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Thursday, January 14, 2010

More Colnago: The Frankenago

We have gotten our corporate heads together and have determined that we need a West Coast correspondent. I cannot reveal the candidates name right now, until all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed; lawyers and contract things, you know. There are just a couple of money issues that need to be ironed out. He did submit some photos to show his good faith.

(Note: Comments have been posted that may indicate this is a pure Colnago, which would make it quite cool. And indicate that I am maintaining my track record of "wrong, mostly".)
(Further investigation indicates that this is in fact a fake, probably a German made Stier. "correct, once in a while".)
As you know, I have been having some guilt pangs about what I have done to the old Colnago. While I am abusing my machine a little, my modifications pale compared to this. I really don't think it's a Colnago at all; decals maybe... the fork is right, less the brake braze-ons. The rest of it....well, none of you care, but it ain't right, man. It just ain't right! It was created by some evil genius doctor in a dark, creepy barn on a hill and welded together by the harnessed power of lightning. If Ernesto were dead he would be rolling in his grave. If he sees it, it will kill him.
But it does have big fat knobby tires! And as our man in the West says, the white color would blend well with the snow.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

that thing is high end, though. DA 7700 shifters, looks like Chorus or Croce crank from what I can see, Paul brakes, that thing ain't cheap and if it gets dirty I'd have to see proof of that. . .

I'll try to send you a photo of mine tomorrow, it's just a plain ol cafe commuter . . . it never snows here anyway.

mw

Gunnar Berg said...

Oh yeah, mine's high end components too, but it's still a bastard. Wish mine were a cafe commuter right now, so I could breath easier.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a nice old 'Nago 'cross bike to me. Just like Danielle Pontoni used to ride back when all self-respecting eurocross bikes were Frankens.

Best,

Rick Moffat

Gunnar Berg said...

Rick,
Maybe. There are other anomalies in other pictures. Maybe I just don't know what I'm looking at. All I know FOR SURE is that it is a Colnago (or Colnagoesque)that has big lugged tires.

You play hockey?

Anonymous said...

I love it!
My perfect winter bike (in my dreamworld) has cantis, brazeons for racks and fenders, traditionally thin steel tubing and horizontal drops so that I could use internal hub gearing in the winter.

Older roadies usually have most of that EXCEPT the cantis, so fenders and big knobby tires tend to be a tight fit and accumulate the winter slush....but that colnago...darn ...just about perfect.

Allan

Gunnar Berg said...

Allan,
I'm pulling something together that may fit your desires. Maybe in a week:
1. Nitto large rear rack
2. Nitto M-12 front rack.
3. Lightweight frame. Aluminum to resist corrosion, w/vertical dropouts. Sorry, but it does make that fender/tire removal thing neater.)
4. Mafac style cantis
5. Knobby tires
6. Wide, dull aluminum fenders.
7. LED lights fore and aft.
8. Anything else you want? Better hurry.

Stay tuned.

Anonymous said...

looking forward to it! I love ogling your builds.

I agree that horizontal drops aren't ideal with fenders, but I have two good reasons for them in the winter:
1: internal hub gears...no more frozen derailleur!

2: fender clearances should be large anyway (to make room for slush buildup, so there should be enough room to slide a wheel in and out.

An elegant solution is an eccentric bottom bracket, but cheap old frames don't have 'em.

Either way, I'm looking forward to see your next build.

bye for now,
Allan