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FEATURES: RACY LANGUAGE: HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY ERNESTO
Tim Maloney
February 9, 2012
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Road Bike Acton spoke to Ernesto Colnago at his office in Colnago HQ outside of Milano and Signor Ernest was in a great mood on his 80th birthday. "Today is a vey nice day; we are having a small celebration and I have had a lot of calls and visits from many friends. A day like this happens only once in a lifetime so it's really special
At 80 years of age, Ernesto Colnago is still going strong. "Il Mago di Cambiago" (the magician of Cambiago). Born to parents Antonio and Elvira on February 9th, 1932 on the family farm in the village of Cambiago, 15 miles east of Milano, Colnago has gone on to become perhaps the best know road bicycle maker worldwide. From humble beginnings as a 13 year old under-age apprentice in the Gloria factory, Ernesto Colnago has become a true icon of cycling.
In 1951, Colnago was working at Gloria and crashed in a local race, breaking his right leg. Immobilized by a cast, he worked from home building wheels and eventually made enough money to open a tiny shop in Cambiago in 1954. A chance meeting and precise repair of champion rider Fiorenzo Magni's bicycle won young Colnago a shot as assistant mechanic on Magni's Nivea squad at the 1955 Giro d'Italia. From that point, the legend of Colnago was launched. He began to build bicycle frames in his tiny workshop for pro teams and built a custom bike for 1957 Giro d'Italia winner Gastone Nencini of the Leo-Chlorodont squad, then for 1960 Olympic track champion Luigi Arienti
In 1962, became team mechanic for the emerging Molteni squad, with Gianni Motta (above) then became head mechanic of the dominant Italian national team in 1964 continuing for 10 world championships. The man from Cambiago started to become well-know for his bicycles outside of Italy, with innovations like more durable cold-set forks and cast lugs fora more rigid frame.
Another landmark for Colnago was Michele Dancelli’s 1970 Milano-Sanremo victory, the first by an Italian since 1953. This win on his bicycle inspired Ernesto Colnago is to create a new logo with the ace of clubs (asso die fiery), a nod to the the blooming of the spring flowers in Sanremo and Ernesto Colnago’s driving ambition to be “an ace" in cycling. The next year, Belgian champion Eddy Merckx arrived at the Molteni squad, a move that would put Colnago on the top of cycling.
With Merckx at Molteni, Colnago won it all; the Giro dItalia, Tour de France, all the Classics, World Championships and their crowning achievement together, the World Hour Record on Wednesday, October 25, 1972 in Mexico City. Colnago built a jewel of a track bike that weighed 5.5kg track bike and Eddy rack up 49.431km in that single hour. Due to contract restrictions, all the bikes Colnago built for Eddy Merckx and the Molteni team were decalled Eddy Merckx. In 1974, Colnago began direct sponsorship of the SCIC team and since then, Colnago bicycles have been used by more than one hundred professional teams, more than 2500 pro riders who have over 8000 wins on Colnago bicycles.
Besides Merckx & Magni, Colnago has supplied bicycles to riders like Gastone Nencini, Giuseppe Saronni, Gianni Motta, Gibi Baronchelli, Gianni Bugno, Oscar Freire, Johan Museeuw, Tony Rominger, Pavel Tonkov, Yaroslav Popovych, Erik Zabel, Alessandro Petacchi and many others. Colnago has made his reputation not only on race wins but on a long legacy of innovation with steel, titanium and carbon fiber bicycle designs that have always been considered world-class.
For his 80th birthday, Colnago celebrates his birthday with a special C59 Ottanta limited edition bike. Ottanta means eighty in Italian only 80 of the bike (above) with it's gold finish with Master-like arabesque lug decorations and Ernesto Colnago’s signature, equipped with Campagnolo Super Record EPS 11s electronic components will be produced. The C59 Ottanta also has a unique head badge: the original Colnago "Eagle and Arrow’" logo that was created in for the first Colnago frames 1954 and inspired by a local newspaper that described Colnago as fast as an arrow when he won a race.
At 80 years old, Ernesto Colnago is going stronger than ever. “My 80th birthday is like an intermediate sprint, it’s the not the finish of my race. I still love to work and create new bikes. I don’t want a cake or a big party, the special bike is my way of sharing my birthday.”
(Racy Language Disclaimer: I saw my firsT Colnago in 1971. Jim Huetter, a rider in my bike club had one he bought in Canada. I got my first Colnago almost 40 years ago and today I have two; a C59 Italia and an EPS. One of my finest moments as a writer was in 2007, when I finally finished the difficult English translation of Colnago's biography, "Colnago: La Bicicletta" written by Italian cycling journalist Pier Agusto Stagi of TuttoBici)
COLNAGO ALBUM
The Colnago "Forever" bike made to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary.
Artwork from Ernesto's office.
Some Belgian racer used to ride Colnago bikes....um, hius name was Eddy something.
The "gold bike" presented to the Pope.
The fabulous Colnago C59.
The private museum inside the Colnago headquarters - one of the greatest collection of racing history.
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