Cycling Weekly — January 11, 2018

Photos: Jesse Wild

Simon Smythe

was on Twitter one day and I saw
another brand talk about an owners’ ride
and it looked very kind of... not amateur
but not very organised,” recalls Yanto Barker in his
famously languid way. So the former pro and owner
of the Le Col clothing brand decided to do something
about it. “I thought, we should do that. Ten times
as well. I have a good relationship with Windwave
who distribute Colnago, I ride a Colnago, have been
sponsored by them and I know they’re a brand that
has the most loyal following of any in the industry —
so there should be a Colnago day.”
And so there was a Colnago day. On September
30 last year around 160 owners plus WorldTour pro
Ben Swift, who rides a Colnago as the team bike of
UAE Emirates, gathered on the manicured lawn of
Chavenage House near Tetbury in Gloucestershire.
Barker had lined up a programme of events to
celebrate the iconic Italian brand that included
a 40-mile ride-out from Chavenage, an al fresco
champagne lunch afterwards followed by a Q&A
with Ben Swift hosted by cycling-mad TV presenter
Matt Barbet.
“It’s just a cool, cool brand — it really is,” enthuses
Barker. “There are bikes here that have been ridden
throughout cycling history. And to have it here in this
place that’s also steeped in history and culture...”
Chavenage House also happens to be steeped in
cycling: the heir to the Chavenage estate is 25-year-
old James Lowsley-Williams who rides for Eisberg-
Canyon. Lowsley-Williams clearly relished hosting
the Colnago day and was involved from start to finish,
not only riding with the Colnago owners but also
clearing up the paper plates from under their chairs
after the Q&A.
“I wasn’t surprised by the level of Colnago fandom,”
says Barker. “The head office in Italy were also really
positive. It’s my ambition with Le Col to live up to that
same standard — my aspiration is to be seen in the
same way — so it’s really good for us.”
Was Ernesto Colnago himself tempted to make the
journey from Cambiago to Chavenage?
“Windwave were at Eurobike and talked to Ernesto
about it and he said, ‘Ah, I might come.’ But they
were like, no, just give us this first year to iron out
everything... and just come next year. So it wouldn’t
be a surprise if he turns up next year.”

Last autumn saw the very

first Colnago owners’ day

in the UK — CW joined the

Italophiles in Gloucestershire

to ask them what makes their

bikes so special

Neil Nash-Williams, 1974 Colnago

Mexico ‘Ruby’

“Most of us in the Cicli Artigianali

club are in Gaiole [at L’Eroica] at the

moment and I’m in Gloucestershire

which isn’t quite the same! My silly

moustache was grown for that.

“Why is it called Ruby? It’s

got inserts in the brakes where

they’ve drilled it out and filled in

a red section. You’ve got to call it

something, haven’t you?

“We’ve done two of

the full-distance Gaiole

Eroicas — a 212km

off-road ride. Never

had a puncture. It’s got

Royce hubs, very rare

and the first time they

did internal bearings

— they’re brass. It’s all

Super Record, everything on it was

available at the time.

“It’s an undeniably brilliant ride.

Every time I get on that bike I’m like,

‘oh, I’m home’. It’s like putting on an

old favourite pair of shoes. It hurts

me sometimes but all your bikes

hurt you in some way, don’t they?

But somehow I forgive Ruby more

than I do the others.

“I got Ruby through the club —

we help each other source things.

Obviously finding a period chrome

frame is so unusual. I identified

what I was looking for and then we

researched every conceivable way of

finding it. We have a lot of contacts.

The shifters are from Australia and

are all pantographed.

“The fact that somebody has

actually made this and filed away all

these little bits and then filled it. In a

world where everything

is so mass-produced

it’s wonderful to find

that bespoke, artisan

kind of concept still.

Increasingly people are

gravitating towards that

again. If we go up Box Hill

on these we’re mobbed.

People are not so keen to talk about

a modern bike. “Oh, I couldn’t afford

that,” you know. So it’s funny how it

transcends all that.

“Amazingly, Bob, who does

most of the sourcing, had the bits

together in about six weeks. And it’s

got to be all spot-on. You don’t want

somebody saying, ‘That rear mech is

wrong, mate.’”

“It’s a brilliant

ride. Every

time I get

on that bike

I’m like, ‘Oh,

I’m home’”

This Ruby’s an absolute gem

Cycling Weekly | January 11, 2018 | 23