Monday, February 27, 2012

Holy Grail


This has always been my "holy grail" bike.  The famous bike presented by Ernesto Colnago to Pope John Paul II in 1979; a gold-plated Colnago Mexico:



Of course, there is only one true "Pope Bike".  It resides in the Colnago museum in Milano, Italy.  Colnago made a number of these commemorative gold-plated bikes.  Here is my newly refinished "holy grail" gold-plated Colnago Mexico Oro bicycle, complete with fresh lacquered 24kt gold plating and NOS components:




Pat. 78 rear derailleur with alloy bolts, Regina Record Oro drilled chain:



Four hole 1979 only front derailleur.  Campagnolo Mexico Ernesto Colnago pantographed crankset with milled spiders. Black anodized alloy chain ring bolts hold the Ernesto Colnago pantographed chain ring:



Black anodized Colnago alloy headset, probably manufactured by Omas:



3ttt Colnago Pantographed stem holds Colnago engraved 3ttt handlebars:



Milled Campagnolo Super Record brake calipers:



Colnago club with tri-color motif pantographed brake levers:



Superleggera light-weight saddle with alloy rails, covered in buffalo hide, and embossed with the Colnago name, supported by a milled tricolor seat post with Colnago club pantograph:



Fluted seat stay caps, finely finished lugs:



Colnago embossed toe straps, Colnago pantographed toe clips, Campagnolo Super Record titanium axle pedals:



Super Record hubs, double butted spokes:



Non-drive side of bike:



Everest alloy six speed freewheel:



First generation Campagnolo Super Record bottom bracket, with titanium spindle that uses bolts rather than the later nutted version:



Milled Campagnolo shifters, Campagnolo shifter cables:



Bike weight is 18.8 lbs without pedals, 19.6 lbs with pedals.  Can't be too much gold there!







Rims are Colnago labeled Nisi Solidals:



Crankset is Pat. 79:



Colnago labeled Clement tubular tires:




7 comments:

  1. bellissimo! man, you sure do have some lovely bikes in your collection.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Absolute amazing. Is there a means of visiting your collection? Where are you located? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. A long long time ago I worked at a bike shop on "The Hill" in Boulder and we had a gold plated Colnago just like this one. We sold it to a guy in Aspen. That was probably '81 or '82.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow just came across this researching my old bike (dad's)
      He bought it boulder and lived in Aspen....I inherited it after his death and raced it for a few years..crashed it but still have the frame.
      Love to hear your experience with the sale if you know anything.
      chris
      805 452 3248

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete