My Late 1970s Colnago Super Road Bike

I worked my way through high school and college as a bicycle mechanic at the "The Cycle Scene" bike shop down the street from our house starting in the late 1970s. I was a bike nerd back then and spent most of the money I earned on bike parts. During that time I built my dream bike:

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I can't remember when I bought the frame, it was 77 or 78. The bike has had a number of mods over it's lifetime. I built several sets of wheels around the small flange Campy Nuovo hubs. I rode sewups/tubulars for a while. I had the current wheels built by Performance bikes in the 1990s and they probably have less than 100 miles on them. I had lost the bike bug by then...

Here is the current list parts list for any old school road bike fans out there:

  • 63 cm Black Colnago Super frameset
  • Campagnolo Nuovo Headset
  • Cinelli Record Stem
  • Cinelli Giro D'Italia bars
  • Hand stitched leather bar wraps
  • Galli Ti (titanium bolt) short reach brakes with Mathauser brake pads
  • Colnago "panto" engraved Campagnolo Nuovo brake levers
  • Campagnolo Nuovo shifters and Super Record front deraileur
  • Colnago engraved Campagnolo Super Record crankset with 46/42 chainrings.
  • O.M.A.S. sealed bearing bottom bracket with titanium spindle.
  • Weyless sealed bearing pedals with Colnago decalled alloy toe clips, Binda straps
  • Campagnolo Super Record rear deraileur with red anodyzed aluminum Bullseye sealed bearing pulleys
  • Colnago engraved Campagnolo Nuovo(?) seat post
  • Avocet saddle (I've probably had a dozen saddles on this bike over the years)
  • Performance dual seat mount bottle cages
  • Sedis chain (had a nicer chain at one point)
  • Shimano alloy freewheel (many Italian freewheels over the years)
  • Wheels are Campagnolo Nuovo small flange with chrome butted DT spokes, black anodized aluminum nipples, Mavic MA40 700c hard anodized (clincher) rims with 1" Performance tires.
  • Yellow frame fit Silca pump.
  • Yellow teflon lined cable housings.
  • Mount for Cateye computer with cadence and rear wheel speedometer.

It needs a complete overhaul it hasn't had any maintenance in 15+ years.

I took it for a quick spin around the block probably five years ago and I still love how stiff it is for a large steel tube frame. Each push of the pedals and the bike lept foward. Thinking about it almost makes me want to do the overhaul and ride it again...

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