Colnago Primavera - My second BlackPearl

[Vishy]

Finally, the day has come, when I could say am a proud owner of a
COLNAGO PRIMAVERA - my second BlackPearl :)

Its been over three weeks of waiting time for a road'ie.
I intially gave Venky a sum of money and requested him to build a
road'ie around that value., with Tiagra's. To my luck, no bike was in
stock, except for a Colnago.
At that time, I was short of money, and hence couldnot afford
Primavera. Venky gave me two bike options - a Polygon Helios and a
Raleigh Grand Sport. One day at Venky's shop I saw Helios., it looked
awesome and had all the components that I could afford. Unfortunately
the Helios was of smaller frame size and I had to wait again for right
size or right bike.
Added to this wait, Venky told he is travelling for a week or so, end
of the day, Venky ended travelling close to ten days. And each passed
day was like sitting in a cauldron, boiling in waiting period. Like
they say 'patience is a virtue', my patience and wait really paid off
by getting a bike which I could only can dream of.
I called it patience because, in the past three weeks, I really felt
like buying a Trek or a Bianchi, but something inside told me to wait
for Venky to come and conrfirm back to me. And everytime I mailed
him, he told me to wait, wait and wait. His replies kept me pushing
till 21st Nov 09.
I think he came to Bangalore on wednesday or thursday, and from that
day onwards, I messaged him every hour and poor Venky, he replied for
each and every message of mine, and kept my hopes alive of getting a
road'ie.
Friday visited Venky's shop, as he told he is getting a Raleigh. And
I had almost decided to go for Raleigh as it has Tiagra's and other
components looked pretty decent. Once again, to my luck, the frame
size was way too small - a 47cm one, and I wanted a 51cm or 52cm.
At that time I decided to try my hands on Colnago as no other road'ie
was available except for a Merida RoadRace 880. And I somehow gained
confidence that I would repay that mammoth sum and told Venky that I
will go for a Colnago.
Actually, Venky was telling me to go for a Colnago from day one, as it
the best road'ie available. Because of the cost, I hesitated.

Now enough of history, let me come to the main part - THE BIKE

Saturday night at 2146 hours Naveen fixed the bike and was ready to
rock, or rather fly. Immediately I clicked some poor snaps, and took
the bike out on a spin. Road was pretty empty, and carried the bike
on to the other side of the road., man, the bike is feather lite,
weighing just 8.2 kilos.
Sat on the bike, turned the pedal anti-clockwise, kept my right foot
on the pedal, and vroooom!!! The bike literally crusies on road.
With very little effort, I could feel the bike rushing on the deserted
road (now I can imagine how you road'ies flew). Came back to shop,
Naveen took a ride, just to check the bike is fitted, tightened,
loosened properly at all required places. Had to reduce the seat
height by an inch and there it was... the wheels were ready to roll.

Coming to the components

Bike comes with full Tiagra - 9 speed., shifters are at its best.,
like a hot knife in cheese...very very smooth shifting.
Wheels are Shimano R500 which are light and very sturdy, already took
some minor beatings on the way back home, as there were very little
visibility on road and thanks to small potholes. Venky gave me
Continental Ultra Sport tyres, and told me that will last for atleast
10,000 kms., which has got excellent road grip and gives great
confidence while riding.
Seat post, stem and crankset (50/34) are from FSA and undoubtedly they
exceed in doing their part.
Tiagra brake's slows down the wheel rotation whenever you give the
stopping command and within 1 or 2 seconds, bike comes to a stand
still.
Basically the bike dont come with pedals, and have to buy them
separately. For time being I have put the regular flat pedals, and a
month down the line will upgrade the pedals.
Bike comes with Prologq Kappa seat, which is neither cozy nor
aggressive and the white colored seat neatly goes with the bike color
which, as you all know, is a combination of black, red and white.
Venky gave me Sigma cyclo, which is pretty good and it showed that I
clocked a top speed of 43.50kmph, covered a distance of 17.14 kms and
so on...
Last and the best part - the frame and the paint job. As everyone
knows, Colnago's are one of the best manufacturers of frame's, and
Primavera being an entry level bike, the frame clearly shows the time
and perfection devoted on building such a strong and a beautiful
frame. There is no compromise with the build quality. The welding
job is precise and the paint job is just beyond comparision. A carved
Colnago logo on either side the carbon fork and the red paint filling
is the best part I liked. ZVenky once told me "Colnago's are not into
mass manufacturing, they are into quality." Here it clearly shows.

All in all, a complete bike and a full value for money.
Hope I have covered almost all parts / components in this initial
review. Pls spare me / correct me if I have gone wrong.
Special thanks to Venky, Naveen and Murthy who helped me selecting and
getting a good bike and always guiding me to take the right path.
Am yet to take the bike on a BIGG ride, as am badly stuck in training,
which will go on next weekend also :(

Cheers!!

[knmurthy]

Hello Vishy,
Congradulations on your awesome bike,
I was in the store when Naveen was fixing the bike for Vishy
We do not have say more Coz it is a Colnago the name speaks for itself
the bike is amazingly built and the paint job is very good and is of
typical Colnago quality
Looking forward for a kickass ride with your shortly however I am off
to Sakleshpura this weekend
Once again Congradulations please post some snaps of the bike and of
course you on the bike
Murthy

[Ashish]

Congrats Once again(Already congratulated u at Venky's).. Now do a
Nandi This week!!

Cheers,
Ashish

[Vishy]

Hi guys, thanks a lot.

@ Murthy: Agreed, its undoubtedly the best bike I have ever seen.

@ Ashish: Actually, am stuck in training and this sat / sun is the
last session. Dec onwards its non-stop riding :)

Cheers!!

[Anand Almal]

Congratulations Vishy!! The Primavera is the most sexy bike I have seen so far.

anand

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From: Vishy <br.vis...@gmail.com>
To: Bangalore Bikers Club <bangalor...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Mon, 23 November, 2009 8:27:51 AM
Subject: [BBC] Colnago Primavera - My second BlackPearl

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[meetbadri]

Congrats Vishy on your new bike... and indeed it's the black
pearl :-)

cheers,
Badri

[Vishy]

Thanks Badri.

Cheers!!

[Nadana Sigamani]

Congrats, How about some pics of this bike?

Siga

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 8:19 AM, Vishy <br.vis...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Badri.