Mission accomplished...

Out of water carriers..

All of the three Colnago builds

ended up in apparently similar results: Art Decor Frames with Carbon wheels and Campagnolo outfits. Still, all three are slightly different and each bike has its own characteristics. But there are two things the three have in common: The handle bars, which need no further introduction, and.... the bottle holders: The perfectly shaped Supacaz fly bottle cage. Superbly designed in carbon and hand painted with a flawless finish; a true masterpiece and almost impossible to find nowadays. I was lucky with Tecnos 2 to even get them in an outlet sale in The Netherlands, and with the Master it took quite some time before I finally found a set in black and white in Italy. On the current quest however, these were the most difficult parts to find. I wanted black and red but did not succeed despite endless search efforts. Then I decided to look out for black and white again, as white was already predominant on the 2000.  But with no result. In the end, the last available set was spotted in Spain, but in straight plain matt carbon only. So I decided to take them to exchange the set with the black & white from the Master, where the matt carbon would fit with the wheels anyway.. And so, the last building exercise was concluded..

Gear...

Compact wheel-frame setup..

Having no concerns like with Tecnos 2, or the need for cassette adjustment as on the Master,  this time the gear mounting never had been easier. The different cassette composition on the Master had resulted in quite some efforts to finally get rid of a slight rattle, which upon fine tuning continuously returned in either higher or lower gear sections. The positioning of a 0,5 mm steel spacer ring behind the most inner largest gearwheen finally did the trick. Which, considering the alterations made on the cassette, still makes no sense to me, but it somehow worked. But this time with the 2000, it was a piece of cake by just following the manual and some slight finetuning only. 

A kind of plug and play in fact..

La silla roja...

On the two previous quests for saddles, 

I had already been very lucky with the NOS Selle from Italy on Tecnos 2 as well as the almost new Hoskar from the US on the Master, but the current third catch really takes the cake. Although not NOS or new, this flawless specimen from Spain via Ebay is such a perfect match, that it's almost unbelievable. The red color is 100% identical to the frame,  

as are the colors of the embroideries: Yellow and blue naturally.  The three primary colors, all prominently present on the frame. Not a real coincidence most likely, as San Marco is no doubt well familiar with the coloring schemes of 

Colnago. But still an unexpected rare trophy.

Virginal white...

The previous bike builds learned that a new old stock 27.2 carbon seatpost is a rarity. Let alone Colnago branded. And yet, suddenly it was there. Slightly aerodynamically shaped even... On Ebay in Belgium. Not in the original box, but brand new with manual and still covered with the protective adhesive foil. And to top it all off:  In White.. White ? Yes of course. Perfectly matching with red and black. But a white seatpost asked for a white stem. So: https://velossimo.hu/. where I found the stem for Tecnos 2. Fortunately, they still had two 12cm pieces available in white. I did the same trick as with the Master using the Deda Spada adapter.  And a white stem meant white bar tape.  Which worked out quite well. With the Selle Italia black marked bar tape as a bonus. Which by the way has great quality end covering adhesive straps, a bit elastic and sticking perfectly tight. So, all on the white tour suddenly. Thanks to the seatpost.. 

All I had to look for now was a saddle...

No braking news..

Two generations..

The choice of brakes was easy.  Design is a noble art and the Campagnolo Monoplanar is a true example.  A kind of phenomenon that rarely appears. Simple and effective mechanics shaped in modest and timeless beauty.  A lever with leverage. But of course,  design and Italy are synonyms.. Not easy to find in NOS these days, but I was so lucky to finally come across a new pair on the web in Northern Ireland. A Chorus set in the original box. I had to replace the brake pads for modern Carbon pad holders and could use the originals on Tecnos 1 with the alu rimmed carbon FFWD's.  A great exchange and use for these solid pads with the characteristic positioning wings. The new holders suitable to contain the carbon compatible FFWD SwissStop pads were not that easy to find, but I finally succeeded with a set of the 55 mm Trivio 453C, although the brake pads are about 2mm longer and protruding a bit. Mario's second last set of NOS 10 speed Ergopower levers are in Chorus as well, be it in Carbon and from a later generation, but at least a fit in group classification, just as with the Master..

NOS... !!

Positioning wings..

Centaur..

Although not in Chorus or Record as most ot

her
parts, and just like with the Master, I was already very happy to find a 2 x 10 speed NOS Campa full carbon crank in the first place. And this time the last one available at Mario's.  But Centaur is made with the same construction techniques as its pricier flagship cousins and simply performs equally. So a multi-directional carbon fiber core with uni-directional weave, bonded to a Power-Torque chromoly axle, oversized with a splined interface on the non-drive side which is very easy to mount. Splendid engineering with great looks. 

Rounding up easily..

As with Tecnos 2 and the Master, I had a clear idea about the wheels: Carbon and new..  But as Shimano & SRAM are dominant over Campagnolo these days and the availability of rim braked wheels is obviously in decline, this basically leaves only one real choice: The Magnificent FFWD Tyro. The subdued matt black would make a great fit with the white and red. So again the best choice in my opinion, but with a 20% Black Friday discount this time, surely a nice coincidence.. And I had great experiences with the Tyro's on the Master meanwhile.  Due to its 29 mm width, a robust and still very smooth wheel greatly performing, clearly noticeable when rounding curves and bends and on bumpy roads.   And just 5 bar pressure is already enough to have a great balance between comfort, grip and rolling resistance;  inside the 28mm austere all black Continental Grand Prix 5000 that is. A hardly surprising choice either, but I simply see no reason to switch to anything else considering the great quality and having had no flat tyre for over more than 4 years now. So nothing new here..

Omne trium perfectum..

Ultimate treasure...

The quests for Art Décor frames & NOS bike parts during the last years had turned out to be highly exciting. It's a kind of treasure hunting which is surely as much fun as the bike tinkering itself and can even be somewhat addictive. It also provides insight into pricing and availability of certain parts, which often proves to be unavailability instead. So when running into the crank and drivetrain parts at Mario, https://defietsenmaker.nl , upon building up the Master, I noticed he had a remaining last two pieces of the carbon Campagnolo Centaur crank, as well as his last two mixed carbon-steel Chorus derailleur sets. I bought one of each for the Master, but the remaining last set was in fact never quite forgotten. And despite already owning three Colnago's in Art Decor, I actually never gave up searching for a possible next catch, as I meanwhile seem to have turned into a true admirer and collector. Setting high standards in the choice of available frames & parts however, had made it an expensive hobby. And naturally, at a certain point there’s a limit to everything. So I decided that the unexpected financial windfall which suddenly came around would allow me to do the trick just one last time. The journey to the final catch took quite some time & efforts until at last I found my ultimate treasure.

Most of its lifetime spent at the loft...

An almost new 1997 Tecnos 2000 frame size 57 in bright and shiny red / white. It was offered on Kleinanzeigen, a German version of Ebay, on which I had placed a search order which was responded to by email one evening. The paint scheme looked marvelous and the frame was promised to be in excellent condition. I was highly excited as this seemed a rare chance: Belonging to the last generation of the Tecnos, it has rear dropouts for one fixed axle position only, placed in a wide rear fork setting to easily allow even an eleven speed cassette. A clear advantage. The additional pictures asked for, indeed confirmed my suspicion that this was in fact an almost flawless specimen. I quickly took my chance. Luckily the price was fixed easily and we planned my visit: To....the outskirts of Frankfurt. Yes. Quite a drive. But worth it, as would soon appear. Upon my visit, the color setting looked even more beautiful and all I could discover additionally, were a few tiny paint chips on the white section of the fork. The bike had been too low in size for the seller, who had inherited it from his father a long time ago, and was completely stripped leaving only the Shimano Dura Ace bottom bracket and headset. The frame turned out to have spent most of its lifetime at the loft until, after more then 20 years, it was decided to be sold at last. I turned out to be the first buying candidate and very lucky indeed. The condition of the frame really exceeded my wildest expectations and I returned to home in a truly euphoric state. The thorough inspection upon my return revealed how close to new the frame in fact was. Even the chrome on the rear fork below the chain was without a single scratch. Amazing.. And just like the yellow of the Master, this red & white would be a great fit in color with carbon wheels and parts of which the Campa crank and derailleurs were still available at Mario as I had kept on noticing.

3 is perfect  (According to the Romans already....)

So instead of considering a possible new direction in the parts outfit,  two Campagnolo build-ups further now, I still stayed loyal to the all Italian approach. And although the frame allowed an 11 speed group, I decided to stick to the peerless design of the Campa 10 speed generation of 1998-2008.  

Having high regard for Shimano, I'm just too great a Campa fan. Already since my teenage years, admiring the beautifully designed groupsets in the bike shop nearby. The Campa parts from that era were produced in large numbers and are still well available on the web and never lost their appeal. Although my admiration for the bikes of those days was surely intense, I meanwhile consider the Colnago Art Decor of the mid nineties the ultimate achievement in bike beauty. So this third and last build-up exercise would be another joyful experience and a bit of a capstone I was really looking forward to.....

 

A happy ending...

 
All things must come to an end and so did this magnificent tinkering tour. I'm again delighted with the result and the bike meanwhile spent quiet some time on the road, arousing curiosity and compliments. I sent some pics to the previous owner who was happy to see his bike started a new live..  It's indeed satisfying to see old glory being restored with a modern look. Neo Retro is just cool....

Heads up..

With retro frames,  there's always the headset choice. A classic 1 "stem mounted inside the fork, or a modern 1,1/8"upon which the fork needs adaptive measures. Personally, I prefer the last option and I was very happy finding a new Nemesis stem in an online bike shop in Germany, which was a perfect fit. But while the fork headtube of Tecnos 2 had enough length for the stem to be simply placed just needing some bushing to make it fit, the master fork unfortunately was too short and needed height adjustment. I didn't have to search very long to find a convenient solution with the Deda Spada stem adapter to be easily placed inside the 22,2 diameter fork shaft adding just enough length to mount the stem to its desired height. As the upper headset bearing cover needs to be locked, spacer rings or bushings are required to solidly pinch the bearing cover below the stem. Here, the Contec Spacer Box was exactly what I needed. With bushing and rings in all possible heights and thicknesses, you simply can't miss. For the space between the stem and bearing cover I simply needed one single 2cm bush below and one 3mm ring on top of the stem.

Back to the nineties..

Ample clearance now..

Upon looking for a NOS carbon Campagnolo parts line from the nineties, it turned out that only 10 speed is still available, be it in already decreasing availability. The space margin for the 10 speed chain running aside the dropout however already had been a concern with Tecnos 2, being a 9 speed from 1994. So I decided that once having found a frame, measuring the rear fork width above the dropouts would be a wise thing to do. While Tecnos 2 had a 132mm clearance near the outside of the smallest gear wheel, this 1993 Master proved to have only a 130mm allowance. On itself, 130mm is a perfect fit for the rear axle, but it's the shape of the support which joins the frame and dropout that is critical. Although dropouts are naturally 100% straight vertical, the connecting supports are bent inward in order to correctly connect to the slanting fork tubes.

So with 2 mm less, I knew that a possible downgrade to 9 speed lay ahead. And although almost negligible, the chain indeed seemed to touch the support. So a 9 speed it would be. As the outer smallest Campa gearwheel cannot be removed due to its closing function, and the inner largest gear is also differently shaped with the toothed section pressed aside to the inward, I had to decide which in between gear would have to be sacrificed. I finally choose for the 19, as I frequently use 13 to 18 and 21 and 23 would be needed for climbing. With 1 gear less, the space between most outer smallest gear and the closing nut ring had to be filled up with Campa spacer rings in different thicknesses, fortunately well available on the web. 

So...with nine-speed back to the nineties..

The saddle settlement..

The right saddle is critical and surely not the easiest part to lay hands on. Findling a NOS saddle that makes a good fit in style & color is a matter of luck. The most logical path to follow for an Italian retro bike is of course to look out for a piece of the well established names San Marco & Selle Italia, which bike branded saddles are still well available, be it used mostly. NOS is seldom found and only against very, very high prizes. Among them, Colnago is well presented, mostly by San Marco in the Hoskar line. I didn't succeed in finding a qualifying NOS specimen this time. But came close however.. The saddle I finally managed to obtain was from Miami USA via Ebay. It came from a brand new Colnago and was dismounted almost immediately because the owner found it not comfortable enough as he was so honest to disclose. But I immediately took the chance. Simply because the fit in color and style was too perfect.. The carrying supports just had some mounting scratches and the stiffness of the seat was only minor.. Long live Ebay..!

Braking even..

The brake set is always a fine example of basic mechanics and really an eyecatcher on a retro bike. And when it comes to design, to my taste,  Campagnolo is really outstanding. Even though the Monoplanar is still my favorite, the Campa Record BR-04 RE is equally well shaped and superior in braking output due to its dual pivot construction. So I decided the Master would have them. Although the availability on the web is not too bad, upon the search I more frequently ran into the BR02-RED, which is more widespread and looks similar at first sight. Looking closer however, the rear brake caliper turns out to be single pivoted and lighter in construction. But I decided equal calipers would be better balanced in both look and performance and so the better choice. At the time of my search, NOS was not available and I finally ended up with a set from Germany in very good shape and fairly priced.  A 1994 1st Generation set still with Campagnolo as single marking, as "Record" only shows up after 1995.  The shiny blank calipers are a fine match with the chrome of the front & rear fork and although the complete original set with handles of course has the characteristic round levers, I had to stick with the current 10 speed Carbon Ergopower set. Record as well, so surely a fine fit.

Reinventing the wheel...

Having been fortunate in finding the excellent Forza Vardars in NOS for Tecnos 2 on last quest, this time it was different. No such luck now. After searching for months, brand new or second hand, mostly in minor condition, was now the reality. Various visits to sellers on the Dutch Marketplace revealed either too much breakwear on the rims, scratches, or were just misfits in style. One obviously neat set at first sight even turned out to have a tear at the side of the rim.  And on all occasions pricing was still considerable.. So new it would be. As basically, wheels are the bike. The soul at least.. The whizz, the rotation, the contact with the earth. The bikewheel is a thing of beauty. Primary mechanics generating motion and speed still within the human scale. The primary bike part, of which the Master in its awesome condition would deserve a high quality outfit.

Considering the very good experience with the proud Dutch FFWD brand, I choose the TYRO. A 45mm high & 29mm wide rimmed piece of modern technique and robust design. And one of the last available Campa fitting rim brake carbon wheelsets on the market in the present disc brake era. With the wider rim and conventional round spokes, straight pull, even suitable for gravel bikes. A straightforward and allround heavy duty carbon wheel. Not the lightest set around, but a perfect fit for my old steel frame. I collected them at the factory in Zwolle, and met Idsart, the owner of the place, who invited me on a tour around the production line & workshop. A nice experience.. So all in all perfect choice, and match, and a magnificent ride. A great asset for a bike lover.

Super Mario..

A true treasure..

Being the standard nowadays, black parts were still not that common in the nineties. NOS from that era is presently still available, but not in great abundance and very expensive. With Tecnos 2, I was lucky to find the Veloce groupset almost immediately, meaning I never really had to search deep for the drivetrain and shifters etc., and so I expected things would not be that easy. But thanks to one person in particular, also this time the quest was remarkably short. That person is Mr. Mario Verhoeven, a real Bike Doctor. Mario is running the webshop: https://defietsenmaker.nl/ An absolute treasure cove for NOS retro bike parts. In The Netherlands even. Lucky me again. Mario turned out to have available in his shop: A complete Campa Centaur carbon crankset (Power Torque), plus front & rear derailleurs Campa Chorus mixed steel / carbon, all from the nineties & all NOS. The  front derailleur even with a cam, instead of the ealier version with clamp. The Chorus seatpost I took back from Tecnos 1 and the also brand new Record shifters came from the Dutch Marketplace, not in the retail box as originating from a bulk assembly line packing. The Ergopower cableset, Power Torque cups, Record chain and Veloce cassette are of course still well available new. So this time Campa only for all the mechanics. 

The Famous Master..

Looking back, the idea of owning a Colnago Master must have lingered for a longer time. Having seen quite a few on my quest for the Tecnos and despite my opinion that the Tecnos is still superior in both build and appearance, the Master kept on crossing my mind. Being a fanatic cyclist and with an increasing love for bike tinkering and admiration of the fantastic combination of steel and Art Deco Style, I soon decided that looking out for the famous Master was the right thing to do. The winter months would be the perfect time for the search, with long evenings and ample time behind the screen. Ample time, indeed, to find out that a Master in the preferred type and style is not easy to find. Despite its overall presence on the web in general, an available version meeting the desired fit in both color and correct size is quite hard to come by. The AD10 (Art Decor Blue/White) coloring had my preference combined with a full chrome fork. A commonly available outfit upon release in the mid nineties, but nowadays the availability is surprisingly limited and specimens in good condition are simply unaffordable. On one occasion an X Light 57 seemed within reach however. In the southern part of France on Ebay.  But with negotiations still going on, the seller suddenly decided he wanted to keep the bike after all. Although this particular version had the right color and size, it was equipped with a blue-white fork instead of the desired full chrome, but the condition was so very good that I was still disappointed to have missed it, especially considering the amount of time spent on searching. But in the end, the chrome fork came. I had already decided that Colnago #3 would also have carbon wheels together with other accents in black, so what color would be a better match with black and white than.... yellow!  As a very neat version suddenly showed up on the Dutch Marketplace. A 1993 Master Olympic AD14 in size 57 in apparrent neat condition. Not so perfect as my Tecnos from Belgium it would turn out, but still very good. It took a 200 km drive to the northeast to discover that it had two paint chips around the bracket area on the left side, some paint missing on the edge of the seat tube next to the seat post and one paint chip on the dropout on the drive side. The lemon yellow, enriched with pink and blue decorations, looked marvelous. The chrome fork was perfect. The groupset was Shimano Ultegra 1st generation & the wheels were a rarely seen set of Cane Creeks. A fair deal.. I was the proud owner of a Colnago Master.

With a similar idea about the outfit, plus the experience of Tecnos two, and having the special tools already in place, I had a good starting point. There would again be as many parts possible in Campa New Old Stock, but with one difference: I wanted parts in black, making a great fit with the yellow & white of the frame, besides two exceptions: the new Campa Record headset which I already found, and the brake set. I decided not to search for the Monoplanars this time, but the equally well shaped Campa BR-04 RE in blank metal to fit with the chrome fork. For the rest of the parts, besides the black, I had no idea or further preference yet. But that was the nice part of it. As searching on the web while not knowing what you will run into is highly exciting. And very useful and informative.      The quest was ready to start...

A magnificent experience..

The three month period of searching combining, mounting and fitting was a great experience and truly engrossing. It was a highly educational and instructive exercise with an end result I am very happy with. I consider myself fortunate to have found exactly the frame and parts to my taste on this fantastic journey.. . I meanwhile spent as much time on the bike as I could and it's a perfect ride.  How lucky a man can be...

Chain, cables and collateral..

Considering all of the fitting and mounting challenges, there were two items where I had my concerns. One had been the crankshaft as described earlier, but that worked out perfectly well.. The other however was the space margin for the 10 speed chain running aside the dropout. That is; if positioned in the highest gear; running on both the large front-blade and smallest gearwheel on the cassette. Compared to the narrow 11 speed chain I was accustomed to, the Campa 10 speed chain certainly looked wider with the the closing pin even a bit protruding. Ingenious as it might be, I was a bit insecure about the Forza universal body, suitable for both Shimano and Campa cassettes. Although designed for 10 speed, Forza / Baufort was new to me and after all, this was a 28 year old steel frame. After mounting, the space margin between the dropout and chain closing pin looked just about sufficient, a small 2 mm approx, and after test riding and gear shifting all turned out to be just fine, to my great relief... So the last jobs to be done were the handlebar tape, black naturally, the positioning of the cables and fine-tuning of both the gearshifting and brakes.  Exercises requiring precision and all in all a rather time consuming affair..

All there was left now were drink bottles and bike pump holders. With the last, I had very good experiences with the Lyzene Carbon Drive Lite. A very convenient and compact little pump, to be easily positioned next to the vertical bottle holder on the seat tube. Regarding the bottle holders I was fortunate once again.. Upon searching the web, I immediately noted the carbon gold Supacaz holder which would be a really perfect fit with the black Colnago mark on the gold area of the down and seat tubes around the bottle holder area. But it turned out to be completely sold out. Also at webshops promising to have them in stock, so it turned out after ordering. But upon re-checking again after our two-week Holiday I was lucky to find a set, even in an outlet sale, notably at the webshop of the famous Van Herwerden brothers in Voorburg NL; an old shop well-known for building their own racing bike frames back in the seventies and eighties. I was very happy to receive these magnificient high quality super lightweight carbon bottle holders which were the most perfect fit imaginable. But that was it. After three months, all of a sudden the end of this exciting period was there... The bike was finished and ready..

Stemming..

For some time I had considered the last ever produced Campa headset in combination an old-fashioned Panto stem, but these are unfit for the modern 31,8 mm compact handlebars, and the more profiled and sizeable stems of today really look great as well, especially with appropriate marking and decoration. Here I was fortunate with the Colnago stem from Hungary, described earlier. The black would fit with the paintwork around the head tube, upper fork area and both the seat post and wheels. The mounting was a nice job and rather easy. The inner fork star flanged nut was perfectly in place and I needed just two of the four remaining spacer rings. The sloping cap to be combined with the already present and new to add bushing, which had a slanting bore allowing the stem to be placed pointing upward or more horizontally, was an easy fit. The horizontal option was the best choice in both handlebar position and appearance.