Early Aluminum Colnago frames Arabesque, steel tubing, noted for its fancy legwork
Super (1970s and 1980s) steel tubing. Columbus SL and SP tubesets.
Mexico (1970s and 1980s) Columbus steel tubing. Identical to Super but with lighter gauge KL (Record) tubing in place of SL/SP. Named in honor of Merckx's hour record ride in Mexico City.
Master, steel tubing Columbus nivachrome "Gilco" drawn in "star shape." ("Master" frames went through several iterations from Columbus tubing, Deda DT15V to "Ultimate Superlight" from Tange (Japan) depending on year of production.)
Masterlight; second version of Master with Precisa straight fork.
Master Extra-light; visually similar to Masterlight. Frame was produced from 2000–2004, then dropped for 2005, and returned in 2006. It was re-introduced due to customer demand for an all-steel Colnago. It is a bit lighter than its predecessor.
Conic SLX; early (1989) models had round tubes with internal stiffeners and curved front forks, later models had clover leaf design down tube to add stiffness to the frame, and had straight front forks.
Altain; c1995, oversized round steel Columbus Altain tubing, with straigh forks - Sold only in Europe.
Crystal; c1997, oversize oval section downtube and toptube made from custom built Columbus tubing, with Precisa fork.
Tecnos; Colnago's lightest steel racing frame made from 1995 - 2000. Custom Tecnos tubeset made with Columbus Nivachrom steel, oversize top and down tubes with five-leaf-clover shaping. Chromed three point crown-tip lugs on head tube and Precisa steel fork (when not used with a carbon fork).
Cyclocross; Over the years, Ernesto Colnago built steel cyclocross frames for individual professional riders and did not sell any steel frames to the public. Two have been identified, an early one based on the Colnago Super and built for Roger de Vlaeminck. A second frame surfaced a couple of years ago, and appears to have been built in the mid to late 90s, loosely based on the Colnago Crystal. The rider is unknown. Lugs and seat stays are similar to those on the Crystal, slightly beefier tubing than other road models (32mm OD downtube, 29mm seattube), relaxed wheelbase, top tube routing for rear brake and derailleur, traditional routing for front derailleur but no braze-on for front derailleur. Colnago bottom bracket shell. Straight mtb style threadless fork (no formal crown). No serial number stamped on dropout. Colnago factory contact unable to identify year or provide further information.
Aluminum Colnago frames
Rapid — aluminum
Dream road and cyclocross frames, shaped tubing. Cyclocross model came with unicrown MTB style front fork and additional bracing at headtube/downtube union.
Cyclocross; c1980s (exact years unknown). Manufactured by Alan, stamped "Colnago" name on bottom of headtube. Aluminum tubing screwed and glued to lugs. Sizing stamped in bottom bracket, no serial number on rear dropouts. Top tube ovalized for shouldering bike on transitions. Dual downtube version also manufactured by Alan for Colnago, with different lug design from the single downtube version.
I am both one of the many authors of the text posted above and owner of one of the Colnago cyclocross bikes mentioned. I would appreciate it if you would cite the origin of this text.
It is not your original work and you should not represent it as such.
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