How to identify a Colnago Profil CX (First Edition)

In the early 1980’s Colnago began experimenting with crimping main frame tubes to increase stiffness. Colnago referred to these crimps as ‘ribs’ in their early brochures. They also experimented with ways to reduce aerodynamic drag. The Colnago Profil CX bicycle is an early example of this experimentation. Unfortunately I was unable to find any mention of the Colnago Profil CX in any old Colnago catalogues.

Special features of a Colnago Profil CX

I believe the Colnago Profil CX was released around 1984, not long after the release of the first edition of the Colnago Nuovo Mexico, as it shares the same crimp configuration ie. a single crimp on either side the top tube and a single crimp on either side of the down tube.

Aero features of the Colnago Profil CX.

The most notable feature of this frame is the shift levers are mounted on top of the down tube. The shift cables are then routed inside the down tube and exit near the bottom bracket. The fork also appears to have a slightly different profile and the crown is marked with ‘CX’ lettering.

Another interesting feature was the lack of a braze-on front derailleur mount, thereby requiring a clamp-on front derailleur. One possible reason for this could be if you wanted to use the bike with no front derailleur and just a single chain ring as a slightly more aerodynamic time trial bike.

Cromovelato paint finish.

Many of these frames were also sold with a Cromovelato finish. This requires the frame to be fully chrome plated and then sprayed with a tinted colour coat (often candy red or blue). This gives the frame a reflective gloss coloured finish and would have been a considerably more expensive process due to the entire frame requiring an intensive polish, followed by a multi-step chrome plating process and then a spray paint application. Unfortunately whilst it is a very beautiful finish, it seems the paint was not particularly durable.

The following images are presented from several Colnago Profil CX bikes to highlight the general features of a Colnago Profil CX first edition.
Images courtesy of steel-vintage.com

Colnago Literature.

The following websites have a large selection scanned Colnago literature including reviews, catalogues and brochures.

bulgier.net
2velo.com

Article References.

I hope you found this article interesting. I have listed the following website pages as general references.

steel-vintage.com
www.flickr.com

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.