, but if you've got 31.8mm bars you can't have one.
What's the seat pin? It looks as tho it loads of layback and I like all-day layback with a seatpin

 

[jalfk]

Re: Re:

Nice frame, you done well.
Quill stem would be a better finish, but if you've got 31.8mm bars you can't have one.
What's the seat pin? It looks as tho it loads of layback and I like all-day layback with a seatpin

thanks. I wanted specifically ritchey classic bars and stem on this one so that was a conscious decision to go with 31.8, despite it being an unpopular one with vintage enthusiasts. The seat post is a cheap aluminium one:

http://www.goldsprintshop.com/Kalloy-standard-seatpost

I wanted to buy the ritchey classic seat post but it is very expensive and basically identical to this one.

I needed to saw off the (large amount of) excess to fit it in the master frame.