Colnago might be a different beast these days, dominating professional racing with Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emiratres teams, but the C-series has become the purest expression of its Italian roots.
Among the Tours de France-winning monocoque Y1Rs and V5Rs racing platforms and 2024’s retro-futuristic steel-framed Steelnovo, the manufacturer has continued the development of its iconic C series – a range that since 1989’s C35 has come to embody the brand’s soul.
The C72 is its latest chapter, and picks up where 2022’s C68 left off. Proudly hand-built in the Colnago factory in Cambiago, Italy, and constructed using the series’ signature lugged carbon fibre frame design, it continues the philosophy of prestige, craftsmanship and ride quality rather than watts saved or weight. But like with all C series bikes, its design is a conscious break from its predecessor rather than a rehashing of what went before.
“Back when I started with the C59, the C series was our racing platform,” Colnago’s head of R&D Davide Fumagalli told Rouleur when we visited Cambiago last month for an exclusive preview. “It was the same for the C60 and even the C64 we used for some WorldTour races.
“With the C68 we completely switched because we now have the V series and the Y1Rs. So working on the C72, it was clearer in our minds what we needed to do. We wanted to make a bike for the pure joy of riding. It’s not the lightest and it’s not the fastest – it’s still light enough and fast enough, but that wasn’t the goal.”
Balancing act
Colnago claims it achieves this balance thanks to its multi-piece construction. Each of the seven Italian-made tubes that make up the frame has been specially selected to perform a specific role, enabling a fine-tuning of stiffness, compliance and force distribution without any of the extremes that can be common on a highly strung racing thoroughbred.
“We are looking for a bike that’s stiff enough,” says Fumagalli. “I know it sounds a bit negative, but stiff enough to be able to go fast, but not stiff enough to create a harsh ride. It’s easy to use better fibre, increase stiffness and improve aerodynamics. But it’s not so easy when you go the opposite way, when you’re looking for ride quality, something smoother. If you want to keep responsiveness and avoid sponginess, that's way more complex.”
The brand believes the blend of fibres and tube shapes it settled on creates a harmonious riding experience – one that ensures instant power transfer without sacrificing stability at high speeds, and the confidence that comes with it. This is complemented by a more relaxed geometry than those found on Colnago’s Grand Tour-winning platforms and an optimised steering set-up that remains focused on the job at hand at all times.
Wider tyre clearance (with room for 35mm tyres) meanwhile aids comfort and grip over long distances, and doesn’t mean your ride has to end when the asphalt does. “When we say the bike can use 35mm tyres, it means you can enjoy the bike with 35, not just physically fit them,” adds Fumagalli. “Designing clearance is easy; designing a bike that still rides and looks right with big tyres is more difficult.”
Modern classic
The lugs themselves have also evolved, becoming at one with the bike’s design and aesthetic rather than structural necessities. “It’s the same technology we always used and want to keep using because it gives us freedom to design and realise the bikes in parts,” says Fumagalli. Inspired by the panel-gap matching found in high-end car design, it adds a visual flow to the look and feel of the bike. “It’s a way to separate parts but keep the same surface,” he explains.
The result is a modern interpretation of the traditional assembly process, and the panel gaps are accentuated further with colourways that highlight the frame’s structural elements. “It’s a classic-looking, real Colnago bike.”
The contemporary flourishes extend to the bike’s integrated features. Up front is a newly developed cockpit, the Colnago CC.02, that is 15g lighter and said to be more user-friendly than the CC.01 when in the drops and on the hoods; at the back, there’s an integrated seatpost that is more aerodynamic than its predecessor.
But the innovation that Fumagalli is particularly proud of is the down tube’s storage compartment. Hidden beneath a custom-designed bottle cage, it is a microcosm of the C72’s ethos.
“I can't see Pogačar stopping and taking out his spare tubes, but our decision to include the down tube storage is because of the way the bike is going to be ridden,” he says. “Whether you’re out with friends or alone, you need to carry spare tubes, a tool, a CO2 cartridge. So we worked to integrate this in the cleanest possible way. It's not a cage attached to a cover, but it's the cage itself. It’s nicely done.”
In Colnago’s pursuit of something more emotive with its C series, this attention to detail and holistic approach to design decisions centred firmly on the rider mean that the C72 is set to be another worthy addition to the Italian manufacturer’s legend.
The C72 will be offered in four distinct colourways, each designed to highlight one of the frame’s most defining structural features: the continuity between the seatstays and the top tube.
- HFRD: a livery characterised by the “timeless contrast of black with a red top tube”
- HFWS: a refined pearl white and silver composition
- HFBK: a full black version, enriched with subtle bronze details
- HFTB: a sophisticated dual-tone blue finish
The price? As ever, if you have to ask you probably can’t afford it. There are Campagnolo Super Record, Shimano Dura-Ace and SRAM Red builds, from €14,200 to €16,600 and the frameset will retail at €6,780.
And, to mark the launch of the C72 which was unveiled at La Scala in Milan, possibly the ultimate expression of Italian culture, Colnago will also produce the C72 La Scala, a limited edition 72 numbered pieces, dedicated to Teatro alla Scala with a unique artwork that’s inspired by the grandeur of the theatre’s auditorium. The price for this will be €22,000.
For all the details, visit Colnago’s website.
