Mr. Fusion

Step into a haute cuisine diner and you might stumble upon some fusion dishes: delicacies that mixed two or more ethnic cuisines. Served correctly, combining the best of each cuisine origins will give you an entirely new culinary experience like no other.

This late 1980s Concorde Colombo can be considered as a fusion serving of bicycle parts from many country of origins. Concorde is a Netherlands-based company that builds frames from many other suppliers, and rebrand them as their own. Some of the notable ones are the frames that was built by Giovanni Pelizzoli (of the original Ciöcc fame) and the TVT 92 that shared the same manufacturer as Delgado's Pinarello. Colombo frames were made of Columbus Aelle tubing, making them a great choice for aspiring enthusiasts. Ultech dropouts found on the chainstay and fork ends, while the Italian threaded bottom bracket shell might be a clue to the Colombo's country of origin.

This particular bike was brought to our shop by its new owner for a thorough once over after what appears to be a long term neglection from the previous owner—surface rust on the chromed finishes, blemished paint, and many more. We stripped the frame off its parts, rejuvenated the paint and chrome finishes, replaced the stretched chain and torn bar tape, and did our cable magic.

Already adorned the Dutch-branded Italian frame is cockpit setup from Cinelli and Mavic, and an almost complete set of Shimano's 8-speed 1055 groupset straight from the early 1990s—right down to the oval-ish Biopace chainrings. Interestingly, the bike is rolling on a pair of 8-speed Campagnolo Zonda wheels, complete with the 8-speed 12-25T cassette. While this combination might not work theoritically, the derailer, shifter, and cassette from entirely different brands played along well with each other. True fusion indeed.

Your Q-Ring's great grandpa

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