1979 Cornelo Super

You know, you look just like this bicycle I know. Are you related to an Italian bike named Colnago?

Why yes I am. I’m his step-brother.

In the 1970s, a Dutch bike shop owner named Henk Kokke made frequent visits to Italy. On one of his trips he bought a couple of racing frames from Ernesto Colnago. There was one frame for Henk’s son Corné and one for racer Bart van Est. The exotic Colnagos drew quite a bit of attention in the Netherlands and it became apparent that the Italian frames would sell. Henk decided to start his own imported brand. He came up with an Italian-sounding moniker (rooted in the name of his son Corné) and contracted with Ernesto Colnago to build the bikes. As far as we know, Cornelo frames are still available today and they’re built the same way. The frames are still bought in Italy, painted in Belgium and assembled in St. Willebrord, The Netherlands.

This particular Cornelo is constructed much like the Colnago Supers of the era. The Colnago club emblems have been omitted, but the Columbus SL tubing, the build precision and the wonderful ride characteristics are all there.

Cornelo head badge

1978 Dura-Ace brakes

Dura-Ace 7200 EX crankset

Shimano slant parallelogram derailleur

Brooks B17

This bike, being of such international flavor, is a great showcase for the Japanese Dura-Ace 7200 EX group. This Shimano component group is fairly similar to the popular Campagnolo Record of the time but with two notable design improvements. First, the rear derailleur has the slant parallelogram design first invented by Suntour in the 1960’s. This derailleur design keeps the distance between the top derailleur pulley and the freewheel cogs consistent no matter which gear you were in. Shifting with this design meant that the pull on the shift lever was easier. The other neat little design touch was the crank arm bolts that would double as their own crank arm extraction tool, a labor saving touch that mechanics loved.

1979 Cornelo Super