05-28-2020, 04:08 AM
I am getting ready to start a build up on this rather odd frame by Colnago(?). "Aero" tubing frame ("oval" top and down tubes) with "Saronni" badging. If anyone has some info regarding its manufacture I would be pleased to hear it. I cannot find an example of it in any Colnago catalogue; it may have been a contract build by another frame maker; Colnago did this with some of their bikes. It has "Saronni" pantographs and rear dropouts (front dropouts are Campagnolo), but no Colnago markings anywhere other than the decals which are not original. I have seen the slotted bottom bracket on other Colnagos (specifically their cyclo-cross bike). It is not a super lightweight, and I do not know who the tubing manufacturer is. The decal "SLX" is not correct since l physically checked the seat tube, which has a visible seam ("SL"/"SLX" is seamless); possibly "ZETA". Photos are stock from the seller (credit: velosaloon) and don't show the tubing profile very well. I bought it about 5 months ago. I had taken a couple photos of it, but I cannot seem to find them, or they somehow got inadvertently deleted from my database. It would seem that it is early '80s based on the fact the "aero" frames kind of started around then, and Saronni had a couple bikes made by Colnago in his honor at that time after riding to the Worlds Championship in '82 on a Super Profil although the bike with his markings on it was a "Super" (also, a different model "Giro d'Italia" honoring '83 victory) built by Colnago in '83. I have seen a couple examples of this bike, one stating 1982 (with the same frame decals, except "CRITERIUM" on the top tube); but I don't know if it was a frame built for only one year. The fork crown on my frame is similar to the "Giro d'Italia"/Super Profil/Superissimo fork crowns of the early 80s, unlike the "Saronni Super" which utilized the crown found on late '60s- very early '70s "Super" models. Also, the paint is not original; it could be that is was blue as shown in the complete bike photo (credit: belky87 on LFGSS). I never got a reply from that individual. I purchased it from an Austrian dealer who had no information about it's history. It was obviously made in a wide range of sizes based on the 48 cm blue frame, and mine at 60.5 cm c-c. To be quite honest, the tubing merely seems to have been shaped by using a press/vice, and not a special tube manufactured for that specific purpose; I believe I could take a lower end straight gauge tubing an do the same, even with the frame already assembled. It does need some work on the fork bearing seats. I would like to build it with a single front chain ring (53t-55t), with wide range rear cluster (12t-30t or so); so no front derailleur needed here, and maybe only a rear brake to boot. It's a longer term project since it will need some machine shop work.
Ride Fast, Be Safe!
Howard
Howard