Ernesto Colnago opened his bicycle workshop in Cambiago, Italy, in 1954. It measured only about 20 square metres, and his father helped make the first workbench from a mulberry tree in the family garden. Colnago began by building and repairing wheels, then moved into frame building.
A turning point came in 1955. During a training ride he met Fiorenzo Magni and noticed that the rider’s cranks had been fitted incorrectly. After the repair, Magni invited Colnago to work with his team at the Giro d’Italia. The young mechanic’s workshop had gained a direct connection to professional racing.
His interests extended beyond maintenance. The company’s history associates 1956 with bending fork tubes cold rather than heating them first. Those early years show a practical method: riders’ needs, a mechanic’s observations and metalworking skill all fed into the same design process.