Post images of beauty (quote pics sparingly) - see Mod warnings in OP

Raam · 11-11-2013 08:47PM

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Hah! I thought it said FFUD on them and couldn't figure it out!

It's like I don't even know you.

Lusk_Doyle · 11-11-2013 08:49PM

Raam wrote: »

It's like I don't even know you.

And you are..?

Quigs Snr · 11-11-2013 08:57PM

Restored my 1983 Colnago Master. Full respray and then a shedload of simichrome polish and several hours with the steel wool. Worth the worn out fingertips and knuckles to see an old classic back in roadworthy condition. (Please ignore the pedals they are there to let me try it out, buffing up the original "toe baskets" as Sean Kelly calls them at the moment). Hopefully this gets to a few vintage sportif's next year.

Plastik · 11-11-2013 08:57PM

Not mine, someone else's creation! Love it though.

Dermot Illogical · 11-11-2013 09:07PM

That's fuppin' luvly! Did you spray it yourself?

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Lusk_Doyle · 11-11-2013 10:36PM

Don't all hate me for this but I really, really don't get the crazy attraction to the old style bicycles. Give me modern models any day over the old stuff.

Darkglasses · 11-11-2013 10:45PM

Thought Gilbert's world championship bike was gorgeous.

killalanerr · 11-11-2013 10:49PM

an old steel frame is a thing of beauty made by skilled hands by men in brown overalls .these men were artist each make was so different not like the hu fooo ones that all came out of the same press we get to day

Darkglasses · 11-11-2013 10:52PM

In my eyes, old steel bikes all look much more similar to each other than current carbon ones. All a matter of opinion.

Brian? · 11-11-2013 11:00PM

Darkglasses wrote: »

Thought Gilbert's world championship bike was gorgeous.

The tiny triangle really puts me off BMC bikes, it jars the eye.

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Don't all hate me for this but I really, really don't get the crazy attraction to the old style bicycles. Give me modern models any day over the old stuff.

Darkglasses wrote: »

In my eyes, old steel bikes all look much more similar to each other than current carbon ones. All a matter of opinion.

I completely agree. All the classic steel bikes have the exact same geometry, you could put a Colnago decal on any aul bike and there's no way you could tell the difference.

Modern carbon every time for me.

Lumen · 11-11-2013 11:15PM

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Don't all hate me for this but I really, really don't get the crazy attraction to the old style bicycles.

It's about things that come from a time when everything was better.

Think Ursula Andress vs Cheryl Cole.

Quigs Snr · 12-11-2013 12:16AM

Darkglasses wrote: »

In my eyes, old steel bikes all look much more similar to each other than current carbon ones. All a matter of opinion.

I would tend to agree. Hence I have just the one sitting right next to (amongst others) a Cervelo S2, S5, R3SL, P4 and Specialized Shiv and I wouldn't swap any of them for the Colnago if you put a gun to my head and made me choose. Although the purists will tell you its less about the looks with old steel and more about the feel.

The attraction for me with the old Colnago is both as a leisure machine for a few vintage sportif's if I want to take a break from racing. But mostly its just nostalgia. For those of us of a certain age, this (or similar) was the superbike of its day. My first cheapo racer in the mid 80s was a nasty eastern european copy of this in the saronni red colour scheme, when I outgrew that one my second was an arguably even nastier one which was obviously a UK supermarket brand rip off. All along though I had a poster on the wall of this exact Colnago and it was always as unattainable to the 12 year old me as a Ferrari would have been. So when I got a bit older, I was sitting there one day amongst about 50k worth of a bike collection thinking, I might be 30 years late, but I'm having that Colnago. And when I am done with that I will find another project (Next project will be a 5kg Cervelo R5 I think).

I would disagree that you could throw a Colnago logo on any old frame though. For a start the master has "star shaped" i.e. non round tubing initially Columbus Gilco, which is pretty much unique. It is also pantographed quite heavily although subtley especially in the chromework. And the geometry is all over the map compared to far more standardised modern machines. This one is low and short in the flesh, whilst most from that era are low and long at the front. Generally I found the the geometry varied wildly, which is fair enough as although many were mass produced, custom jobs were relatively common compared to nowadays. They also came at one point in approximately 23 different sizing and geometry options.

Check out what I mean about the pantographing (engraving) here and the unusual tube shapes: Loads more in the bike e.g. under the BB etc...

Dermot Illogical, I didn't paint myself, I had a UK company do it. It was quite expensive, even with me doing the paint stripping but when you have your mind set on something you may as well pay the money. I did however save the whole original Campagnolo Super Record groupset with quite a lot of manual labour.

Lusk_Doyle · 12-11-2013 12:28AM

Lumen wrote: »

It's about things that come from a time when everything was better.

Think Ursula Andress vs Cheryl Cole.

Jeez, even your post is thanked by an auld fella! That says it all for me! He probably remembers when this was all fields!

countrykid · 12-11-2013 12:30AM

I completely agree. All the classic steel bikes have the exact same geometry, you could put a Colnago decal on any aul bike and there's no way you could tell the difference

Never seen a classic Colnago in the flesh then? Oh dear....

Lusk_Doyle · 12-11-2013 12:31AM

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I would tend to agree. Hence I have just the one sitting right next to (amongst others) a Cervelo S2, S5, R3SL, P4 and Specialized Shiv and I wouldn't swap any of them for the Colnago if you put a gun to my head and made me choose. Although the purists will tell you its less about the looks with old steel and more about the feel.

The attraction for me with the old Colnago is both as a leisure machine for a few vintage sportif's if I want to take a break from racing. But mostly its just nostalgia. For those of us of a certain age, this (or similar) was the superbike of its day. My first cheapo racer in the mid 80s was a nasty eastern european copy of this in the saronni red colour scheme, when I outgrew that one my second was an arguably even nastier one which was obviously a UK supermarket brand rip off. All along though I had a poster on the wall of this exact Colnago and it was always as unattainable to the 12 year old me as a Ferrari would have been. So when I got a bit older, I was sitting there one day amongst about 50k worth of a bike collection thinking, I might be 30 years late, but I'm having that Colnago. And when I am done with that I will find another project (Next project will be a 5kg Cervelo R5 I think).

I would disagree that you could throw a Colnago logo on any old frame though. For a start the master has "star shaped" i.e. non round tubing initially Columbus Gilco, which is pretty much unique. It is also pantographed quite heavily although subtley especially in the chromework. And the geometry is all over the map compared to far more standardised modern machines. This one is low and short in the flesh, whilst most from that era are low and long at the front.

Check out what I mean about the pantographing (engraving) here and the unusual tube shapes: Loads more in the bike e.g. under the BB etc...

Dermot Illogical, I didn't paint myself, I had a UK company do it. It was quite expensive but when you have your mind set on something you may as well pay the money. I did however save the whole original Campagnolo Super Record groupset with quite a lot of manual labour.

Eh, it's a triple FFS! You guys are making my campaign effortless for me!

Quigs Snr · 12-11-2013 12:41AM

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Eh, it's a triple FFS! You guys are making my campaign effortless for me!

Leisure bike, although a colleague of mine had great fun with his similarly geared vintage machine turning up at a local league and being in the mix all night in the elite group, shifting down with his knee like an old pro.

I tell you what though... they didn't do triples back then like they do now though. This one is a 53-42-36 with a 21-12 on the back. I rather suspect it will be harder to get up a steep gradient than the 39x25 on my winter bike.

Kudos to the hardmen who used to ride these 10kg beasts in the tour with a 42/21 in the alpes as Stephen Roche mentions in his recent book. New found respect for those guys. No wonder they retired earlier back then, their knees must have required reconstructive surgery before they were 30.

The tax man · 12-11-2013 12:50AM

Brian? wrote: »

I completely agree. All the classic steel bikes have the exact same geometry, you could put a Colnago decal on any aul bike and there's no way you could tell the difference.

Modern carbon every time for me.

So when you look at a steel frame all you see is two triangles. There's a lot more to a steel frame,lugs,BB,break\chain stay bridges all differed across the frame builders to some degree or another.

Your example of putting a Colnago decal on any aul bike was probably the worst you could have chosen. On my Colnago,besides the decals, there are markings stamped on the lugs,seat stays,BB,break bridge and drop outs that prove it's a genuine Colnago frame. 9 in total.

Lusk_Doyle · 12-11-2013 12:53AM

The tax man wrote: »

So when you look at a steel frame all you see is two triangles. There's a lot more to a steel frame,lugs,BB,break\chain stay bridges all differed across the frame builders to some degree or another.

Your example of putting a Colnago decal on any aul bike was probably the worst you could have chosen. On my Colnago,besides the decals, there are markings stamped on the lugs,seat stays,BB,break bridge and drop outs that prove it's a genuine Colnago frame. 9 in total.

Don't mind them Brian, they're stuck in the past. Probably have no tv signal after the aerial was taken down by the man!

petethedrummer · 12-11-2013 12:54AM

Darkglasses wrote: »

old steel bikes all look much more similar to each other

Because that's how a bike is supposed to look. Not like a two wheeled bat mobile.

Darkglasses · 12-11-2013 01:01AM

petethedrummer wrote: »

Because that's how a bike is supposed to look. Not like a two wheeled bat mobile.

Nah

give me a batmobile anyday over a bike made of shiny scaffolding.

Road bikes should look aggressive, like they'd bite your head off.

Absoluvely · 12-11-2013 01:05AM

Lusk_Doyle · 12-11-2013 01:11AM

Absoluvely wrote: »

Very sloppy work on that. You can clearly see the welded joints.

The tax man · 12-11-2013 01:20AM

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Don't mind them Brian, they're stuck in the past. Probably have no tv signal after the aerial was taken down by the man!

I still have an aerial on the roof.(though redundant)
But I also have this..

ROK ON · 12-11-2013 08:44AM

The way to look at classic steel frames (in Swiss Tony parlance) is a lot like having sex with a beautiful woman.

Clearly young master Lusk would fancy a bit of slap and tickle out back with some tramp from the North of England. Then in the corner representing the connoisseurs choice is Lumen who would seduce a Bomd girl in some far flung exotic location.

Plastic versus steel
Cheap taiwanese cr&p versus classic Italian craftsmanship,
Claret versus Aldi plonk
Epoisse versus Easi-singles

Brian? · 12-11-2013 09:03AM

countrykid wrote: »

I completely agree. All the classic steel bikes have the exact same geometry, you could put a Colnago decal on any aul bike and there's no way you could tell the difference

Never seen a classic Colnago in the flesh then? Oh dear....

That actually made me laugh out loud.

I threw a "classic" Colnago in a skip about ten years ago because I couldn't give it away. Along with a Reynolds 501 frame.

Maybe it's because I had old steel bikes as a teenager that I have no grá for them now. Give me my carbon bike any day.

Brian? · 12-11-2013 09:05AM

ROK ON wrote: »

Plastic versus steel
Cheap taiwanese cr&p versus classic Italian craftsmanship,
Claret versus Aldi plonk
Epoisse versus Easi-singles

This is clearly nonsense.

It's more Lexus GS300 v fiat 127.

thebouldwhacker · 12-11-2013 09:09AM

Quigs that's a most beautiful bike restored with obvious skill and dedication. That would be at the front of my collection.
Timeless style vs current fashion is all.

Lusk_Doyle · 12-11-2013 10:00AM

ROK ON wrote: »

The way to look at classic steel frames (in Swiss Tony parlance) is a lot like having sex with a beautiful woman.

Clearly young master Lusk would fancy a bit of slap and tickle out back with some tramp from the North of England. Then in the corner representing the connoisseurs choice is Lumen who would seduce a Bomd girl in some far flung exotic location.

Plastic versus steel
Cheap taiwanese cr&p versus classic Italian craftsmanship,
Claret versus Aldi plonk
Epoisse versus Easi-singles

Lumen could never seduce a Bomd girl, let alone a Bond girl! Also, I had some port salut cheese last night with a rare vineyards malbec from superquinn!

What's wrong with being a tramp from the North of En-ger-land? I'll get Beasty after you for saying that!

dave_o_brien · 12-11-2013 10:20AM

This is the same argument that one has when someone of a certain vintage says music was better in the old days.

It wasn't. It's just that now, at a certain remove, nobody remembers the cheap, nasty crap that sold the most: the only things that people remember now is the quality stuff. Nobody gets nostalgic listening to the Bay City Rollers.

happytramp · 12-11-2013 10:36AM

dave_o_brien wrote: »

This is the same argument that one has when someone of a certain vintage says music was better in the old days.

Except that music actually was better in the old days. 60's-90's vs the ear puke of the last two decades.

I think the fondness for good quality steel frames stems from the fact that many frames today look like a step back down the evolutionary ladder. It's been ingrained into us to believe that small, slim, minimalist, chrome is good while fat, clunky, plasticy looking is bad. Many modern bikes are the visual equivalent of the 1980's giant mobile phone. "Look everybody... we've made our product bigger, added more material, made it more fussy and cluttered"

Post images of beauty (quote pics sparingly) - see Mod warnings in OP

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