Cycling Weekly — January 11, 2018

Chris Netherclift, 1992 Colnago Carbitubo

“Cicli Artigianali is a club that we set up

about two years ago. We’ve got lots of old

bikes and we wanted to put them on a

website, show them off, let’s go for a ride...

and two years later we’ve got 200 people

and 300 bikes on the site. The important bit

is that we’re taking the bikes out and riding

them, not just hanging them on the wall.

“I’ve got the Carbitubo, the first carbon

Colnago. It comes from a time before

they had the knowledge to make a carbon

monocoque but it’s a fantastic ride. I’ve had

it about 12 months and built it up. You see

the Mapei team bikes regularly but not the

black and red style with the split down tube.

“It’s got Shamals, C-Record

groupset, nine speed, and it’s

just as Campagnolo moved to

the first set of Ergo levers that

weighed a ton. It’s aerodynamic

but it weighs so much that it

negates it!

“People want modern bikes

because you can ride them into the ground

and forget about them, but bikes like this

evoke a memory of a bygone era... or when

you were a child you saw a picture of Eddy

Merckx on a Molteni. People want that bit of

childhood back.

“Colnago is a classic Italian

brand that is still available. It’s

the memory of the classic riders.

People want to feel that they’ve

got a part of that history when

they buy a Colnago. We’ve lost

a lot of the English builders.

The Italians have that style that people

appreciate and it comes out in the bikes.”

“The Italians

have that

style that

people

appreciate”

Carbitubo: a carbon original

In the grounds of Chavenage House

Classic Arabesque

has been reissued

Cycling Weekly | January 11, 2018 | 25