Colnago
About Colnago
The name Colnago is so indelibly and reverentially written into the history books of professional bicycle racing that you would assume its owner was born at the turn of the century? In fact Ernesto Colnago - started building competition bicycle frames in 1954 in a tiny workshop on via Cavour in Cambiago east of Milan and still heads the company that bears his name today.
Ernesto The Bike Racer
Ernesto Colnago started as a bike racer and looked set for a succesful pro career until a crash and subsequent injury forced his premature retirement. But his perfectionism and talent as a desginer and artisan were already legendary around the local professional cycling community.
The Perfectionist Eye
In 1955 he helped the injured Giro d'Italia contender Fiorenzo Magni re-calibrate his bike and body in time for the big race. Colnago had a perfectionst and instinctive eye for both mechanics and bio-mechanics.
A New Design
Working as a team mechanic on the 1955 Giro Colnago had his epiphany for future frame design - he saw most riders using very big frames with comparitely low saddle heights. His idea was to build smaller, stiffer and lighter frames that would perform better for racers. Colnago had learnt his brazing trade with local frame builder 'Gloria' but the fuel for his future success was his mixture of creativity, relentless perfectionism and appetite for pure work. Coincidentally this picks up on a very similar theme Ben Serotta discussed at his recent lecture in London - where he talked about his own incurable work ethic as the essential catalyst for his own success.
World Champion Frame Builder
In 1960 Colnago's Luigi Arienti won an Olympic gold medal on a Colnago designed, built and importantly, branded frame. It was the watershed moment he had worked so hard for.
The Salami Years - Team Molteni
In 1963 Colnago started an eleven year tenure at Team Molteni. Piero Molteni, the principal sponsor (Molteni) was fanatical cycle-racing tifosi and famous salami manufacturer. The Glory years of Molteni included some of the most charismatic and talented riders of a generation jostling for winning space - Gianni Motta, Michele Dancelli, Beppe Saronni and of course the The Cannibal himself Eddy Merckx.
The Hour Bike - 1972
Possibly the most famous bike ever built. 5,.5 kg for the whole bike and over thirty five years ago. Colnago agonised over every detail. He had to balance Merckx formidible power and biomechanical requirements with goal of fabricationg the lightest bike ever made. He used unheard of 6/10 to 4/10 wall thickness tubing and drilled and re-drilled every component - even the chain! Colnago caclulated the last gram to the last watt of power - he even gambled that Merckx would be smooth after he was up to pace on the track so the frame only had to withstand his accelerative forces once as he set off on the first couple of laps.
Colnago The 'CycleFitter'
From what we can deduce Ernesto's own obsession with position and 'the perfect fit' see the Magni anecdote above, was only trumped by Merckx' own preoccupations. Merckx was an inveterate tamperer with his position, always seeking a few watts more from an improved posture. Often Colnago would take three new bikes to a race for Merckx to try. The geometries would be minutely different so the position, posture and muscle-recruitment would change accordingly. Merckx and Colnago would consult and then Merckx would test each bike extensively until a final decision was made. Merckx would then invariably go and trounce the opposition in the race.
Via Cavour
The name Colnago is so indelibly and reverentially written into the history books of professional bicycle racing that you would assume its owner was born at the turn of the century? In fact Ernesto Colnago - started building competition bicycle frames in 1954 in a tiny workshop on via Cavour in Cambiago east of Milan and still heads the company that bears his name today.
Ernesto The Bike Racer
Ernesto Colnago started as a bike racer and looked set for a succesful pro career until a crash and subsequent injury forced his premature retirement. But his perfectionism and talent as a desginer and artisan were already legendary around the local professional cycling community.
The Perfectionist Eye
In 1955 he helped the injured Giro d'Italia contender Fiorenzo Magni re-calibrate his bike and body in time for the big race. Colnago had a perfectionst and instinctive eye for both mechanics and bio-mechanics.