Saronni Colnago?

[Canuk]

This is coming up for sale locally. I don't know a thing about the Saronni version. The seller is full of wind and spaffing all sorts of nonsense about provenance etc. Two things I'm concerned about: do the curtains match the carpet? The forks don't look quite right and there's no serial on them. And the seat post is likely stuck in it. Not a deal breaker, but it's a pita.

Any Colnago experts know about the Saronni version, there's little to sod all online.

 

[vtwinvince]

Named after good old Beppo, and a proprietary colour no less. Apparently these were manufactured by Tecnotrat, makers of De Bernardi frames. I have a weird Saronni-badged bike that came out of Germany that I use as a 'gravel bike'.

 

[Canuk]

Named after good old Beppo, and a proprietary colour no less. Apparently these were manufactured by Tecnotrat, makers of De Bernardi frames. I have a weird Saronni-badged bike that came out of Germany that I use as a 'gravel bike'.

Haha! That's great, the owner gave me some cock and buil story he had been to the Colnago factory and had the bike 'verified'... No evidence of course!

 

[vtwinvince]

Don't get me wrong, genuine Saronnis are quality pieces of kit, just not much info on them.

 

[jim haseltine]

Colnago made a number (possibly 6) models of frame that were badged Saronni for about 5 years before they handed off manufacture to Tecnotrat.
Top of the range was the 'Saronni' model which was basically a Super built with SP rather than SL tubing and had Saronni specific pantographing on the seat stay caps and fork crown and (usually) V-shape cutouts in the main lugs rather than the then common Colnago club cutouts. Colnago built frames had spool-shaped chainstay bridges and chrome was restricted to at most the dropout faces and the fork crown.
HOWEVER - as with all Colnago products, what came out of the factory (or subcontractors) rarely matched the catalogues and often didn't match previous examples of the same model, even ones produced earlier in the same day, so identification can be rather hit or miss.
I remember we received two Colnago Super frames in one delivery, both the same size and both with the same description on the delivery note.
When unpacked, one was brilliant red with chrome plate whilst the other was the same colour but had gilt plating and carried a Columbus Record tubing decal.

 

[Canuk]

Colnago made a number (possibly 6) models of frame that were badged Saronni for about 5 years before they handed off manufacture to Tecnotrat.
Top of the range was the 'Saronni' model which was basically a Super built with SP rather than SL tubing and had Saronni specific pantographing on the seat stay caps and fork crown and (usually) V-shape cutouts in the main lugs rather than the then common Colnago club cutouts. Colnago built frames had spool-shaped chainstay bridges and chrome was restricted to at most the dropout faces and the fork crown.
HOWEVER - as with all Colnago products, what came out of the factory (or subcontractors) rarely matched the catalogues and often didn't match previous examples of the same model, even ones produced earlier in the same day, so identification can be rather hit or miss.
I remember we received two Colnago Super frames in one delivery, both the same size and both with the same description on the delivery note.
When unpacked, one was brilliant red with chrome plate whilst the other was the same colour but had gilt plating and carried a Columbus Record tubing decal.

That's so true of Colnago, makes me wonder sometimes if they had Friday afternoon frames. I've had a few Supers, a Master and a C40 over the years. The only one that really 'got me' was their CT1 Titanium with the carbon rear triangle. Straight out of the box it was one of the most responsive and 'direct' frames I've ever owned. Ultimately it was too small, and went to the land of the rising sun

 

[jim haseltine]

Considering the number of Colnago products (Colnago/Colner/all the other sub-brands) out there and the number of sub-contractors that have been used over the years I'd not be surprised to find some rubbish (so to speak) frames, but I've never seen one or owned one, unlike some other Italian marques who seemed to be happy to distribute anything, even frames that wouldn't even be classed good enough to be 'seconds'. One Moser I owned was so far out of line that a file had been taken to the dropouts before chroming in order that the wheels could be fitted in track. I kept it about a month before my OCD got too much to stand.
The issue I had with Colnago was that back in the 1980s it was difficult to tell what models had actually been supplied against orders when they arrived. That and that the pre-despatch quality control sometimes fell short of the best. One day I unwrapped a blue Super to find that the BB thread protection plugs that were fitted before spraying were still in place, I've hung onto them for over 40 years 'cos you never know when such things might come in useful. They haven't yet.....

 

[vtwinvince]

Rabbit hole for sure. I have a Colner waiting for a rebuild, and the paint on that one looks terrible.

 

[pigman]

I had a Columbus SL chesini which was out of line. The wheel wouldn't sit centred in the dropouts, so I had to file the dropout a couple of mm and the brake bridge wasn't at right angles to the wheel, so the brake faced to one side. It wasn't as obvious as I describe, but I knew it was there. But, surprisingly, it tracked ok riding no hands. Consequently I was never in love with it so got rid after a season

 

[Canuk]

I think I'm gonna take a punt on it - it looks legit Colnago and I'm thinking maybe the frame was made by Colnago and the forks are outsourced? I know a few Italian brands who outsourced their forks to Sintesi. A fine manufacturer of forks to be sure, but kinda cheating