To sum up Colnago in a paragraph is impossible. The tradition and artistry that goes into each and every Colnago frame is their trademark. From testing by current road pros such as Aru, Gaviria, Martin, and Kristoff, and CX pros such as Laurens Sweeck and Sven Nys, each frame is race proven. The history of the brand and the countless top pros from road and cx that have ridden the bikes shows just how storied Colnago is. 62 World Championships, 21 Grand Tours, 38 Classic’s, and 18 Olympic titles are just some of the items on a palmares that’s still growing.
“There are $1 bottles of wine and $100 bottles of wine, and bicycles are the same. You can’t judge them the same…”
Colnago was the first bicycle company to be ISO 9001 certified which is an all-encompassing certification of quality control on items from Mercedes to Sony. The C64 is the Flagship model for Colnago and is still made in Italy. 14 sizes, 2 geometries, plus custom paint options. This is the frame that everyone else is trying to measure up to.
My favorite Ernesto story goes like this: “When we built the C40 we were the only ones to build carbon frames and all the mechanics and competitor technicians were saying that they would be too dangerous to use on cobbled roads, especially with the straight carbon forks. There was a company that wanted to fit suspension forks on the bicycle, but I wasn’t going to have suspension forks on the C40. The night before Paris-Roubaix, I had Mr. Squinzi, the Mapei boss, on the phone to me raising his concerns about using such a delicate-looking thing. I told him that we’d done all of the tests that we could on the frame and the fork, and we were certain there would be no problem. I had to take personal responsibility for what was going to happen, and I spent all night worrying about it, barely able to sleep. But when I heard that there were 4 Mapei riders in the break, I knew I could relax.”
The C40 went on to win 5 editions of Paris-Roubaix in 6 years. For you newer fan’s of the sport, you have seen Team UAE and Tadej Pogačar win the last 2 editions of the TDF and countless other races aboard his trusty Colnago. Built up with Campagnolo of course.Colnago again will be under him as he takes on the 2022 season with a beefed up support squad.
We have been a Colnago dealer for over 16 years and remain today as Edmonton’s exclusive stockist. You can rest assured we know the brand and it’s offerings.
Check out some stunning Colnago builds in our gallery, or visit them here to learn even more. All our current stock of bikes and frames can be viewed here .
