Help buying a used Colnago C40 or C50 frameset

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jmaccyd
Posts: 120
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:12 pm

by jmaccyd

Corrosion and bonding issues as mentioned earlier in one of the posts. Getting the 1inch of fork, although sometimes owners have bought spares and they can be picked up. Unbelievably they do pop up as frame sets unused. I was tempted by one a little while ago that was a 61CM in the black/blue colour scheme that was minus a fork but there was a unused new fork on sale on Ebay at the same time. The frame would have been close to £1000 and the fork probably 150ish. Add a seat post and headset and you are looking at £1500 for a new one. Should have pulled the trigger though!

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Beancouter
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Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:04 pm

by Beancouter

I think it is a 55/56 - not really sure!!


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Harmitc
Posts: 150
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2012 6:56 pm

by Harmitc

I've just finished building up this one. All C40's are great bikes. 1" expander bungs, period headsets, seatposts or seatpost shims as were used by teams running Dura Ace 7700 are all easy to get. But you often have to be more resourceful than just looking on Ebay. From the earliest MK 1's to the B Stay HP they ride beautifully.

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Bondurant
Posts: 215
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:28 pm

by Bondurant

Slightly off topic; would anyone be able to point me towards stockists of c59 nos framesets? If it helps I'm in the UK.

Found a crack in my ti frame yesterday. It's warrantied but I like to think of it as fate pointing me towards a Colnago.

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tabmaster
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:38 pm
Location: England, occiasionally Flanders.

by tabmaster

Bondurant wrote:Slightly off topic; would anyone be able to point me towards stockists of c59 nos framesets? If it helps I'm in the UK.

Found a crack in my ti frame yesterday. It's warrantied but I like to think of it as fate pointing me towards a Colnago.


My experience is to give Mike at Maestro a call. He probably wont have ay C59s left but he is a good deal cheaper than anyone else and he personally guarantees Colnago frames for six years instead of the usual 12 months. He is pretty straight talking so if youre only 'thinking about it' I wouldnt bother. If you are serious and want a frame then he really is the man to go to. Before anyone chimes in with his stock being fake or grey market imports I'll out a stop to that. His stock come from Codagex in Belgium which is the Benelux distrubutor and he's been selling Colnago for more than 30 years. I've had a C50 and a C59 from him and they are truly the real deal. He also includes the seatpost which some retailers have been known to remove and then sell to you seperately! I note that you're also in the UK. If it helps, Mike is in Bognor Regis. His son Marc runs a cafe in nearby Chichester which is also worth a visit.

Paul.
If the grand tours are like classical music, kermesse racing is punkrock, Belgian style.
Colnago C50, Campag SR11

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Calnago
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by Calnago

I don't think anyone has said he sells fake frames have they? I've never heard of that. But the paint jobs may or may not have been done in Italy, is how Ive come to think of it. I asked in another thread if anyone knows if the paint jobs done outside of Italy by whoever the Bemelux distributor contracts with are as good as the ones coming form Colnago's main painting facility in Italy. I would hope they are as I believe Colnago authorizes (or at least used to) the Benelux distributor to do this.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ

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tabmaster
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Location: England, occiasionally Flanders.

by tabmaster

All sorts of things have been said about Mike, usually by the dealer network whom he significantly undercuts! Naturally, none of it is true. You should see the homepage of his website at the moment.
As I recall, the Codagex had their own paintshop which is what allowed Mike to offer any design from a back catalogue spanning about 15 years. I have a hunch that this has now finished and that all his stock is now painted in Italy as I am sure he said as much to me (in person).
On a tangent, on your C59: Did you face the bb shell?

Paul.
If the grand tours are like classical music, kermesse racing is punkrock, Belgian style.
Colnago C50, Campag SR11

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Calnago
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by Calnago

tabmaster wrote:...
On a tangent, on your C59: Did you face the bb shell?

Paul.

Hi Paul, yes, absolutely I have faced the BB of any Colnago I have ever built. While they may face them at the factory, the amount of paint that often gets on there can be pretty thick. You really want to make sure you have two square faces when installing any BB that relies on this having been done to ensure perfect alignment of the bearings. Campy Ultratorque is an example.

Image

I've seen some pretty thick paint on the ends of the BB's and I'm not at all certain that most shops, even high end ones, go to the effort of facing the BB's before installing the BB. Yet they should where possible (some frames it's not without causing some havoc so you have to rely on the manufcturers to have done it). This was important in the old days and just standard practice, then with the introduction of the cartridge BB's it didn't matter quite so much, and there's probably a generation "bike mechanics" that have never even faced a BB before. Now with BB's that rely on two square faces it is very important that there be just that... two square faces. Unfortunately, especially with the pressfit BB's of today, you have to rely on the manufacturer to somehow ensure that those faces get to you properly prepared and ready for the pressfit cups. Ha ha... good luck on that one. Generally I will put more reliance on using a press with proper bearing bushings to ensure that two separate pressfif cups are aligned with each other upon installation, than I would on thinking the two faces are parallel and square from the manufacturer, but it depends on the manufacturer, really.

Colnago's C60 uses their Threadfit system, which is installed at the factory. I am just about to build up my first C60, and was curious how well finished, and faced, the outers of the BB were prepared before the Threadfit cups were installed, so of course I pulled it apart. And voila... I was pleasantly surprised to see that the BB faces were properly prepared and thus the Threadfit cups should also be square to each other. The tolerances are very good as well. Kudos to Colnago for bucking the trend and not taking the easy way of just trying to get a pretty close bare carbon BB shell and leaving it to the consumer to deal with the issues that a poor fitting pressftit install can cause.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ

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tabmaster
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Location: England, occiasionally Flanders.

by tabmaster

Hmm... Oddly, Mike said not to face the bb shell! The C50 shell was titanium as I remember & I thought it was the same with the C59. That said, yours looks to be alloy, am I correct? I think I will get it faced as my UT crank has developed a maddening 'click' once per revolution. Let's hope I don't chip the paint!
Speaking of pressfit bb shells, I have a Ridley X-Night to build up for the 'cross season and it has... A PF30 bracket. :( I'm currently researching the best option. Or should that be the least worst option?
If the grand tours are like classical music, kermesse racing is punkrock, Belgian style.
Colnago C50, Campag SR11

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Calnago
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by Calnago

I don't know why Mike would advise not to face the BB shell. Did he give a reason? Say it wasn't needed perhaps? If it's covered with paint, I'd face it. It doesn't take much unevenness to throw things out of alignment, and then you run into bearing life problems, etc. And we're not really "facing" it in the sense that we're removing a bunch of material... it's mostly just to ensure that the excess paint is removed and you truly are dealing with two square to each other, flat surfaces.
I can't remember when the switch was made from titanium bottom bracket shells to alloy. I think I had an early C50 which had a titanium BB and then my current C50 from 2008 which I believe is alloy, and I think that's the year they switched to using English threads as well. The C59 is definitely alloy, and not ti.

As for your Ridley, it's really about how well the install is done. I've done Praxis Works, separate right/left alloy cups, separate right/left Delrin cups, and a Chris King PF30. All have held and worked fine, but they were all problem cases at the beginning. I just go straight to using Loctite Primer and Loctite Retaining Compound, and use a proper press and bushings, and so far, knock on wood... zero failures or premature bearing wear. But I would say you are right, with Pressfit Bottom brackets you are really looking for the least worse option. Just try to get a proper installation done and you should be good though.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ

duvivr6
Posts: 218
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:28 pm
Location: PR

by duvivr6

So I think most of all have been said about how nice C-40s are, I have been riding my Mapei for the last 2 months. It never lets me down, its nimble and comfortable. Mine is the older version (non B-stay) with Star fork. I use a shim for my seatpost and stem no issues here.

BTW: I also have a C-50 Nice riding similar to C-40 and a C-59 whole different animal.
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Bondurant
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Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:28 pm

by Bondurant

Mike was my first port of call...None in his distribution channel sadly.



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