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welcome to colnago.cc ernesto colnago the favoured place on thewashingmachinepost for colnago bicycles.

in response to our (fiercely prejudiced) enthusiasm for the marque, many others have shared their own enthusiasm through e-mail, sending of photos and even talking to us when we have plucked up the nerve to attend cycling functions. colnago.cc, with co-operation from colnago uk, will endeavour to be the most comprehensive source of information on our favourite bicycle that we can manage. we're not called anoraks for nothing:-)

you might also like to take a look at molto colnago, a flickr group featuring a lot of photos of the finest machines on the planet. (but only after you've read everything you need to here:-) and perhaps this expression of colnago love too.

suggestions will be cheerfully entertained, so if you've thought of something, or just want to share, e-mail to societacolnago@thewashingmachinepost.net

photo: ben ingham

colnago.com | colnagouk.com | colnago-america.com | frfsports.com.au (australian importer)

fernando alonso tests the new ferrari

not quite sure what to say about this one. watch and learn.

posted tuesday 13th september 2011

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colnago at eurobike

i do like my colnagos, and like most, there's a degree of privilege to be had from finding out about new models even just a little bit in advance of everyone else. this has little or nothing to do with one-upmanship, for quite often the price of a sneak peek is keeping quiet until the official unveiling. as a colnago obsessive, and one living rather remotely, this is perhaps less of a problem that it might at first seem.

who the heck am i going to tell over here?

but once colnago have unveiled yet anoter re-vamped website around the beginning of august each year, and the new models are there for all to see, the next joy to be had, prior to some of these new models hopefully arriving for review, is colnago's always impressive presence at germany's annual eurobike. this is a chance to see some of the more exotic paintwork for which colnago is renowned, covering much lusted after carbon fibre. i have long been a critic of the paint schemes proffered by colnago and many of their framebuilding peers. since the art decor options on offer in the late nineties and early noughties, it is my considered opinion that paint schemes in general and colnago's in particular have headed steadily downhill.

if you've watched any of the more recent video offerings depicting the care and attention paid by the colnago paintshop to each and every handbuilt c59 and epq, you really have to wonder how much extra time it would take to provide something inherently more attractive, distinctive and memorable. of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it is only right that i remember the principle reason for purchasing and riding a colnago in the first place has very little to do with its external aesthetic properties.

eurobike is, by and large, a corporate affair, designed for the world's bicycle manufacturers to display their wares to an hopefully adoring collection of national importers both existing and prospective. it seems also that eurobike has become the magnet that attracts a considerable number of the cycling media, all intent on filling pages and pixels with just what the average and not so average punter can expect to see gracing the floor of their local bike shop in 2012. it is, at least in part, one of the principal reasons why i do not attend. the other reason has more to do with economics.

for while all and sundry are snapping every corner of every stand, and every spoke nipple of every bicycle, it seems a might pointless for me to attempt to add to this cauldron of white noise. i am a great believer in trying earnestly to bring something new to the plate, and in this case, i can't figure out what that might be. of course, that doesn't mean i hold no interest in eurobike, and in particular, those lovely colnago bicycles. happily, though it may be second hand information, so to speak, dan jones of windwave has little option but to (joyously) attend, given his position with colnago's uk importer, and he very kindly sent a considerable number of photographs of just what you and i are missing. for this, i am extremely grateful.

space i have plenty of, but words all but fail in sight of what i figure would look so much better in thewashingmachinepost bikeshed. those posted here, courtesy of mr jones, are but a tantalising glimpse.

posted tuesday 6th september 2011

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the ferrari connection

colnago's entry into the carbon end of cycle manufacture arrived through the auspices of ferrari, seen by ernesto as not only one of the more prominent experts in the field, but just as importantly, italian. prior to the arrival of the iconic colnago c40, ferrari engineers had already pointed out the fallacy in the thinking that curved forks were more efficient at ironing out road vibration than the straight version. this led to the straight precisa steel fork, the design of which morphed to carbon when the black gold took over as the material of choice.

frames such as the c40, c50, extreme power, extreme c and the original eps were fabricated from carbon tubes and lugs produced in co-operation with atr who provided ferrari with the monocoque structures for their formula one race cars. this association has resulted in seven editions of the colnago for ferrari series, often variations on the colnago flagship frame of the time.

for 2011, the incumbent model receiving the ferrari treatment is the much lauded and ultimately successful c59. i have no concrete facts regarding this particular model; i know not whether it is simply a bog standard (should such a thing exist) c59, bearing a rather attractive ferrari paint scheme, extending as far as a representation of the italian national flag along the underside of the downtube. the model shown is equipped with shimano dura-ace di2 and appropriately painted lightweight carbon wheels. this will likely place the price somwehere within the £10,000 and £12,000.

colnago uk expect to have a colnago for ferrari c58 on their stand at the uk cycle show in birmingham at the end of september.

posted monday 1st august 2011

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only month seven and already it's 2012

the ways of the world are often more than confusing. although not the only ones to do so, as of july, colnago have revamped their website to display the 2012 models that we're all looking forward to. italy, however, tends to close for pretty much the whole of august, meaning it'll be around october before many of the new offerings are available to purchase from your local colnago dealer. strange is it not?

at the top end of the colnago range, little has changed: the c59, epq, m10 and cx-1 are pretty much unchanged across the board, though one or two variations on the 2011 colour schemes may have crept in. these frame-only purchases have proved successful designs (the c59 particularly so in the tour de france) and colnago presumably see little need to make changes for the sake of changes. so no integrated seat post on the m10 (colnago do have a prototype on test), and thankfully no variation of bottom bracket.

however, sitting just below the cx-1 is the latest incarnation of colnago's first foray into taiwanese production: the clx. this is the only colnago available as either a frame or a complete bicycle, and it has been updated for 2012. most obvious change is the use of the tapered headtube/steerer, offering 1.125" at the top and 1.25" at the bottom. now known as the clx 3.0, a new model has been added at the very top featuring shimano's recently released ultegra di2, and with internal cable routing. attracting a price tag of £3999.95, it eases out the other two in the range (standard ultegra and 105) at £2999.95 and £2499.95 respectively. as yet, i have no idea if colnago uk will be offering a build with campagnolo centaur.

the all carbon ace still sits below the clx, available with both standard ultegra (£2699.95) and 105 (£2499.95). but new to the range, featuring a hydroformed aluminium front triangle, carbon forks (alloy steerer) and wishbone carbon seatstays is the colnago air. fitted with shimano 105, the frame is based on the top of the range carbon monocoque, the m10. the headtube falls into line with the entire colnago range (apart from the all-steel master) by tapering from 1.125" to 1.25". cost is £1599.95

next new member of the range is the colnago move (not sure cambiago spends enough time on its naming policy these days), fitted with shimano tiagra 10 speed, and featuring an all aluminium frame with carbon forks, again allegedly based on the m10 but with individual chainstays rather than a wishbone arrangement. retailing at £1399, the possible worry is that many of their competitors are offering carbon frames at similar prices. carbon is not, particularly at this end of the market, the be all and end all of a quality cycle frame, but marketing would prefer that we think otherwise. i hope to have review models later this year to find out.

branching sideways into the dirt, is a cyclocross model retailing at £1499.95. kitted out with shimano 105, the world cup features an all-aluminium frame with carbon fork, tapered head-tube and colnago move though fitted with cantilevers, it bears disc brake tabs front and rear should you decide to come over all contemporary. bottoming out the complete road bike range is an optionally mechanical disc-equipped model (the freedom) and a carbon street model both fitted with triple chainsets and shimano ten-speed gears. the former retails at £1099.95, but at present, i have no price for the classica. gone is the single-speed/fixed colnago super, though the classica has inherited its paint scheme, but replaced the drops with flat bars.

colnago's website has been enhanced with some (at last) relevant videos, accompanied by one or two pointless ones, but marketing seems rarely to be an italian skill. the clothing selection remains pretty much the same as released at the beginning of 2011 - winter and summer appropriate garb - and though currently unfulfilled, the clothing section contains an intriguing casual section. how many of us are thinking about ruddy time too?

as ever, the proof is in the riding, a factor that will hopefully be addressed in the autumn of this year. i look forward to it. and i look forward to 2013 bringing a more credible naming policy.

posted thursday 21st july 2011

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yellow

last year's bbox bouygues telecom team did itself and its sponsors proud in the tour de france. anthony charteau took home the polka dot jersey and a colnago to match, and the irrepressible tommy voeckler scuttered off the front of the peloton, as is his wont, to take a stage win. given that the team was pro-continental rather than pro tour, their place at the tour had been by wildcard invitation, aided no doubt by the fact that they're french. bbox and bouygues telecom ended their sponsorship at the finish of the 2010 season, and there were likely a few sleepless nights for jean rene bernadeau while he searched for new finance to keep the team afloat.

repaying jr's faith in him, voeckler opted to wait longer than was likely advisable until a new sponsor was found, in the process saving the jobs of many a fellow rider and backup staff. this year, the team races under the colours of europcar and still riding colnago carbon.

having initiated a breakaway on stage nine of this year's tour de france, though beaten to the line by rabobank's samuel sanchez, the never say die voeckler was far enough ahead of the peloton to take over the yellow jersey in time for the rest day. this latter interruption allowed ernesto and his technicians at cambiago to prepare a special yellow version of the c59 and have it delivered in time for voeckler to match his jersey, helmet and bora ultra wheels for stages ten and eleven. impressive on all counts.

however, if that were not enough to whet the appetite of the obsessive colnago fan, voeckler's original team colours have just been made available to us mere mortals as one of the colour schemes for the colnago c59. as a confirmed colnago nut, i was not slow to point out that voeckler had garnered the yellow jersey aboard cambiago's finest. many were quick to agree that the standard europcar colours were easily the finest in the peloton.

should you feel you are the possessor of an inner voeckler, arashiro or charteau, drop by your nearest colnago dealer and quote cslm. you will, of course, need £3499 to aid the order process.

top photo: sunada

posted wednesday 13th july 2011

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cool t shirt

on the basis that colnago's well recognised logo is that of the suite of clubs from a pack of playing cards, it seems likely that there is no real copyright on that part. many of the logos and headbadges adopted by the italian framemakers of the last century are arguably more distinctive than those that have appeared more recently, and thus that of colnago is easily identifiable even in minimal guise.

australian brand pam have recently paraded three additions to their cool series, one of which is shown here. whether ernesto will find it to his liking i know not, but should it suit your own purposes, it is currently available from tokyo fixed in peter street, london. cost is commensurate with the bicycles it represents at £45.

tokyo fixed

posted wednesday 8th june 2011

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fireflies colnagos 2011

last year's bikes were predominantly red and launched that the rapha cycle club in london. this year, there is no london cycle club, but colnago have yet again co-operated with the organisers of the fireflies ride to produce a limited edition of custom painted colnago c59s and master x-lights. the former are based on the matt black version, while the master frames are in balck with the usual chrome lugs. these will be sold at the full retail price with profits going to beneft the leuka charity. they can be purchased as frame only or built up with campagnolo and fsa components. if you're interested in one or other, you'll need to get your order in soon. delivery is epected to be by june 2011.

contact nick hussey very soon.

posted friday 11th march 2011

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colnago epq

the colnago eps was the evolvement of the extreme power, and the first of colnago's tubes and lug construction to feature the chs, semi-integrated headset system, a bicycle that brought more love to cambiago after a year of uncertainty as to which direction the so-called colnago revolution would point. it was, and to a certain extent still is, the finest all-round colnago i have had the pleasure of riding; the c59 is excitement unbounded, but i still figure the eps to be the thoroughbred that every manufacturer should have in their armoury. it disappointed that none were on show at last year's cycle show, and that it had been seemingly relegated to second place in the pecking order. equality would have been a more equitable solution i think.

however, little stands still for long.

the original colango c40 had carbon chainstays that emulated the profile of their steel cousins; a master frame hewn from black gold, if you will. these were usurped by the hp stays that saw out the last couple of years of the c40 dynasty and lasted the entire life of the colnago c50, but at that point, the arguably ugly slot in the carbon ended, replaced by the so-called leaf-stays. those i most definitely liked, not only for their aesthetic value, but for the kick they imparted to the ride of any carbon colnago that featured them as part of the carbon b-stay. in fact, it is those very stays that form the rear of my merckx painted master x-light.

however, the 2011 range introduced the c59 and the m10, both with modifications to the rear stays; far squarer in profile than any of their precedents and dubbed q2 or 'q-squared'. the advent of these put the eps further behind the bleeding edge. the balance has, however, been redressed, as the eps has been re-launched as the epq, featuring the same rear stays as the c59 and m10, and with internal cable routing for the gear mechs. as has become common on many a contemporary carbon frame, there is a di2 specific version available, and they're available to order through your colnago dealer right this minute.

i still think the leaf stays look better, but i'll reserve judgement until the chance to ride one presents itself.

posted wednesday 23rd february 2011

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the new season

you may have already seen photos from the csf inox colnago launch elsewhere on the interweb, along with some from the american team type 1 launch, both riding colnago bicycles yet again for the 2011 season. but the principal flag flyers of the colnago name for the 2011 season has to be regarded as the new europcar team, containing current french champion, thomas voeckler. having won a stage in last year's tour as well as the road race in quebec towards the end of the season, the team also enjoyed, under the bbox bouygues telecom banner, the king of the mountains jersey, all achieved on colnago's new c59.

a change of sponsor has meant a change of colours, though not currently too much of a chnage for the national champion. avoiding the vogue for blue and black, the europcar team have flashes of emerald green strategically placed on this year's c59 carbon bikes. it would be very comforting for those of us colnago aficionados to see colnago at the forefront again this season.

posted friday 14 january 2011

colnago m10

if you ever have the opportunity to take a tour of jura distillery, when the tour guide eventually introduces you to the washbacks, you will notice, partly because the room is compact and bijou, partly because the washbacks all but fill that minimal space, that they are constructed from stainless steel. this vastly alleviates the toil and trouble involved in cleaning wooden washbacks, but rather tautologically obviates the possibility of imparting any natural flavours to the maturing liquid. undertake a similar tour at either bowmore or bunnahabhain distilleries, stainless steel is conspicuous by its absence.

the tour guides at bowmore and bunnahabhain would have you believe that wood is the only way to produce the finest of amber nectar, but jura have at least the brutal honesty to point out that, to be honest, nobody really knows which way is better, if either. rather obviously, if a particular brand of single malt has been matured in wooden washbacks from time immemorial, they've no idea whether stainless would be an improvement. and vice versa those using steel. perhaps we could hold a conference to discuss at some time in the distant future?

based on absolutely nothing at all, i have oft given vent to my notion that a bicycle frame constructed from tubes and lugs is definitely the way to go. to be honest, it has far more to do with the aesthetic than the engineering, a subject about which i know embarrassingly little, yet rarely hold back when an opinion looks like it might just be sought. certainly, it is a lot simpler to compare when it comes to bicycles. i have in thewashingmachinepost bikeshed a frame made from steel tubes and lugs, tig welded steel, carbon tubes and lugs and carbon monocoque. before you ask, they're all good, some of them brilliantly so, but yet i persist in proselytising the benefits of joining carbon tube to carbon tube via a carbon lug.

why is that?

having shifted a part of their frame production to taiwan a few years ago, colnago effectively had to eschew the luxuries of tubes and lugs, and embrace the monocoque expertise contained in the factories of the chinese republic. the first of those was the clx, followed by the frst step in colnago's revolution the cx-1. this has culminated, presently, in the colnago m10, featuring highly sculptured carbon and a look that, in the flesh, belies its mundane look in the website photos. it's ostensibly aimed at the same market as the recently reviewed c59, but it's cheaper and it has no lugs. how good could it be?

read the review

posted wednesday 8 december 2010

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fernando alonso tests the new ferrari

colnago at eurobike

the ferrari connection

only month seven and already it's 2012

yellow

cool t shirt

fireflies colnagos 2011

colnago epq

the new season

colnago m10