London eBay Colnago Master Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve, Green Park, London

24 December 2015

The last sane thing I did today was some time before Jack and I boarded a bus to Islington, where Jack would be doing more vintage wine sampling.

We've had a running joke that if he spent enough on Enomatic credits for vintage wines, he'd have to let me buy a vintage Colnago frame.

I was joking.

At first.

Because, until today, I hadn't seen the perfect frame.

Jack was swirling a 1937 Margaux when I opened the eBay app on my phone and typed in "54 cm Colnago steel."

About three entries down was a 1986 Master, deep red, chrome in all the right places, and priced lower than I'd seen for comparable newer years. Pedro has been schooling me on Colnago's mass-production years. This one fell outside of that window. I took some screen shots and sent them off for Pedro's opinion.

I thought I was still merely goofing around until I stood up and said to Jack, "I found Rowlf."

We talked about it over a pub lunch. Jack was all in favor of my getting it. I was having a tough time rationalizing another frame. I use all four road bikes that I have; there's no need for a fifth.  On the other hand, vintage Colnago.

I suddenly remembered seeing one at Wheelfine last summer. Michael had pointed it out to me. "The one guy who knew how to draw the geometric tubes retired," he said. Colnago brought the guy out of retirement to make more, but only small ones and large ones that would sell. The one Michael had was far too big for me, and also spoken for. It was dark red, chrome-lugged, and beautiful. I remember running my hand across the ridged top tube.

If I were to bid on this, or buy it outright, I'd have to call my credit card company to make sure they'd know that a big purchase was coming. They have a habit of freezing our card every time we buy something over $500. Freeze first, ask questions later. I've taken to calling them every time we use it for something that would freak them out. That would have to wait until I got back to the hotel. I also wanted to wait for Pedro's opinion. I wanted to see if anyone would tell me on Facebook that I should forget about it.

Instead I got a handful of likes (no help there -- a like isn't a yes or a no) and a suggestion about bidding strategy.  Pedro responded, "Nice." I read that as a yes.

Still, it would be a few hours before we'd get back to the hotel. If I were still thinking about it then, I'd make a move.

A few hours later, I looked at all of the seller's pictures on a big screen. Some of the paint is chipped and some of the chrome is pitted. I wavered. I double-checked the frame size. I did a little research on the Master series.

I looked at the pictures again. The bottom bracket is astonishingly rust-free. I can't claim that for Gonzo.

Those tubes!

"Hey, Jack, can you turn the music off for a minute? I'm going to call the credit card company." 

We weren't even sure I'd be able to get through to an 800 number from London. I was able. I explained the situation. No problem.

I hung up. I clicked "buy now."

"Let's call it an early 50th birthday present," I suggested to Jack. "People can get me parts."

"How 'bout we call it a Christmas present, since it's Christmas?"

"Thank you for buying me a bike," I said. I think maybe he still has some of that vintage Margaux in his bloodstream. Maybe Margaux should be the bike's middle name.  (Oh, come on. "Rowlf" isn't exactly Italian either.)