Colnago Super Saronni #2

Ernesto Colnago began his career in the bicycle industry at the young age of just 13, starting out as a welding assistant at the bicycle manufacturer Gloria in Milan. After a serious racing bike accident in which he broke his leg, he opened his own workshop in his hometown of Cambiago in 1952. He quickly began building his own frames and teaming up with the then professional racing cyclist Fiorenzo Magni. This resulted in him working as a mechanic for the Nivea professional team, which was the beginning of an unmistakable success story. Through his close collaboration as a mechanic and frame builder for the best professional cyclists of his time, such as Ganni Motta, Michele Dancelli, Eddy Merckx, Giuseppe Saronni, Moreno Argentin and many more, he repeatedly managed to significantly improve details on racing bikes and bring groundbreaking innovations to the market.

The Campagnolo Super Record groupset was the ultimate derailleur of its time. All sorts of strange claims were made: the aluminum was some kind of super special alloy, the black anodizing was some kind of super special coating, etc. The truth is a little more banal. The aluminum used is exactly the same alloy that was used on the Nuovo Record. The black anodizing is - wait for it - black anodized. The real technical differences were the use of exotic material for the two large Allen bolts and a larger "flange" on the pulley cage. The derailleur feels good in the hand, has a timeless look and feels valuable simply because it was once so absurdly expensive. It's hard to define what makes a classic, but whatever it is, the Campagnolo Super Record has done the job.