COLNAGO

When someone draws up their dream road bike, more likely than not it would look something like this bike. The Colnago C64 is made of the stuff of dreams. The C64 is fully handmade in Italy, with great care – the same care that we’ve used over the last sixty-four years. The carbon frame is built with star-shaped lugs and tubes – an iconic design element that started with the Master, and is unique to Colnago’s flagship road framesets. While it makes sense to use carbon tubing all the way around, why would a company use something as seemingly antiquated as a lugged joint? According to Colnago, the C64 tubes and lugs provide greater stiffness and resistance to bending. Lugs also allow for a greater size range; instead of using an expensive carbon mold that limits most companies to a third the sizes of the C64, Colnago can offer custom sizing. Despite its beefy tubing, the Colnago C60 is designed to be comfortable to ride for long distances, with tapered chainstays and flattened seatstays. It’s similarly comfortable to a good steel road bike as well; mid-corner bumps that normally unsettle leven the best road bikes are put under control here. Stomp on the pedals, however, and the bike just moves. It is also available in the Colnago C64 Disc.

The Colnago V2-r is an evolution of the outgoing Colnago V1-r road bike, which was developed in conjunction with Ferrari as an aero road bike with a svelte 835g frame weight. It retains the powerful direct mount brakes, but moves the rear brake to the seat stays, where it is more accessible. Aero gains have been made in the incorporation of the seatpost clamp, which is now built into the top tube, as well as refined tubing profiles that add gains everywhere. The geometry of the Colnago V2-r has also been tweaked, with a 4mm reduction in head tube length relative to the V1-R. The bottom bracket is 13% stiffer torsionally, and 4% stiffer at the headtube, yet another small tweak that makes a big difference on the road. These myriad of small changes (along with a new disc brake model called the Colnago V2-r Disc) make for a bike that is much improved over its predecessor – it feels fast, light, and confidence-inspiring on descents, just as a Colnago should.

In 1986 Colnago collaborated with Colnago to create one of the earliest carbon fiber road bikes. Called the Concept, it was a test bed of technology, and lessons learned did eventually find their way into their first production carbon fiber bike, the legendary C40. The new Colnago Concept approaches with the same mindset in bringing forth the very best technologies Colnago has to offer. The monocoque carbon frame went through 41 different design iterations and extensive wind tunnel testing, allowing the bike to save 20 watts of energy over the C60 at 50 km/h, with the Colnago Concept Disc frameset achieving similar numbers. The head tube has also received an hourglass shape, as well as a seat tube that tapers along the rear wheel, for again-upgraded aerodynamics. With capability for direct-mount rim brakes as well as flat mount disc brakes, the Colnago Concept isn’t just the fastest road bike in the model line, it’s also the company’s most advanced frameset yet.

Few bikes incite as much nostalgia as the Colnago Master road bike. The Master was the superbike of the 1980’s, and in the cycling world was as popular as the movie Rambo was to the rest of the world. It wasn’t without reason; the Master was deceptively light, even in the face of competition from aluminum and carbon fiber. It was surprisingly stiff too; as pro riders complained about lack of stiffness, Colnago worked with Italian tubing company Columbus to make a stiffer tube than the competition. The result was the star-shaped crimped tube profile that now defines the Master as we know it, as well as the modern carbon Colnago C64. The Master frameset features a whopping 17 sizes, traditional Italian frame geometry (ie long reach, low stack, steeper head and seat tube angles) the option for Art Decor colorways, the Colnago Master is a living legend.

Colnago’s heritage is illustrious and worthy of praise, and their road bikes continue on that course. Each bike is a model of top-quality construction superior ride quality that can only be derived from decades of racing experience.

Starting at just 13 years of age, Ernesto Colnago, worked in a welding shop learning to build bicycle frames, among other things. Working for master craftsman Dante Fumagalli, Colnago learned to push toward being on the bleeding edge of technology, and to push harder toward craftsmanship excellence. By 1954 & 1955, Colnago not only started a welding shop for his bicycle frames, but he became a mechanic for Fiorenzo Magni, who later went on to with the Giro d’Italia. By 1962, Colnago was a mechanic for the infamous Eddy Merckx, who donned the orange, blue, and orange jersey that defined a generation of cycling. By 1968, Colnago had moved to sponsoring the team, now racing Colnago frames with the Merckx name emblazoned on the downtube. This sealed Colnago’s fate as an influencer in the Italian cycling world, a company developed for the very specialized needs of the fastest racers.

The 1990’s led to sponsorship of the Mapei racing team. For as iconic as their cubed jerseys were, the Mapei team was perhaps the most influential cycling team ever. Cycling’s top riders were atop Colnago frames that were pioneers in design and geometry. Further sponsorship of current teams like UAE Team Emirates show Colnago’s continued dedication to making bikes that perform at the highest level. Since 1974 there have been over 5000 pro wins on Colnago bicycles, and through expansion into the cyclocross racing world, it doesn’t look like there are any signs of stopping.

Over the years, developments to bicycle technology pushed forward road bike design as we know it today. The Colnago Master had star-shaped tubing and a pioneering straight-blade fork that made the name legendary, but Ernesto Colnago’s self-professed claim to fame was in his carbon fiber work. In partnership with Enzo Ferrari, they built and later produced the first carbon fiber road bike frames. Together the pair became pioneers of carbon frame design, with Ferrari applying Formula One-level expertise and technology to Colnago’s ideas. Their first creation, however, didn’t make it onto the production line, while the ones that followed soon after were exclusive and out of the reach of the average cyclist. These developments eventually led led to the iconic C-40 and C-50 road bike framesets. Perhaps more importantly, they had explored important ideas and techniques, some of which are still used in carbon cycle manufacturing today.

Today, this dedication to the utmost quality and forward-thinking design is shown in their desire to make some of the best handling, highest performing, and prettiest road bikes on the market. While the Colnago C64 might be a modern representation of what made their formative years so historic, it uses building techniques and design that continually define the Colnago name. Models like the Concept shows that the company is still on the bleeding edge of innovation, quality, and beauty on the market.