Colner "Convertible"

[Jesper]

Is this the most meaningless frame design? This bike is apparently either designed by and/or built by Colnago.
I cannot wrap my head around the useless "top tube". It provides nothing except added weight, and I guess something to talk about. If it was necessary for the bike's structural integrity there would be no need for dual down tubes. Also, odd to have a shifter braze-on and chainstay cable stop that is not used on the model as built (nothing on left side). I have never seen this design before. The bike is circa '89-'90. One of my Italian suppliers has it for sale on ebay if someone is interested (talk to me, and I may be able to save you some money since I have done business with Manolo before; but even with my discount I find it a bit high considering shipping and taxes added). I only post it as a curiosity.

 

[juvela]

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convertibleness likely done for male dignity so that a male rider could pilot the machine without the embarrassment of riding a "ragazza bici"

frame constructed with Agrati bits so unlikely to be later than mid-nineteen-eighties

Agrati ceased fabrication of cycle bits in the early eighties, near to the time they acquired Torresini (Torpado)

bulge-formed head is Agrati "EXPORT" pattern

fork crown is Agrati item N. 001.8518

seat lug Agrati "AM" pattern N. 090.8059

bottom bracket shell not visible clearly enough for ID

dropouts Agrati N. 000.8002

forkends Agrati N. 000.8010

plate style seat stay & chain stay bridges are Agrati pieces for which do not have the stock numbers; more than one style of these was offered

shift lever boss & chain stay stop suggest a derailleur geared edition was offered as well

headset appears to be OFMEGA

thank you for sharing this fun curiosity!


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[Jesper]

Thanks for the info @juvela !
At my stage in life I have no pride so I do not mind riding a step-through frame. I ride old Raleighs that are ladies bikes, and rebuilt a cheap girl's mtb from a thrift shop so I had some wheels when working out of town since I couldn't pack my own bike.
It seems that no one wanted to ride that bike; looks nearly new! If it was about a $100-$150 less I would consider buying it myself and reselling it to the beach cruiser community in my area, or maybe converting it to a multispeed. As it is presently priced I would need to sell it for about $500 just to break even, and most folks do not want pay that much for a used bike unless they were wanting it as a collectible.
I still find it odd to have the frame fitted with the shifter/cable braze-ons. Easier to leave them off a few frames than to have them on all frames. Given that it has fittings for the shifter and cable (BB shell also?); why is the drop-out missing the derailleur mount on a late 80s frame? I would have to drag out a "claw" adaptor from my 60s-early 70s bins just to adapt it for multispeed use.
My curiosity beyond its design extends to who actually built the bike since Colner was a means of separating the brand from Colnago and allowing them to widen their market share (and sponsor "Colner teams") with less expensive bikes. Thus, why would Colnago specifically state their involvement even to the degree of using a Colnago style head badge and seat tube decal (Colner was an "ace of spades" logo)? From what I have gathered, all Colner frames were contract built, and none were manufactured by the Colnago factory directly. Could this have been a marketing attempt to boost sales of a marque in its waning days, and also have been built by and not just designed by Colnago?
When did Colner become defunct?
I am going to inquire if the BB shell has a "clubs" cut-out which, if so, would lead me to believe that it was actually produced by Colnago.

 

[juvela]

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Jesper escrivinated -

"At my stage in life I have no pride so I do not mind riding a step-through frame. I ride old Raleighs that are ladies bikes, and rebuilt a cheap girl's mtb from a thrift shop so I had some wheels when working out of town since I couldn't pack my own bike."

keep in mind we are talking Italy culture here

unable to comment on Colner marque and why or why not things done as am ignorant as to details of all the prestigious
Italian marques of the modern era

others more knowledgeable are likely to glide in anon


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