Colnago Master Piu - Saroni Red

Velonutter

I have been lucky and finally managed to source my Saroni Red Colnago Master and I'll probably get slagged for this, but my intention was to build up a bike that can be ridden, not one that I can pretend to ride up the steepest of hills with a 53/42 and 11/23, hell I can hardly do that with a 50/34 :roll: , so it had to be built with modern compatible components.

The seller was in Italy and didn't speak any English and I don't speak Italian, but he was advertising this on Fleabay, my size and my favourite colour for a Steel Frame, so we managed to negotiate the whole deal using Google Translate and it worked perfectly with about 10 or 15 exchanges.

I didn't have the money to buy a new Saroni Red Master, but I decided to sell my Cervelo P2C TT bike and that will fund this purchase and build more than adequately.

We settled on €700 for the Frame, Forks, Campag C-Record Headset, A-Head Converter and a further €330 for the Campag Neutron Ultra Wheels and a Ritchey Ally Seat post.

The frame had been resprayed recently so was in very nice condition with just the odd blemish.

The plan is to ride it on some Audax's and Classic Club rides and just when I want to stick two fingers up to a hard ride and just enjoy it. So the bike had to be fully rideable and comfortable, thus why I stuck a 29/12 on the back from what I had lying around the Garage from my failed Majorca trip last year. The groupset came from my old C40 which was the last of the Ultra Torque Multiple Shifting Athena 11s groupset.

I similarly had a set of rather nice Cinelli Neo Carbon Bars and Stem from my old C40. For saddle wise I had acquired a Colnago Badged Selle Italia Nekkar which I though I might try, don't know if it will be comfortable but worth a try.

Thanks to some of the lads on here I had managed to get some rather cool Elite Ciussi Bottle cages. I managed to get an excellent condition Campag Carbon Record Seat Post and along with some Michelin Pro 4 tyres (My current favourite all time tyre) and a set of LOOK Blade pedals finished the bike off and I completed the build at about 01:15 this morning.

Now as I said, a lot of the parts I had from my C40, but one of the things I wanted to keep were oversize Carbon Bars and Stem, however, I can't help feeling that there is a mismatch with the Ahead Converter, it probably doesn't help that I am not the most flexible (alright well built :roll: ) of people and I need 23cm's combined at the Head Stock of the bike, which means spacers, I'm still debating whether to get some black spacers or keep the Ally finish, or even get a set of Ahead forks for it, which would work out a little expensive for now, so if any of your have any thoughts about how to improve the front end, then it would be appreciated.

All in the bike weighs 9.2kg with everything on, so not exactly a lightweight and I could probably save a Kg changing to a better/lighter groupset and a lighter saddle, but would there be any real benefit????...probably not apart from vanity

I did have a small mishap when fitting the UT cups, my tool managed to scuff the BB as it rotated to tighten the cups on the left hand side, quick visit to Halfrauds and some Ford Metallic Red paint fixed the job so it is hardly noticeable, I'm sure it won't be the last scar that it picks up under my captainship :roll:

I've had some Neutrons before and know that they spin up nicely, so these Neutron Ultras should ride even better and look stunning in the flesh.

I know some will argue that this should have been built as a classic and only to use Alloy or Chrome Parts, I already have a beautiful concourse Geoffrey Butler Track Bike in the garage permanently under covers and I didn't want the same from this bike, it needed to be ridden and I already had all the parts and as funds are limited then any major alterations for looks will have to wait.

I'm going to give it a quick 40 mile ride in the morning and then ride it on the Shenstone Audax on Sunday, exactly what I built it for.

jimmybloom

That's a beautiful frameset and a lovely build, wouldn't change a thing!

mustol

Agree with JimmyBloom - looks fantastic, leave as is - enjoy!

Velonutter

Thanks Jimmy & Mustol, appreciate your thoughts, my mates just been round and suggested carbon spacers for the headset, might break things up a little?

jimmybloom

I don't think it needs it, though it not much of a task to swap and try it out. If I were being picky I maybe change the seatpost for a polished one.
A friend has a master in black built similarly, in the flesh its a real thing to behold!

Velonutter

Cheers Jimmy It came with a Ritchey Classic Aluminium one, but it had a few marks, went for Carbon to make it ride a little better on my butt :-)

In the Sunlight the colours are just fantastic, hopefully I will enjoy the ride on it tomorrow...please don't rain!

jordan_217

Oh my sweet lord, that's handsome.

declan1

That's amazingly beautiful. I'm glad you've built it up to ride instead of it sitting around doing nothing

Velonutter

Thanks Jordan & Declan,

Just switched the headset spacers and IMHO it has made a major difference and broken the head up, fortunately I had some spare Deda 1" Carbon Spacers that did the job perfectly, what do you all reckon?

Velonutter

This is how the seller had it set up, probably a little more classic and possibly a little heavier: -

arran77

I think I prefer the silver stem and seatpost to be honest, like you say, a bit more classic, very nice either way though 8)

Cheshire Cat

Simply gorgeous, and definitely should be ridden, and ridden, and ridden.

napoleond

Nice

blackstick

Ola, very beautiful ItaliannooooOOOOOOOOOO bike~~ perhaps a shiny stem instead of the black one? carbon seatpost looks gooooddd

FransJacques

Very beautiful. PR82 is my all time Colnago fave colour scheme.

Gotta ask, those handlebars....not doing the asthetics and justice. They're bent like crazy and are sooo deep I'm surprised a human can reach the drops.

Vis a vis the stem/post: black and silver both work so long as they are in harmony.

RideOnTime

Looks like a smasher...

Velonutter

Thanks FransJacques, the colour is truly gorgeous.

Lol about the bars, they are surprising comfortable, I would have liked some 3T Ergonovas like I have on my other Colnago's but that would just be for vanity when these are perfectly fine for now, maybe when I have some money spare and flog some more stuff to fund it.

I'm much happier with the Carbon Spacers and Post now.

I did a nice 64 mile Audax on it on Sunday and was comfortable all the way round, exactly what I built it for.

BTW Thanks ROT appreciated.

jezzasnr

love that

rolf_f

Velonutter wrote:

Thanks Jordan & Declan,

Just switched the headset spacers and IMHO it has made a major difference and broken the head up, fortunately I had some spare Deda 1" Carbon Spacers that did the job perfectly, what do you all reckon?

I think the black spacers look better. TBH, modern headsets, for all the functional improvement, lack the elegance of a quill stem. If you are going for polished, then stick a quill on. If it's modern, don't pretend it isn't by using polished spacers!

Velonutter

Yep, have to agree with you Rolf.

Velonutter

Here's an update on my Saroni having done nearly a 1000 miles on it.

I've changed the groupset to Campagnolo Super Record, the 2010 variant and have changed the bars and Stem to 3T ErgoNova LTD and ARX LTD Stem. I've got a Fizik Kurve Chameleon Saddle to switch over this afternoon.

I have to admit that of the five Colnagos that I own, this is my favourite, it just rides so lovely and every time I see it, it makes me smile. Weight is about 8.5Kg, but once you are aboard you totally forget about that.

For me, I wanted a bike that is more than just a show peace, it has to be ridden and enjoyed, thus giving this 1991 frame a modern kick,

philhul

As nice as the Arx Ltd is I think this could do with a less bulky stem to better suit the frame. Otherwise gorgeous!

Velonutter

philhul wrote:

As nice as the Arx Ltd is I think this could do with a less bulky stem to better suit the frame. Otherwise gorgeous!

Thanks, I know what you mean, but then it wouldn't match the bars, at the end of the day it's not a show model, it gets ridden and I love it, so somethings I have to sacrifice.

RideOnTime

1000 miles. good work.

napoleond

Nooooo

Stem looks awful

Velonutter

NapoleonD wrote:

Nooooo

Stem looks awful

Stem is staying :roll:

napoleond

A beautiful elegant frame capped by the joint least elegant stem

FransJacques

Still looks nice. The wheels are perfect for it. My that's a big cassette, is South Staffordshire a hilly place.

The stem is nice and would be nicer if you could slam it a bit more. The spacers look 'molto'. Too bad you didn't find a Freuler version with the taller upper head lug. I think they only do that north of 62 or 63 cm IIRC. You have almost zero drop - bad back?

Velonutter

FransJacques wrote:

Still looks nice. The wheels are perfect for it. My that's a big cassette, is South Staffordshire a hilly place.

The stem is nice and would be nicer if you could slam it a bit more. The spacers look 'molto'. Too bad you didn't find a Freuler version with the taller upper head lug. I think they only do that north of 62 or 63 cm IIRC. You have almost zero drop - bad back?

South Staffs isn't but Wales is?

Yep had bad back for years, am 54 and for the first few hours in the morning it cripples me, Adrian Tmmis did my bikes fits and all my bikes are set up similar.

Lost me with the Molto and Freuler version

arthur_scrimshaw

Classic beautiful looking bike. Are you planning to go quill stem then?

Velonutter

Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:

Classic beautiful looking bike. Are you planning to go quill stem then?

Thanks for your comments.

Nope I have an ahead converter, as I said I wanted to give the bike a modern kick and ride it, I'm not going to change anything on it, after a 1000 miles I have found it meets all my requirements and is so comfortable.

I like the Ergonova Bars, so trying to find a quill stem with a 31.6 clamp ain't going to happen and as I say, I am happy with the ride.