Image courtesy of steel-vintage.com
The original Colnago Mexico bicycle was released in the early 1970’s to celebrate the 1972 Eddy Merckx world hour record, however this Colnago Mexico TT is a completely different bike.
The Colnago Mexico TT was designed in the late 1970’s and manufactured in very low numbers and is not mentioned in any of the Colnago catalogues I have. This model was ridden to victory in the 1980 Olympic games 100km team time trial by the USSR cycling team. However, I’m sure that was not the only performance advantage at their disposal..
Design features of a Colnago Mexico TT.
Just like modern bikes, the Colnago Mexico was designed with the same considerations. Maximum stiffness, minimum weight and aerodynamic features. Who would have thought that back in 1980 the design ethos for bikes was not that dissimilar to modern aero-road bikes. Interesting design features include;
- Oversized bottom bracket for extra stiffness at the cranks.
- Thin, lightweight frame tubes.
- Aero placement of shifters on top of the down-tube.
- Aero bladed forks and fork crown.
- Crimped (non-round) tubes for maximum stiffness to weight ratio.
- Internally routed brake and shift cables.
- Brake callipers fitted behind the fork and seat stays for aero benefits.
The Colnago Mexico TT is surprisingly rare, I only found it browsing the steel-vintage.com website and surprisingly it is currently advertised NOS 54cm model for sale (as of May 2020). I have no doubt that it would be a good investment for an avid collector.
The original Colnago Mexico featured all round tubes, but the Colnago Mexico TT is built with heavily crimped tubes. From what I can discern from the images, it looks like 4 offset crimps in each of the main tubes. These crimp locations are similar to the bikes that followed like the Colnago Nuovo Mexico (v2) and the Colnago Master.
All images courtesy of steel-vintage.com.
Colnago Literature.
The following websites have a large selection scanned Colnago literature including reviews, catalogues and brochures.
Article References.
I hope you found this article interesting. I have listed the following website pages as general references.
Disclaimer!
Please remember that this information is only to be used as a guide.
I consider myself an enthusiast, not an expert. The information I have presented in this article is based on my many hours of online research.
In addition, there will always be frames that don’t quite match the characteristics of a particular model as they could have been a custom build, prototype etc. Note: forks can also be swapped between different frames.
About Me.
I have been riding and working on my own bikes for many years now. I wanted to share my experiences, knowledge and research with others. My aim is to inspire people to get involved in all aspects of this amazing sport. Cheers.
Comments.
I welcome reader feedback in the comments section. Should you wish to suggest an amendment, please include a note advising the source of your information so that myself and other readers can ascertain the accuracy of your information. Note: Trolling or argumentative comments will be removed as they are counter-productive.
Do you have a idea who produced the small round top tube shifter mount? Kind regards!
Hi Lou, sorry I do not know if it was something made by Colnago or another supplier.
I have this Colnago Mexico TT Aerodinamica. Size 54. The frame has been completely restored and is chromed with all new original decals. We are in the process of cleaning all the original parts and putting it back together. It will be for sale when I’m done and will be beautiful! If theres any interest out there just let me know.
Hi Dan, sounds like it will be very nice when it is finished, probably Ebay is a good option.
I would like to sell my recently restored Colnago Mexico TT Areodinamica. It is almost all original except for the rims and the stem. I do have the original stem but it was broken and in pieces. A new stem was made to replicate the 3ttt original. I also put campy first generation C record brake levers since the original levers didn’t work very well. The bike has been professionally rechromed and all new original decals. The rims are NOS Ambrosio. The saddle is the original superleggera that has been professionally refurbished. I can provide many professional photo’s of the bike. It is a work of art and a beautiful addition to any collection.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/198134024@N05/albums/72177720307677865/
Out of curiosity, is the bike in the UK? Be interested to know when you’re selling and what you’re asking for it.
Hi
I have the same model but with a 650 front wheel, and I want to sell it
Do you have any idea wich is the best to proceed ?
Most likely ebay or similar.. Some countries have dedicated vintage bike shops that may purchase it from you like Steel Vintage Bikes in Germany.
I do believe all Aerodinamicas had 650cc front wheel.
I have a gold plated Colnago Mexico TT “Aerodinamica” size 56. Seems to find this TT you’ve listed and once upon a time I read about 3 gold plated versions were made and one was handed to the king of spain. I seem not to find that literature, but hope one day when I sell to have the correct details. I’d love to share some pics with you.
Hi Alejandro, sounds like a very nice bike. How to share images on Cycling Obsession
Merci pour l’info !!
Thanks for this article. Ironically, I came across this as I am looking to build up a size 59 Aerodynamic TT Lo-pro – looking for a 650C front rim, if anyone is selling.
I bought this bicycle – the exact one in the picture – from SVB in April of 2020. They are a great shop to deal with. For some rich background on the bike, I am pasting from the SVB email to me in March of 2020. “The Mexico TT is completely original and unchanged with the exception of the tires which we had to swap. This was because the former owner had already changed them for a mix-matched set, thinking the original tires – which did not hold air anymore – were done. This is the classic road version, not the Low-Pro – hence both wheels are 700c. The Assos wheels are a rare and desirable feature. As for the paintwork seems to be a sort of silver plating with some thin clear coating. It has aged in a strange yet intriguing way. Reportedly there was only one other bike with exactly this colour and setup which was possessed by the Colnago museum.
The original owner was an engineer who worked as a test rider/driver for cars, motorcycles and bicycles. He was the guy who brought Enzo Ferrari and Ernesto Colnago together for the ‘Concept’ bike, Colnago’s first carbon fiber based bicycle. We bought this bike together with a couple of others from his son, a physicist from Milan.”
If anyone has a 650c Assos rim with/without a C-record hub, will be interested in buying.
Hi Michael, very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Tangent to this article, was looking for a way to contact you and ask about the 1989 C35 Ferrari – anything you have written about them or research. I looked on the site but didn’t see a way to write you. I am an owner of two C35s and cannot find anything about how the color schemes were decided, for example. I wrote Colnago but no response. I also need to find a professional Colnago specialist who can repair one – the adhesive that they used in one part is coming loose. Happy to get any guidance via email. Thanks, again, for the time and effort you put into this site. I greatly appreciate and value it.
Hi Michael, sorry I really don’t know much about the C35 other than the information already presented. Being a carbon fibre frame, I would expect that any carbon fibre bike repairer would be able to assist you with repair / re-bonding of the frame. I also think it may even be possible via your local Colnago distributor, to send the bike back to the factory for repairs. They still manufacture the carbon bonded C68 frames over there, but it won’t be cheap. Otherwise, just search online for carbon bike repair specialists in your area. Best of Luck.