Decisions, decisions

Ok guys here's the dilemma, I only have room for one nice vintage steel bike in my life. About six months ago I purchased an early 80s Colnago Super in STUNNING red paint scheme & yellow decals. It's so bloody nice, however it's a (tasteful) respray/refurb, so not original paint...but lovely colour. Downside as well, paint seems a little thin and wondering if it'll start chipping once I start riding. Other downside is that the original fork is not with the bike - but instead a NOS Columbus chrome fork with Campag dropouts. Very nice fork to compliment the bike, however not the original one.

I've been gathering loads of nice mostly period SR parts to go with the above bike, and have been really looking forward to getting it built, only the wheels remain. So I'm close.

Fast forward to last week and I come upon a beautiful 89' Olmo SLX frameset in a local shop, in fantastic condition (see Olmo appreciation thread). It's super nice, in silver paint scheme. It's not as much of a looker as the red hot Colnago, but it's a killer bike with original paint and original fork.

So my question to you guys is - which bike would you keep? For the past week since I picked up the Olmo I've been swaying back and forth, wondering which one to sell on and which one to keep. I'll only keep one and plan on having it for years to come. Cheers for suggestions!

bump.

yeaaaaaahhhh. I know, 'harden the f*ck up and pick one douchebag'. I realize how much of a pontz I am by posting this but am genuinely interested in people's responses. Indulge me.

Post pictures. I say keep the Olmo, but I haven't seen them and they're not my bikes.

thanks @Tijs, pics attached

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nago

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Personally I like the Olmo better. The paint, lugs, chrome and internal routing are great. Would look proper with silver parts too. Colnago doesn't really do anything for me. The non original paint and fork probably seal the deal. Picture probably doesn't really do it justice though.

Going to be that guy and say stick with the one that fits you the best, that is if the size and geometry are different.

If we're talking about keeping the one that looks the best, then I'll go Olmo. As @Tijs has mentioned, the non-colnago fork is a letdown. Olmo just looks great and has a lot of potential.

Agreed. Olmo looks like a fiddy-three/four, Colnago more a 56/7.

If you're 5'7-5'10 keep the Olmo, any taller the Colnago.

Yeah Olmo's indeed a 53, the colnago is actually a 55. I'm about 5.75 so they'd both kinda fit I think, with the Olmo probably being slightly more my size (correct me if I'm wrong guys).

i'm more or less the same height as you and I usually ride a smaller frame, between 51-53. I had a 55 back then and it felt that I'm overstretching, did not know I was until I got a smaller frame.

5.75 as in five feet and three quarters of a foot? So 5ft 9inches? That'll be the Olmo. Happily it's also by far the nicer frame.

I assumed he meant 5 foot 7 inches. I ignored the .75 hehe

haha my bad guys yes you are correct @Shroom, I'm about 175 cm OR 5 feet 7-and-a-half inches tall...so @Hefty yeah I guess that even further cements the case to go with the Olmo

to be fair to the Nago, that up there is a shite pic, here's a better one in its' current almost-built-up state. I'll be sad to see it go but for the reasons stated above the Olmo seems more and more like the obvious choice

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Can't you just keep the frame? Or no room/need the funds?

totally would love to just keep the frame hanging in the garage or something:) but yep space and funds are an issue, will have to sell it on

175cm is 5ft 9in.

But thanks for coming.

Not according to this

Edit: but thanks for coming ;)

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Look again. It's 5 feet and 8 57/64 inches (round up to 9 inches), or in other words 5 feet and three quarters of a foot (5.74 feet).

Well well, thanks for coming to me x 2, soz Hefty

For a second there I thought I was shorter than I actually am. Still though, at 5 feet 9 inches I'm still more suited to a 53 than 55 I think?

sell the colnago, olmo is looking super nice

No worries fam, there's no real reason for a normal person to understand the imperial measurement system unless they're planning to move to America, Myanmar or Liberia.

And yeah, the Olmo is the one. :)

yep stop fucking about and get the Olmo.

sell the nago on.

you're welcome

haha

cheers for all the responses you absolute legends