My 1981 COLNAGO "Super" possible early "PIU" variant

[74PARISSPORTJJG]

SEASON'S GREETINGS AND BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
I live in and ride from the Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada area and own three vintage road bicycles. I am a 70-year old retired Electronics Technician and prefer riding my bicycles in three of the four "Vancouver seasons", locally, solo and with a modest size group that meets 5-minutes from my home, all of us riding vintage road bicycles. My only machines are:
1. a 1972 MERCIAN 'Olympic" 10-speed built around a Reynold 531 frameset assembled in Derby, England with very nearly all British and French made components right down to the 630C x 32mm MICHELIN 'Select' 90-PSI, tan wall tires and MICHELIN inner tubes.
2. a 1974 PARIS-SPORT "Paris-Roubaix" 12-speed, built around a Reynold 531 frameset assembled in France with very nearly all French made components right down to the 700C x 23mm HUTCHINSON 'Fusion 5" black wall tires and MICHELIN inner tubes. I bought this frameset new in 1975 after it sat in a bike shop for over 1 year.
3. a 1981 COLNAGO "Super" (or possibly an early "Super Piu", yet to be confirmed) 12-speed, built around a COLUMBUS "SL" frameset bought by my late uncle and assembled in Italy with very nearly all Italian made (or branded) components. There has been a bit of controversy online concerning the next statement: My cousin (the son of my late uncle who purchased the frameset with the front fork in Italy in the early 1980's. He and my uncle had transferred nearly all the components from an old, destroyed IDEOR "Ace" frameset and began riding the Colnago by late 1982) as well as the COLNAGO Customer Care department in 2021 confirmed via email, based on several photos I sent to them that the frame set is a 1981 COLANGO "Super" BUT I wondered if this is a possible early "PIU" frameset because it has the following features:
1. COLNAGO brand embossed rear frame end drop outs and front fork ends.
2. The Rear Brake cable is confirmed, as on the frame as originally purchased, and is routed through the Top tube.
3. There are two originally installed pairs of 'Bidon' cages bosses, one pair on the Down tube and one pair on the lower Seat tube.
4. Chrome plated Head tube logs with the little 'tear drop' shaped cut-outs on both sides of both lugs.
5. "Spindle" shaped lower stays bridge.
6. Mostly original red paint and original Down tube, Seat tube and Head tube decals, of a little less common variety, in my experience: The COLNAGO "Ace Of Clubs" emblem for this decal set is situated in the center of the letter "C" of the COLNAGO name on the D/t and S/T. Not after or before COLNAGO. The "five colour band emblem" is located only before the letter "C" on both tubes: "Blue, yellow, black, green, red. These five rings represent the five parts of the world which are won over to Olympism and willing to accept healthy competition".
7. The derailleur cables are routed under the bottom bracket in individual slots of a "single bolt fastened", dark plastic (or Delrin?) cable guide plate.

Any comments are appreciated.

Cheers!

John G.

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[Jake1]

You need help from @Painkiller and @Jesper . They both know older bikes.

I cannot see your photo, but it sounds like a much later model. Of course, I cannot refute your knowledge of the bike's history.

The only thing that is odd in your statement is "assembled in Italy with very nearly all Italian made (or branded) components"; and then you state "He and my uncle had transferred nearly all the components an old, destroyed IDEOR "Ace" frameset and began riding the Colnago by late 1982". Not much wear on components from a 1981 bike where they would need to be replaced one year later.

My questions are these: why would a completely assembled bike with new components need to have used components taken from a donor bike installed on it? Did your uncle buy the bike brand new? Has anyone that has responded to your question, other than Colnago, agreed with 1981 being its model year?

It seems that the history/timeline is a little in question; but I cannot refute Colnago's identification either; but be warned Colnago has had one of their own historic bikes misidentified online in their museum for decades (confirmed by the actual rider, and labelled correctly on the frame); so take what Colnago says with a grain of salt. The patrons of Colnago have kept a better line on their bikes than the company itself. If Colnago had all the answers then one would have expected them to have answered those ambiguities years ago and not have owners continually banging their heads to figure out a year and model. If Colnago does not know their own frames' evolution than how can we know it?