Finally the Master X-Light is finished! Over the past year other projects kept jumping in front of this one but those are done and now so is my Colnago. The build ended up just a little different than I had planned but the changes were for the better. The idea was to build a totally modern bike, with a steel frame, top shelf components, no carbon and a classic style. To do that is kind of hard because most of the better quality gruppos today are mainly constructed with carbon. Campy Athena 11 speed was the perfect group for this build because it offered everything in polished aluminum. To stay with the polished theme I used a Deda post, stem and bars. These components are beautiful, strong and lightweight. Campy Record Skeleton brakes, a Brooks Swift Ti seat, Campy cable set and Deda bar tape round out the components for a stunning high end build. 
The one major change I made late in the game was the choice of rims. I finally decided to go tubeless on this one so I built the wheels with Campy Record hubs and Velocity A23 rims.  Hutchinson Intensive 25c tubeless tires and Stan’s valves and latex system seal the deal. I have not done tubeless before but I had heard good things about the system so this was kind of a leap of faith for me. The high polish on these A23’s is quite unusual for a modern rim but the built up wheels look great on this bike. It’s kind of a retro-mod deal. There wont be a computer on this bike since I intend to use a Motorola MotoActv device with it. The bike weighs in at 19.5 lbs, ready to ride (with pedals) so it is not a featherweight. Some weight could have been saved with the pedals and the seat choice but my goal was not to do a totally minimal bike. What I wanted in order of importance was: A compact Campy 2×11 speed drive, no carbon fiber components, a classic look, excellent performance and a reasonably light weight. For me, when you build a bike it needs to be artfully rendered, with a respect for tradtion and style. Therefore, an Italian frame, especially a Colnago must be as Italian as practicality allows. 
 I expect to use the bike initially for fair weather rides and shorter distances, say up to 60 miles. It will probably take a couple of hundred miles or so to get it dialed in and then I’ll see how I feel. After that I may try a century or maybe a 200 km on it. I will probably baby it for a while because it looks so nice! One thing that I’m trying to figure out is what to put in the seatbag. I’ll have a multi-tool of course but with a tubeless system I’m not supposed to get flats so I guess I don’t need a tube, right? I could put a pump on the bike, or just use cartridges. I am a little confused right now. Bottle cages and a seat-bag are next and then it is time to ride! 
Here is an earlier post on the build just as I was starting out on it.
The Utah Randonneur 
February 2, 2013 at 6:12 am
always take a tube. in fact, take 2 and a bit of rubber like you would with normal tyres. stans won’t seal a big gash, and if you lose a lot of air, your frame pump may not have the grunt to pop the beads in when you have a leak. you can fill the gash by pulling a bit of old, cut inner tube though it, but it’s a pain
having said that – great bike. i woulda gone the ritchie classic bars myself, but that’s just what i might use for mine! this bike will last you a lifetime of brevets. have fun!
one quick question though: could the frame/forks fit larger tyres? eg 28mm?
February 2, 2013 at 10:04 pm
Thanks for the tips! I will start with shorter rides with this bike, say 50 miles or so. As I get more comfortable with the tires well see about longer rides.
The Campy Skeleton brakes limit the tire size. But I don’t think you could fit 28’s even if the brakes weren’t an issue. Maybe some Panaracer 26’s wouldn’t fit.
December 22, 2012 at 4:52 am
Hi Lonnie,
Neat looking bike, I think the alloy polished components look great.
I have just had a 1979 Colnago “Mexico” re-finished. I have an old Campag “Super Record” groupset to assemble it with, also some new old stock 28 hole Mavic GP 4’s to build on to Campag “record” hubs.
It has been restored as original, which was in Saronni colours. i will send a photo when it’s finished, It will be a Spring time build, because the weather is so bad here until early March, and my shed is so cold.
Happy Christmas to you all State Side.
Terry ps, i have attached a photo of my Son Simons Colnago, he has since rebuilt it with old “Record” also a piccy of my 1979 “Mexico” as it was before restoration.
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