Bit dark last night but here’s a tear shot as it hangs.

My reproduction Paino decals were in the mail and despite having to pack for tonight’s overnight fishing trip I was too excited to not get busy putting the decals on.

With some fantastic instructions from Greg (Cyclomondo on eBay), soapy water, steady hands and a keen eye I managed to get the head badge and down tube Paino decals on perfectly. So so happy with them!

Better pics in the light ASAP, but for now I’m gone fishin’!

Gah…

A little history: When I was a little kid (before I owned a proper bicycle) I used to haunt Europa Cycles (back then they were on Clarence St. across from Clarence St. Cyclery) as my parents worked in the city and took us in every weekend.

I used to just walk in and stare at all these bicycle frames on the wall, crazy colours, clover shaped tubing and almost all of them featured little stickers with a dove on them (Columbus Tubing!).

Over the years I kept haunting Europa. I eventually bought a road bike off them when I was in high school (it had friction gears and gold plated parts!) and later I ended up working in one of their bike shops in Randwick.

I’ve always had very high regard for Colnago ever since. I suppose it’s the crème de la crème for me.

I’ve been slowly but surely getting back into bikes again thanks to my Paino and yesterday I thought I’d drop into the official Colnago web site. What I saw there was pretty upsetting. Their new bikes look like everybody else’s bikes. Really ugly. We’re talking swoopy chunky carbon fibre frames (all of which are made in Asia now) and ugly sports shoe like graphics…then I saw the Master and it sparked something. They’ve been re-releasing the same old Columbus steel Master frame for a few years now, it’s the same exact design from the 80’s (1983?), with all the glorious details (check the fancy lugs!).

I did more searching around, funny as all of a sudden I’m chatting to Jing on MSN and Googling bikes (again), and not fish tanks… and then I saw the 2011 Master in white (above). I pretty much had a mini heart attack. Love at first sight.

The idea of having a brand new old skool frame with the latest 2011 componentry excites me. Sure it’s not going to be as light or as fast as the new carbon things but this is a matter of the heart, and for me, that always wins. I dropped a few mails to see if I can get one locally at a reduced price in exchange for Bikes Move Us Forum Sponsorship, no go. It turns out there’s not much margin on these bikes. There is no stock held as they’re made by hand, in Italy (yes, very exciting!) and the wait is apparently up to 9months!

Being as broke as I am I’ll just have to chill for a bit. I’m hoping I can still get this 2011 white frame (colours change every year) next year, somehow. I might never own a Ferrari F40, this might just be the next best thing!

New decal set.

Original decals before frame respray.

Frame after respray with all decals but the large Paino logotype on the downtube, also issing the ‘spade’ headbadge logo which also appears on the seatube.

Super happy today as I just found and bought a Paino decal set from the one and only Cyclomondo on eBay (he makes the best quality retro road bike decal reproductions out there). Yes they’re different to the original decals on my frame but it’s about as close as I’m going to get. More updates when the decals get here! :)