The Colnago Super Roma bicycle appears to be the first version of the Colnago Super, released back in 1968. This information is based on various threads I have read online. Unfortunately I have no official Colnago literature for confirmation. I believe the Super Roma was manufactured using Columbus SL tubing (like the later versions) and was only available for a few years making it quite rare. Apparently the Roma name was in reference to 1960 Rome Olympics where Luigi Arienti won a gold medal riding a Colnago frame.
Colnago designed the Super for high performance using a different geometry to other manufacturers of the period. The Colnago Super was also stiffer and lighter. It was extremely popular and remained in production for some 30+ years. For majority of those years, the Colnago Super was built using plain round tubes for the top tube, down tube and seat tube. It also featured crimped chain stays. If you have a Colnago vintage steel frame with 3 round tubes, there is a high likelihood the frame is a Colnago Super.
Colnago released many iterations of the Super over the years. The frame received regular updates to it’s design and styling. If you compare a 1970’s Colnago Super frame with a 1980’s model, there are many features that will be different. Learn more about how to identify a Colnago Super.
Using this Guide.
Where possible, I have included links to the complete set of photos for each bike shown in this guide. You will find that sometimes the supplier of these images has dated the model differently to this guide, which does not mean that it is incorrect. I have simply included pictures that match the features described by the aforementioned references. Whilst this guide utilizes the best sources of information I can find online, I am not able to confirm the accuracy.
Before you begin.
The first step is to make sure that the 3 main tubes of your frame ie. top tube, down tube & seat tube are all plain round tubes. If any of these tubes are profiled, oval or crimped, then you should start with how to identify a Colnago vintage bike.
Key Feature of a Colnago Super Roma
The most distinctive feature of these frames was the 9 hole bottom bracket as you can see in the mage below, In this image you can also see the crimping in the chain stays and chain stay bridge located behind the bottom bracket. All images courtesy of steel-vintage.com
References
Colnago Super Roma Classic Road Bicycle 1968 (steel-vintage.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.