# Colnago UPDATE - My Update!



## Cyclingisalive (Jun 22, 2008)

I have been reading with GREAT interest all the different postings - some are truly great and do show that YOU understand the true Colnago spirit & history and other simply shows...nothing! 
CX-1 - I have had the pleasure of having a CX-1 in my hand, 940 grams for a 52s frame. It has ALL you can expect from a Colnago! I can not wait to take it for a long ride. Question - way are you so focused on where it is produced? Does any have the same same approach to the Chinese build Prince Pinarello? Scott? Cervelo? Specialized? The Look made in Tunisia? I do not think so! 
Did you guys know that Mr. Colnago personally has hand picked each person that works on the CLX, & CX-1? Mold for each model is made in Italy and then shipped to Taiwan.
Riding quality & safety is Mr. Colnago main focus - that is why we, at present, have not seen a 800 gram frame....and when was the the last time you saw a Pro rider standing on the side of the road with his broken bike? I could mention a few brands....and seing the PRO tour teams using the CLX and now the CX-1 is not sign from Colnago on their believe in those frames.
The recommendation of purchasing a Colnago not following the Official distribution channel...brings you: NO warranty as you must provide a proof of purchase from an Official Colnago Dealer in North America - I speak by experience!!! Would you ever buy a Ferrari from a shady "dealer" somewhere with no support, warranty? I do not think so (sorry I speak on your behalf)!
I have been dealing with Veltec - I wanted to get an update on the ETA of my Extreme Power - I spoke with Soeren the Sales Manager at Veltec Sport, I got great feed back, recommendation on how to build my Colnago, some inside stories on how Mr. Colnago sees the perfect bike build - such as longer stem, wider bar etc I ride a 59 Traditional frame with a 130 stem and a 46 bar o/o and NO spacers. My frame got to my LBS a week before I was promised by Soeren - it was drop shipped to my LBS directly from Colnago at no extra cost, at that time it was only a 10 dat delay in respect of the initial promised delivery date.
Did you read Cycling News last Friday? It will make you understand the Colnago history, passion...as the article is about a Gentlemen where is Colnago collection is worth more than $330.000 AUS - not many other brands have this kind of story to be told!

Ride safe - Ride Colnago and stand out!


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## optimieron (May 27, 2007)

Glad that you received great customer service from Soeren. Seems like you are the exception to the rule. Unfortunately they are the only game in North America for an official Colnago. I still love Colnago and had a great ride here in Belgium today in East Flanders but sometimes you get a bad taste in the mouth.

Br,

Michael


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## Cyclingisalive (Jun 22, 2008)

Hi Michael,

You are in heaven - Belgium and riding your bike! And none one is throwing "stuff" at you while you are riding!
Could the looong delay of delivery be that you did choose a special color - not stocking color? I wanted one - they told me 8-10 months of delivery - a core color, I think they have 2 or 3 defined as core colors...core color delivery would be 8-10 weeks...and basically it was kept.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Cyclingisalive,

In this thread of yours, I think you are trying to sum up a bunch of other threads. Best bet is to reply to each individual thread on each specific issue, but I'll try to address all of your issues regardless.

How do you already have a CX-1? If that is actually the case, then I would assume that you are treated very well by Colnago/Veltec for some specific reason. If I'm not mistaken, the CX-1 isn't available to the general public yet.

Would I buy a Ferrari from a "shady" dealer? Not for anything close to full price. However, what if you can get it from an overseas retailer at 30% off, after taking into account the cost of shipping, with a receipt? I know plenty of people that used to buy their Mercedes and BMW's while in Europe because they were getting great deals on them. Are you implying that Maestro and Bellatisport are shady dealers, because that is where most of us are getting our frames for a decent deal? As far as warranty service from Veltec is concerned, there are a couple of posts on this board about how terrible their warranty service is. So, what good is it to buy a full price frame from a "credible" dealer with a full warranty, versus a frame for a fraction of the price from a "shady" dealer. If the warranty is worthless, why pay extra for it? I had this issue with a SVAT baby monitoring camera. It was warranted for a year, and it broke on us. I tried to get SVAT to address the issue, but their warranty response system is like pulling teeth. The camera is still sitting upstairs waiting for a response after 3 months, and it is about to be put in the trash. Obviously, we will never buy another SVAT product.

While you are implying that it is a "global" economy regarding the manufacture of frames, it seems as though you have an issue with it being a "global" economy when it comes to retailers. Is there really a difference between Maestro and Bellatisport when compared to USA dealers that buy from Veltec, who allegedly charges an arm and a leg for frames.

As far as my aversion to a Taiwan built frame is concerned, it is a personal choice. Just like it is a personal choice of mine not to buy any cars other than Ford/Lincoln/Mercury, not to buy guns made by Browning, not to buy guns from one of my local dealers, etc. If I'm not mistaken, an Asian country was recently boycotting the importation of beef from the US. Does anybody know what country that was? Just did a quick google search. It was South Korea with 80,000 people protesting the importation of beef.

What I don't understand is why Americans cannot make up their own mind to spend their money on whatever they want for whatever they want. If I don't want to support foreign countries with my money, why should I get any grief from anybody. This is America, where we have the freedom to do so. If I decide to build a bike with mostly, if not all, Italian components, why do I get grief from people that I am boycotting Taiwanese built components/bikes.

In the Colnago Picture Thread, I read a post stating that a triple on a Colnago is like a bike rack on a Ferrari. Well, a Colnago made in Taiwan to me is the same thing as a Ferrari made in Taiwan. Once Ferraris are made in Taiwan, the history is all but gone. Especially for me, a child born of two Italian immigrant parents. I can buy plenty of cars made in the US that will out perform a Ferrari, but a Ferrari is, well, just that, a FERRARI.

As far as Colnago "hand picking" all these employees for the Taiwanese factory, that is all fine and good. I'm assuming that in Italy he would "hand pick" the employees as well, AND also supervise the employees with some frequency. How often is he flying over to Taiwan to check on what is going on? Personally, I believe that Mr. Colnago is getting away from the business, and possibly giving more control of things to his children. I could be wrong about this, but that is my gut feeling.

I hope this addressed all of your issues.


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## Cyclingisalive (Jun 22, 2008)

I do not have a CX-1 - yet! I was lucky to be at my local bike shop when it was presented.
I do not have any problem with global economy - at all! I have a problem when poepole want the best - and only wat to pay "chinese pricing"! But expect the same treatment as they did support their local shop! Why not support your local shop? Why support a shop in the UK or CH?
Supporting your local shop, the official channel also means that you should have a 100% support in the warranty period (as a minimum) - saving 30% could turn out to be quite expensive!
Colnago has 2 engineers, Italian, living in Taiwan performing QC and that all in made accordingly to Colnago.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Cyclingisalive said:


> Supporting your local shop, the official channel also means that you should have a 100% support in the warranty period (as a minimum) - saving 30% could turn out to be quite expensive!


If you play the odds, there would have to be a Colnago warranty problem in 1 out of 4 frames for it to make any sense to pay an additional 30% for the warranty. I got suckered into the extended warranty on the first car I bought. I paid an additional $650 on a 1989 Mustang that cost $14,650, and I never got any benefit from the warranty over its 6 year period. I did take it in for a synchro problem on third gear and they told me they wouldn't cover it because I had put P245 tires on the car versus the P225 that came with it originally. I haven't bought an extended warranty since and have never felt like it was a mistake. I feel the same way about saving 30% on a Colnago frame. The odds are probably in my favor since their reputation is pretty darn good. Even then, if it isn't covered under warranty, Mike at Maestro can repair a decent number of the Colnago frames. Saw a repair job on this board for $850 and the bike looked brand new. That in itself makes it worthwhile to save the 30%.


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