Colnago

[Bustedknuckle]

This is utter rubbish.

As someone who rides some of Europe's highest cols every summer (well over 2,000m) on a Colnago C59, and has also tested a Wilier Zero7 on the exact same climbs I know. Why? Because although the Zero7 is marginally lighter, it is a LOT less comfortable which means I fatigue a lot quicker and end up with slower times. This really matters when you are climbing for between 1 and 2 hours for each mega-pass and doing 2 or 3 per day. My C59 is so comfortable I can string together 50,000m of vertical ascent in a fortnight.

The other big difference I have noticed between the Colnago and the Zero7 is descending. Nothing descends with the smoothness and confidence of a well-fitting C59. The Zero7 was a very different story. Again, reducing accumulated fatigue is the key.

Yup, all true. Merckx, DeRosa, some other really high end Euro frames were also a little heavier than their 'competition', but much more comfortable and durable..which makes for a better all around ride. Want to save grams, trim your nose hair.

 

[jcothron]

I'm sure most of you gentleman have far more experience than I do, but I'm posting as I'm a recent convert. I've ridden Specialized, an older aluminum frame that was nice but harsh. I've ridden Cervelo... which is a bike/frame I grew to love over the year plus that I was riding it.

October of last year I decided to splurge, go all out, build that "dream" bike if you will. I chose the C60. I had heard all the stories and opinions of how much difference I would see once I had ridden it and although I smiled at the thought I can't say as I really thought it could be that much different. I had to wait for the paint scheme I wanted to come over from Italy, and finally got the thing built in January.

Of course I love the way the bike looked, as I had basically picked out every detail, but not in a million years was I prepared for my thoughts after riding it for just a couple of hours. It is just.. smooth. It's tight. It seems to flatten the road as it were. That can't be interpreted as being extremely compliant, because it is also the stiffest bike I've ever ridden by far. When you start climbing, up you go. You stand up.. you don't feel the flex, or at least I can't. They people saying riding one is on another level are exactly right in my opinion.

Btw.. if you are in the market for a Cervelo frame let me know, I'm building another Colnago

Colnago C60 by John Cothron, on Flickr

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I'm sure most of you gentleman have far more experience than I do, but I'm posting as I'm a recent convert. I've ridden Specialized, an older aluminum frame that was nice but harsh. I've ridden Cervelo... which is a bike/frame I grew to love over the year plus that I was riding it.

October of last year I decided to splurge, go all out, build that "dream" bike if you will. I chose the C60. I had heard all the stories and opinions of how much difference I would see once I had ridden it and although I smiled at the thought I can't say as I really thought it could be that much different. I had to wait for the paint scheme I wanted to come over from Italy, and finally got the thing built in January.

Of course I love the way the bike looked, as I had basically picked out every detail, but not in a million years was I prepared for my thoughts after riding it for just a couple of hours. It is just.. smooth. It's tight. It seems to flatten the road as it were. That can't be interpreted as being extremely compliant, because it is also the stiffest bike I've ever ridden by far. When you start climbing, up you go. You stand up.. you don't feel the flex, or at least I can't. They people saying riding one is on another level are exactly right in my opinion.

Btw.. if you are in the market for a Cervelo frame let me know, I'm building another Colnago

Colnago C60 by John Cothron, on Flickr

I hear it crying from here. Not Record EPS? Well, at least not Spam.

 

[jcothron]

I hear it crying from here. Not Record EPS? Well, at least not Spam.

LOL... I hear you. I'm just not a Campy guy and didn't want to change now. I stayed Italy as much as I could, although the wheels aren't Italian either.

 

[42x16ss]

Enve's and Di2 should get you a beautifully light bike, that should be at or below 7kgs. While I agree with BK on the Campy, I'll also tell you to remind people that Mapei had Shimano on their Colnago's for years

That's one nice bike!

 

[jcothron]

Enve's and Di2 should get you a beautifully light bike, that should be at or below 7kgs. While I agree with BK on the Campy, I'll also tell you to remind people that Mapei had Shimano on their Colnago's for years

That's one nice bike!

Thanks! 7.25kg to be exact. That's with cages and everything. I'm relatively heavy at 185 lb., but I can tell you the bike 'rides light' if that makes sense. I like it so much, I'm doing a V1r as well.

 

[Captain Serious]

I love how Wiggins said recently that his favourite ever bike was a C40.

I have a theory that most pros want light weight and decent comfort,
and it's only the sprinters and some of the bigger guys
whose priority is stiffness.

Think about it: they do a million miles a year on mostly country roads that
wouldn't exactly be as smooth as a NASA runway (are they smooth? ).

Also, going by Aus Ebay, it's amazing how Colnagos hold their value in the used market, compared to other brands.
People pay heaps more for the name

 

[King Boonen]

As far as I'm concerned there is no better production bike than this. To be honest, if I was buying a frame I'd be getting it handmade for me, but if I could pick up a second hand one of these on the cheap I'd do it in a flash.

As for weight, if your bike is to heavy you're too weak.

 

[jcothron]

I love how Wiggins said recently that his favourite ever bike was a C40.

I have a theory that most pros want light weight and decent comfort,
and it's only the sprinters and some of the bigger guys
whose priority is stiffness.

Think about it: they do a million miles a year on mostly country roads that
wouldn't exactly be as smooth as a NASA runway (are they smooth? ).

Also, going by Aus Ebay, it's amazing how Colnagos hold their value in the used market, compared to other brands.
People pay heaps more for the name

I don't know if any of you know who Nathan O'Neill is, but I ride with him quite a bit. Not only can he rip your legs off without even trying..lol, but his comment to me one time was that out of the hundreds of different bikes he has ridden in his life/career.. the C60 was by far the best frame he had ever ridden from an all around standpoint. Comfortable, stiff, etc.

 

[King Boonen]

I don't know if any of you know who Nathan O'Neill is, but I ride with him quite a bit. Not only can he rip your legs off without even trying..lol, but his comment to me one time was that out of the hundreds of different bikes he has ridden in his life/career.. the C60 was by far the best frame he had ever ridden from an all around standpoint. Comfortable, stiff, etc.

I have no idea who he is, but by confirmation bias I'm going to say he obviously knows his stuff

 

[Captain Serious]

I don't know if any of you know who Nathan O'Neill is, but I ride with him quite a bit. Not only can he rip your legs off without even trying..lol, but his comment to me one time was that out of the hundreds of different bikes he has ridden in his life/career.. the C60 was by far the best frame he had ever ridden from an all around standpoint. Comfortable, stiff, etc.

Interesting.
Yep, he's a multiple national road TT champ, for those who don't know.

Then there's Tafi, who had a C40 painted as a Cervelo when he first moved to CSC

 

[blutto]

Also, going by Aus Ebay, it's amazing how Colnagos hold their value in the used market, compared to other brands.
People pay heaps more for the name

...or maybe, just maybe, it could well be more correct to say that people are paying heaps more for the performance that the name delivers ( sorta like Tafi who really wanted the performance but actually had to hide the name )....because I gotta agree with Wiggins that the C-40 was one sweet frame ( and followed very closely by the C-50...though it maddingly just missed the mark... ) and btw something that may never be available again....

Cheers

 

[Captain Serious]

...or maybe, just maybe, it could well be more correct to say that people are paying heaps more for the performance that the name delivers ( sorta like Tafi who really wanted the performance but actually had to hide the name )....because I gotta agree with Wiggins that the C-40 was one sweet frame ( and followed very closely by the C-50...though it maddingly just missed the mark... ) and btw something that may never be available again....

Cheers

Ah yeah, probably, but it's also the old aluminium and steel ones that sell well.

I've never ridden a carbon Colnago, but I've ridden a couple of old
steel ones, and they were nothing special and weighed 2 tonnes.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Colnagos don't really cost heaps more than other bikes. They are just ridiculously overpriced in the US. You can easily get a C60 frame right now for less than $3500 from Mike at Maestro.

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

I've never ridden a carbon Colnago, but I've ridden a couple of old
steel ones, and they were nothing special and weighed 2 tonnes.

Had both the C40 and C50, even a Bi-Ti. C40's were preferred by the Classics guys because it was soft and flexy, great for cobblestones. C50 was much stiffer, pure RR. That 'nothing special 2 ton' Colnago steel was also pretty standard issue up until the late 90's. There was a point where more than half a squad and a big percentage of the peloton were riding stock MasterXLight steel frames. Mapei, Rabobank, Casino, Tonissteiner, Lampre, Landbouwkrediet, and Panaria.

 

[42x16ss]

I don't know if any of you know who Nathan O'Neill is, but I ride with him quite a bit. Not only can he rip your legs off without even trying..lol, but his comment to me one time was that out of the hundreds of different bikes he has ridden in his life/career.. the C60 was by far the best frame he had ever ridden from an all around standpoint. Comfortable, stiff, etc.

The same Nathan O'Neill who used to smash us every year at the TT Nats? Good rider, still very fit I hear.

 

[42x16ss]

Ah yeah, probably, but it's also the old aluminium and steel ones that sell well.

I've never ridden a carbon Colnago, but I've ridden a couple of old
steel ones, and they were nothing special and weighed 2 tonnes.

Thems fightin words!!! Lucky you threw on a smiley

 

[42x16ss]

As far as I'm concerned there is no better production bike than this. To be honest, if I was buying a frame I'd be getting it handmade for me, but if I could pick up a second hand one of these on the cheap I'd do it in a flash.

As for weight, if your bike is to heavy you're too weak.

Best looking bikes ever made IMO. They still build up reasonably light (around 8kg) with Chorus and decent wheels too. Masters are still a lesson on how a bike *should* ride.

 

[jcothron]

The same Nathan O'Neill who used to smash us every year at the TT Nats? Good rider, still very fit I hear.

Yes, that would be the same one. I don't think he has the same level of fitness he had then, but then 75% of it is more than most around here can contend with. He can roll when he wants to. He is a partner in an LBS now.

 

[Captain Serious]

Thems fightin words!!! Lucky you threw on a smiley

Ha. Well, the 2 steel ones were pretty old, and I conveniently left out
that they might've been cheaper models (I'm not sure). The frames were
around 2200g (57 and 58); I weighed them before they were put together.

However, like all of them, they had no trouble selling.

Yep, I'd love to havea spin on a Master Light or x Light,

 

[Captain Serious]

Yes, that would be the same one.
I don't think he has the same level of fitness he had then,
but then 75% of it is more than most around here can contend with.
He can roll when he wants to.
He is a partner in an LBS now.

Drew Ginn has been smashing us lately on our Tuesday night smash-fest.
Wow!! Monster,

 

[Captain Serious]

Wiggins was about the elaborate, but the farkin guy
interrupted him with the next question. Spewin!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYkp2C61g7A&app=desktop

 

[King Boonen]

Best looking bikes ever made IMO. They still build up reasonably light (around 8kg) with Chorus and decent wheels too. Masters are still a lesson on how a bike *should* ride.

They had a frame-set in my local shop, it took a huge amount of self control to not just go apply for a credit card and deal with the cost some other time! They're just brilliant and are probably the only "production" frame I would consider at the moment.

 

[winkybiker]

I hear it crying from here. Not Record EPS? Well, at least not Spam.

I heard that if you put anything other than SR on a C60 Ernesto comes around to your place and slaps you.

 

[jcothron]

I heard that if you put anything other than SR on a C60 Ernesto comes around to your place and slaps you.

LOL, he must be an extremely busy man then!... having to slap all of his own marketing people

http://colnago.com/c60-italia-2014-2-2/?lang=am