Colnago C60 review
Colnago. One of the most recognised names in Cycling. This year the iconic Italian manufacture has released the C60 flagship model to celebrate 60 years of bike building.
La Velocita has been lucky enough to get there hands on a new Colnago C60. It’s a stunning looking bike and replaces the C59 and is touted as taking Colnago’s to a new level.
Colnago has been producing quality bikes for 60 years so they know what they are doing when it comes to putting a frame together. Their top end bikes are hand built and hand painted in their Italian factory. This is becoming some what of a rarity in the age of mass production of carbon frames.
About - Colnago has stuck with a lugged construction (where the main tubes of the frame are bonded to lugs at each junction point) rather than creating a one piece frame. Colnago claims to have increased stiffness with a complete redesign of the tubing sections while cutting weight at the same time.
The most obvious changes over the C59 are to the lugs which are are now in a star shape and a significantly larger bottom bracket lug with aluminium casing to secure Colnago’s ‘thread fit’ bottom bracket.
The tubing has grown significantly with a larger diameter and more aggressive and angled look, but at the same time tube wall thickness has been reduced, helping cut the overall weight. In addition the replaceable rear aluminium rear dropouts have been redesigned to help boost overall frame stiffness.
The combination of the larger tubing and new lug and tube shape and rear dropouts aims to stiffen up the ride considerably over the C59.
Quality - Hand built in Italy does not always create images of reliability and quality, but in this instance we could not fault the C60, the paint on the “Classic” frame looks fantastic and is second to none.
It’s too early to consider long term frame durability, a couple of La Velocita’s riding group had some trouble with C59 fractured bottom bracket shells, so we hope the new design of the C60 resolves this issue.
Sizing/frame options - The C60 is available in 14 stock sizes including sloping and traditional geometry, you can also request a custom build if none of the these are to you liking.
As far as paint goes, you can opt for the ‘Italia’, ‘Racing’ or ‘Classic’ finish. Across these three options there are multiple choices resulting in a huge range of colours. For an additional cost you can add a custom matching painted seat post. The C60 is also available in a disk specific option.
Build - The C60 can be built up just about any way you like, the frame is mechanical and electronic group set compatible, just add Campagnolo, Shimano or Sram with your choice of wheel set and finishing kit and you are ready to roll.
Ride - We have always loved Colnago bikes at La Velocita but the C60 simply outclassed them all. To say the C60 rides well is a massive understatement. It is a confidence inspiring bike that does it all well. On our standard 90km test loop it climbed well, was comfortable on rough roads while still providing good feedback to the rider, and handled descents and fast corners with ease.
The extra work Colnago has put into stiffness definitely has paid off and the C60 felt stiffer than Colnago’s previous models, however we would not say it is super stiff and responsive compared to other bikes at this price. If you are a big heavy sprinter you will find flex in this bike and you may not get the super twitch acceleration feel, but for the majority of us you will get pleasure from its all round plush ride.
Weight - At well over 1kg for the frame and forks our size 56S is not setting any weight records, with may competitors at this price at around 900g. Final weight will depend on the frame size and build but expect around 6.8kg to 7.5kg.
Size - 42S to 60S (sloping) and 53 to 61 (traditional) plus custom build.
Price - Expect to pay upwards of $10,500 with Dura Ace and a top end clincher wheel set and carbon bars and stem.… Remember this is a top of the line bike.
Overall - We find this bike hard to fault, for club racing, through to long audax rides, to the weekend warrior this bike will get the job done in style. We don’t think you would regret having this bike at your disposal, it’s just a question of how many $$$ you are willing to spend.
