1990 Colnago Master Olympic
1990 Colnago Master Olympic
The Colnago Master was considered the premier Italian racing bike for over a decade.
Ernesto Colnago first released the Master in 1986. It was a trendsetter. His innovations included microfusion steel lugs and elaborate airbrushed paint jobs. The diamond-shaped tubing in the Master began the bike industry-wide movement away from traditional round pipes. Colnago also popularized the use of straight blade forks, which was way ahead of the curve (so to speak).
Campagnolo with Syncro indexed shifting
Campy’s second generation “click” shifting.
Diamond-shaped, not round tubing
This particular bike features parts from Campagnolo’s Chorus and Athena groups with Synchro indexed shifting, the second generation Look pedals, and the first “anatomical” shaped handlebars made by Modolo. The flashy paint job made it unmistakably a Colnago.
Fabulous airbrushed paint
Over ten years the Master was the bike chosen by classics specialists, sprinters, and tour riders alike on the toughest cycling teams. The Panasonic team, Buckler, Russia’s Alfa Lum, Ariostea, Lampre, Clas, Tonisteiner, WordPerfect (remember that team?), Mapei, Roland-Colnago, Superconfex, Rabobank, and Casino. Some members of the Mapei team still picked the Master for rougher races as recently as 1999.
This beautiful bike is on loan from our friend (and local realtor) Jim Kennedy.
By the way, you can still get a new Colnago Master from Classic Cycle, and the steel fork is still an option.