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I've purchased a bicycle on eBay thinking it was a Colnago as the stickers/item description would let you believe.

bike photo

Unfortunately, looking at the bicycle a bit more closely, I'm pretty sure this is not a Colnago at some clover-shape embossed stamps are missing on the frame...

The bicycle has got chrome forks and some numbers engraved on the bottom of the frame (see pictures):

  • D 014
  • 358
  • 6

bottom bracket photo showing numbers

I'd like to know where my bicycle is coming from and what made/model it is.

  • Has anyone seen a similar bike in the past?

  • Would you have any idea how to find out more about this item?

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  • Fairly generic bike. I'd guess mid 80s. The only distinguishing characteristics I can make out are the grooves in the BB shell for the cables, vs welded-on guides, and the brakes which (in the obscured picture) appear to be some sort of fancy center-pull. There's also a slap shield on the chain stay, which is a little unusual.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Aug 8, 2016 at 1:54
  • The cable itself explain everything. Getting the sticker is the cheapest way to jack up price of a generic bike, the looks doesn't even resemble knockout.
    – mootmoot
    Aug 8, 2016 at 10:00
  • The stripes visible at head tube and seat tube are common on old Crescents. But I doubt this is one since head badge is missing and their sportier models were usually orange.
    – ojs
    Aug 26, 2018 at 16:56

2 Answers 2

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I share your doubt that it's a genuine Colnago.

I Googled "when was colnago clover leaf embossed" (you could try that with the .au removed also).

The hits show plenty of people asking such questions, and a couple of the hits seem to provide valuable answers

Both of these suggest that without the "Club" embossing, it's not the genuine article.

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3

Definitely not a genuine Colnago, though it may be a "Colnago Sport". Bit of background, as far as I can remember (some of this surmise and scuttlebutt): in the 80s Colnago become too popular to keep up with demand, but still wanted to capture some of the mid-to-not-quite-high-end market. So they gave their international distributor permission to license a "Colnago Sport" brand, supplied some of the frame parts, and had those built in Finland, Mexico, and possibly Canada, except these didn't use the cloverleaf cutout in the bushings. Also, you could get these with Shimano 600 components instead of the Campagnolo-only offerings from Colnago. All in all a very nice bike, if a smidgen heavier than a Colnago Super.

Now, I do have a "Colnago Sport"/Shimano 600, inherited from an uncle, originally very probably bought in Canada, so I can compare: the decals seem to be the original silver Colnago ones, instead of the white "Colnago Sport" ones, which had the "Sport" either after or below the "Colnago" or below the cloverleaf. Otherwise, in the first image, this looks like mine, including the fork, except for the newer brakelevers. My bottom bracket looks quite different, though. A different bearing, two rectangular cutouts in the bracket tube to further save weight, overall looking more carefully machined and assembled, and only one number stamped into it, the frame height.

I'm afraid my conclusion is only a weak "maybe a Colnago Sport."

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