How to identify a Colnago ESA Mexico

Colnago ESA Mexico
Colnago ESA Mexico circa 1987.
Image courtesy of www.steel-vintage.com

In the early 1980’s Colnago began experimenting with crimping main frame tubes to increase stiffness. In the mid 1980’s, Colnago and Columbus developed the ESACOLNAGO tube which was a round tube with six distinct symmetrical flutes. In 1986, the Colnago Regal was the first bike released with this tubing. The following year in 1987, the Colnago ESA Mexico bicycle first appeared in a Colnago catalogue. The main distinction between the Colnago Regal and Colnago ESA Mexico, was the Colnago Regal was built using decorative Colnago Arabesque lugs.

Whilst the ESACOLNAGO tube profile was released after the Gilco Master profile, it did not enjoy the same longevity. The Colnago ESA Mexico was the last model to be built using these tubes and no longer featured in Colnago catalogues by the early 1990’s. The Gilco Master tube profile however, is still used in Colnago Master in 2019.

Special features of an Colnago ESA Mexico.

As mentioned previously, ESACOLNAGO SL-Record tubing is the special feature of this frame. The Colnago ESA Mexico is built using conventional lugs. Image courtesy of www.steel-vintage.com

Colnago ESA Mexico top tube
ESACOLNAGO 6 flute tube profile.

Variations between Colnago ESA Mexico frames.

Whilst all the examples I could find featured both crimped ESACOLANGO top and down tubes, the seat tube on some frames is round whilst on other frames the seat tube is also an ESACOLANGO tube as show in these photo’s.

Colnago ESA Mexico seat tube
This seat tube is regular round tubing.
Colnago ESA Mexico seat tube ESACOLNAGO
This seat tube is ESACOLNAGO tubing.

General features of the Colnago ESA Mexico.

These images are a combination of four different Colnago ESA Mexico frames and demonstrate the features typically found on a Colnago ESA Mexico frame. Images courtesy of www.steel-vintage.com

Colnago ESA Mexico head tube
Club symbol on lower head tube lug only.
Image courtesy of premium-cycling.com
Colnago ESA Mexico catalogue page (circa 1987)
Colnago ESA Mexico catalogue page (circa 1987)

Colnago Literature.

The following websites have a large selection scanned Colnago literature including reviews, catalogues and brochures.

bulgier.net
2velo.com

Article References.

I hope you found this article interesting. I have listed the following website pages as general references.

www.steel-vintage.com
premium-cycling.com

Disclaimer!

Please remember that this information is only to be used as a guide.
I consider myself an enthusiast, not an expert. The information I have presented in this article is based on my many hours of online research.

In addition, there will always be frames that don’t quite match the characteristics of a particular model as they could have been a custom build, prototype etc. Note: forks can also be swapped between different frames.

About Me.

I have been riding and working on my own bikes for many years now. I wanted to share my experiences, knowledge and research with others. My aim is to inspire people to get involved in all aspects of this amazing sport. Cheers.

Comments.

I welcome reader feedback in the comments section. Should you wish to suggest an amendment, please include a note advising the source of your information so that myself and other readers can ascertain the accuracy of your information. Note: Trolling or argumentative comments will be removed as they are counter-productive.

One thought on “How to identify a Colnago ESA Mexico

  • nice article, thank you! Just another piece of info: I have a Colnago ESA Mexica frame with internal brake cable routing. It appears in the 1989 catalog also, and note is made of the internal brake cable.

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