Colnago has launched its new V5Rs bike, upgrading one of the most successful bikes in the pro peloton with a claimed lighter and more aerodynamic frame. The bike is the new iteration of the V4Rs, which Tadej Pogačar rode in his historic 2024 season to wins at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and World Championships.
Colnago has been the bike sponsor of the men’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG after it took over sponsorship from the previous Lampre-Merida squad in 2017, and since then, the brand has enjoyed unprecedented success with the team. Colnago also sponsors the women’s UAE Team ADQ led by superstar Elisa Longo Borghini. With 16 Grand Tours, 416 stages in the Grand Tours, 45 Monuments, 28 World Championships and 18 Olympic Gold Medals, since its founding in 1954, the Italian brand knows how to make a successful bike.
Colnago says that the V5Rs is “even lighter and more aerodynamic” than its predecessor and is the “ultimate all-rounder road-racing bike”. The bike is likely to make its WorldTour debut at the upcoming Ardennes Classics, which means we could see the world champion Tadej Pogačar defending his Liège-Bastogne-Liège crown atop the V5Rs.
I got an early look at the V5Rs ahead of launch to see the new updates and get some first ride impressions.
Lighter frame and fork
One of the main upgrades from the V4Rs to the V5Rs is the weight, with the latter weighing in at a claimed 1027g in total for its frame-kit (unpainted frame and forks in size 485), a 146g saving on the previous model. Colnago says this 12.5% weight saving “was achieved thanks to a combination of new lamination and manufacturing techniques”. The V5Rs frame, which is made up of five parts, was constructed using specifically developed semi-rigid mandrels, which Colnago says allowed it to “guarantee a perfect arrangement of the carbon layers”. It says it did this so it could be as precise as possible when positioning each carbon layer, meaning it could save weight while maintaining stiffness.
More aerodynamic
Colnago made a stir this winter when it introduced its new aero bike, the Y1Rs. The radically shaped bike was designed for flat riding and to complement the bikes in the ‘V’ series, which are more traditionally shaped all-round bikes.
Colnago says that the techniques used to develop the Y1Rs have been applied to the new V5Rs. For example, the brand used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology to stimulate fluid flow to find the most aerodynamic tube and joint shapes, before 3D printing and testing them in a wind tunnel. The result is that the V5Rs has a slimmer head tube, seatpost and seat tube than the V4Rs, along with new fork blade profiles. Colnago says the “V5Rs frontal area is now 13% thinner than V4Rs” and despite it being an all-round bike, the brand claims “the aerodynamic performance of the V5Rs is in line with many WorldTour aero bikes”. In terms of gains out on the road compared to the V4Rs, the V5Rs requires nine watts less power to maintain a speed of 50kph.
Reduced stiffness
Colnago’s head of Research and Development, Davide Fumagalli, said that overall the V5Rs is actually less stiff than V4Rs, but that making lighter and aerodynamic frames involves a trade-off in frame stiffness. To counter this, Colnago said, using Finite Element Method (FEM), it looked to “simulate the frame's behavior under specific loading conditions”. Colnago used Real Riding Stiffness (RRS) as a metric to measure the frame stiffness, which means it wanted to optimise the stiffness for when the rider is sprinting and seated climbing — often two of the most pivotal aspects of races. It used RRS when making the V4Rs and found that the V5Rs matched its predecessor, so despite losing some overall stiffness, Colnago believes the more aerodynamic and reduced weight will offset this.
Similar geometry
The geometry of the new bike is more or less the same as V4Rs, meaning the rider position hasn’t changed — it’s just that riders like Pogačar and Longo Borghini will be riding on lighter frames. Colnago did make some “minor updates to make it slightly more aggressive and efficient”, including updating the trail for better responsiveness, incorporating a slightly steeper head tube and seat tube angles for a more forward-oriented position. The V5Rs has a fork rake of 47mm for sizes 420-510 and 43mm for sizes 530-570, two seatpost setback options of 0 mm or 15 mm and tyre clearance of up to 32mm.
Read more: Tadej Pogačar's Tour de France Colnago V4RS
First ride impressions
I was able to test the V5Rs on a 70km ride in Lake Garda, Italy, which included some climbs, descents, flat and even some tiny sections of cobbles. On all of these terrains, the bike felt nimble and, as you would expect for a bike billed as an all-rounder, comfortable.
It was easy to get in an aerodynamic position and take advantage of the bike’s reduced drag on the flat, but at the same time, it was agile enough to nip around potholes. Despite its impressive aerodynamics, it didn’t feel cumbersome when slowing and twisting through narrow lanes and cobbles of the Lombardian towns.
On the hilly terrain, as expected, the lightness was apparent, but so was the stiffness of the frame, both in and out of the saddle. On the descents, the nimbleness of the V5Rs gave its handling a sense of reassurance around tricky corners.
In the coming weeks, I’ll have more time to ride the V5Rs and get a more substantial feel for its strengths and weaknesses, so stay tuned for a full review.
The V5Rs is already available in the top Colnago stores in the world.
For more information on the bike, visit the V5RS page on Colnago’s website.
