Colnago Arabesque 30th Anniversary Road Bike 1984

When it comes to classic bicycles, the Colnago Arabesque is undoubtedly THE must have for any collector. Very hard to find, the original Arabesque might be the most well-finished bicycle that Colnago has ever manufactured.

It was produced around 1984 to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the company: Ernesto Colnago wanted to create a bicycle which would be a milestone, both for himself and for the bicycle industry.

By looking at the lugs, it is simple to understand where the name "Arabesque" comes from. Those "arabesque shape" lugs actually remind of Gloria Garibaldina, an Italian company Ernesto Colnago worked for. As for the tubing, the Arabesque was built both with Columbus SL tubes and special profiled Colnago tubes (similar to the Columbus Gilco of the Master and Esamexico).

The frame became so popular and legendary that for 2016, Colnago started to produce a number of reproductions from a stash of leftover lugs. But unfortunately this reproduction looks just like Colnago Master with special lugs. It somehow lacks the elegance of the original.

This Colnago Arabesque is simply a breath-taking beauty from 1984 (Se. No. 202) . The frame and parts are in a such great condition, which shows that it has almost never been ridden. We got this rare piece of cycling history from a rider who is turning to more modern bikes and who had his wall decorated with this beauty. There it hung for years and years until he finally felt like letting go. The frame of this Arabesque was built with a special tubing with a profiled shape, like for the Nuovo Mexico model, which perfectly matches the "Arabesque" lugs.

But what makes this Colnago even rarer is the Campagnolo Super Record groupset specially designed for the Colnago 30th anniversary and which sports 10 real gold clover inlays. Most of the produced Arabesques were sold as framesets and very few bikes were equipped with the special anniversary components, indeed. The parts also show a pantographed Colnago logo, even the pedal spindles!

Some further highlights of this Arabesque are the pearly blue paintwork and the Colnago branded tires and straps.

There is nothing more to say about this masterpiece. One of the rarest bicycles ever produced: for true collectors!