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colnago clx

when colnago had finished with the c40, they shelved the name and replaced it with the c50. when that had run its course, we were inexplicably presented with the c59, a bicycle that has now matured into the c60, current flagship of the colnago range. the clx for no known reason seems to have courted protected status. the original clx had reached revision three before disappearing from the range at the end of 2013. then suddenly it has made a reappearance in the 2015 range but bearing no resemblance to its predecessor.

none whatsoever.

the first incarnation garnered iconic status by being the first taiwanese-built colnago, something ernesto had said would never happen. the nod to the italian company's heritage could be clearly seen in the fluted tubing comprising the curved, yet sloping top tube and oversized downtube, a redundant apellation due to the frame's monocoque construction. the seatpost also defied colnago convention by adopting an airfoil teardrop shape, something that necessitated purchasing a replacement from colnago and only colnago should anything untoward happen to the original.

this latest clx has only its construction process in common. gone are the convex curves previously evident in both the top tube and seatstays, now replaced with a flattened section top tube tapering towards the seat tube. this taper is convincingly contrived to look as if the top tube bisects the seat tube on its way to creating the virtually straight seatstays. these kick outwards just before they merge into the all-carbon dropouts. if this seems to bear similarities to the top of the range monocoque, the v1-r, then that is no accident as that is precisely the model on which the new clx is based.

as the top tube blends into the seatstays, it is interrupted by a positively anorexic 27.2mm carbon seatpost, but one that ought to be easier to replace or substitute if necessary. the tapered head tube bulges out into a substantially oversized, yet triangulated downtube, the apex of the triangle preventing the application of yet another large colnago logo on the underside to match the faux 3d lettering on each side. the tube flares outward at the bottom bracket area, as does the seat tube in order to create a very large region of carbon fibre. the squarish chainstays reinforce the brutality that is common in the contemporary monocoque bicycle frame.

the bottom bracket bearings are of the press-fit variety, but kept away from possibly less than perfectly round carbon by slotting into colnago's proprietary threaded insert. the review model was kitted out with shimano's eleven-speed mechanical ultegra groupset. the existence of a small hole on the lower underside labelled charging port suggesting rather forcefully that there will either be a di2 version along shortly, or that the current frame is ideally setup for conversion by its proud owner. both gear and brake cables are routed internally with the rear derailleur cable rather quaintly exiting just above the carbon dropout. currently there is no disc equipped model in the range, but i wouldn't be surprised if just such a one makes an appearance sooner rather than later.

bar and stem duties are handled by alloy models from dedacciai, while seating is provided by a slotted selle italia sl saddle. the colnago branded carbon seatpost still utilises twin-bolt clamping, but this time sited left and right as opposed to the fore and aft versions previously seen. thankfully colnago have seen sense on the clx and fitted a fulcrum racing five wheelset rather than their own branded heavier wheels. it is, however, of slight concern that these wheels made use of so few spokes. the rear sported a total of twenty, but the front almost failed to qualify as a wheel with only sixteen straight-pull, red-nippled spokes. tyres were a pair of 25mm vittoria rubino pro topped by a minimal tread.

the ultegra four arm compact chainset still adhered to the older chainring setup of 50/34, with front changing achieved via a bolt on mech. this may be colnago's traditional approach to front mech anchoring, but in fact the flaring of the seat tube at this point would have made it very difficult if not impossible to fit a band-on version. the chainset's remarkably close proximity to the frame may well be the reason why colnago have fitted an integrated chain guide to prevent the chain unshipping onto the bb shell when changing from outer to inner ring. so doing would likely necessitate removal of the chainset to recover the chain in usable form.

for a framebuilder once renowned for paint schemes that were second to none, the clx is a major disappointment. i'm pretty sure none of the white and red markings on this clx frame have ever seen a paint or airbrush. though i may be wrong, the oddly applied markings seem more like decals affixed under the clearcoat. even the carbon veneer is devoid of the considerably more attractive weave that formed an intrinsic part of the original c40 frame. still, that was italian, not taiwanese. in this case the carbon resembles nothing more than a slightly sophisticated plastic. aside from that, i'm not entirely sure why it was found necessary to tell the uninformed that the frame and for were designed in italy.

the carbon front fork, as would be expected, is of impressive girth, its tapered legs ending in alloy dropouts, a direct contrast to the carbon versions at the rear. there seems scarcely any point in mentioning the annoying lawyer's tabs that undermine any notions that the wheel skewer might indeed be a quick release.

going for a ride

the simplest way to check the proclivities of any bicycle is to remove the seatpost and take a swab from inside the seat-tube. send this off to the lab and the dna result will provide a more than adequate clue as to what might be expected when out on the road. the clx is, at the risk of precluding it from other propensities it might display, an out and out classics bike. if you take into account the less than billiard table flatness of many of islay's single track back roads, this machine swallowed every bump and pothole with the aplomb previously reserved for johan museeuw's victories in paris roubaix.

those of you already in possession of the original clx will doubtless be wondering whether it's worth considering an upgrade to modernity; that would depend greatly on both the health of your bank balance and what you expect from a bicycle. as with pretty much everything currently on the market, the frame's stiffness is noticeably improved over the original, always bearing in mind, of course, that stiffness is your mojo.

my son and his partner live at ardnahoe farmhouse about a mile along the road to bunnahabhain distillery. the steep downhill that introduces the traveller to ardnahoe loch converts to an impressive climb on the return trip, with a brief false flat about two thirds of the way up. the downhill is punctuated by a blind bend, from behind which appeared a black volkswagen polo as i displayed my finest peter sagan descending skills on the outward leg of my ride. though there's currently no sign of a disc version of the clx, given the alacrity and control with which shimano's ultegra calipers pulled me almost to a halt on meeting said vehicle, i'd be hard pushed to comprehend any need for a set of rotors.

the ascent features a couple of brief 20% gradients which would usually have me on the inner ring and largest sprocket i could find to allow some dignity in my grovelling. however, such is the rock-solid stiffness engendered by the heavily oversized bottom bracket region, i reached the false flat with three sprockets to spare and topped out at the summit with one spare gear. to put this in context, as is often the case with colnago frames, the stiffness rarely comes at the expense of comfort, and though i'd be fibbing if i said this version was as comfortable as the original clx, it was still a remarkably plush ride.

i have always counted myself fortunate in that my posterior seems to be more or less saddle agnostic, a feature that was eminently noticeable on the selle italia fitted to a narrow 27.2mm seatpost. i'd struggle to think of a moment even afetr 100km in the saddle when i experienced any seated discomfort.

it almost seems pointless to make any mention of shimano's gearing, whatever the level of componentry fitted. throughout the entire review period, no matter the clumsiness of the pilot, the ultegra front and rear mechs never missed a beat. and though i've no real way of knowing whether the chain would have made the acquaintance of the bottom bracket shell when downshifting, colnago's chain guide never let it get close.

while i'm on the subject of bottom brackets, the implementation of that alloy insert in the bb shell to accommodate the press-fit bearings might not have entirely acquitted itself with honour. the usual problem with press-fit bearings in carbon frames is the inability of carbon to achieve perfect roundness, thus all manner of creaks and groans provide an audible backdrop to forceful climbing or sprinting. though under regular seated riding, the clx's silence was golden, i found that by standing and giving it a bit of welly uphill, there were distinct creaks and cracks. in mitigation, over the period of riding this brand new bicycle, they did diminish in frequency and volume.

one of these days i will seriously work on creating an international standard pertaining to chuckability, a means of quantifying just how easy it is to throw a bike around when avoiding the surface perforations we like to call potholes. no doubt stiffness is a contributing factor, but there have been those that fail to capitalise on rigidity by any other name. this particular bicycle offered numerous opportunities to smile uncontrollably while pretending to be singualrly in control of the situation. in truth, this was probably more a function of the bike than of its rider.

my misgivings over the spoke count featured on the fulcrum wheels were seemingly grossly unfounded since both they and the rubinos behaved impeccably under every condition experienced, both in the dry and wet. though physics would dictate that a treadless tyre will place more rubber on the road, i have to confess experiencing greater confidence in tyres that feature at least a modicum of tread such as that offered by the vittorias. and i do distinctly enjoy a 25mm width on those tyres.

this is a thoroughly enjoyable bicycle at a price point that commends itself well. it rides very quickly and probably a lot faster in the hands of those who have trained for the purpose. colnago are obviously not squandering the knowledge gained from top level competition. the very fact that both seat tube and fork crown bear decals attesting to their uci approval for competition would give some clue as to where colnago are going with this and though i doubt we'll see tommy voeckler or pierre roland aboard one of these, i seriously doubt they'd be in any way disadvantaged by so doing.

colnago's new clx as reviewed retails at £2,900. due to the manner in which colnago measure their sloping frames, the 50cm reviewed equates to a 54cm traditional frame. due to colnago's website not functioning at the time of writing, i'm unable to list the numerous frame sizes available.

colnago.com

monday 8 september 2015

colnago c60

up till now colnago's lineage has been easier to visualise between the point of origination, in this case, the c40, all the way through the c50, the eps, and the c59. as with everyone else's contributions to the carbon peloton, the main difference has been an ever increasing tube diameter, particularly the downtube. what hasn't disappeared from colnago's view is their continuing reliance on carbon lugs into which the tubes are fitted and glued. though pretty much every other model in the colnago lineup apart from the steel master is built in the far east, the top of the tree has resiliently retained use of this tried and tested construction method.

however, even being aware of the c60's heritage, it's becoming ever harder to make the connection between the original c40 and the colossal tubing and lugs employed on the latest from cambiago. photographs alone scarcely do justice to the enormity of the bottom bracket lug and its mating with the square section downtube. you'd be forgiven for surmising that colnago have made use of spare girders from the forth railway bridge.

this sizeable juncture at the lowest point on the frame also necessitates a rather fetching seat-tube profile, which retains its rounder profile but flares considerably from where it no longer needs to support the roundness and length of colnago's carbon seatpost. the top tube flatly narrows from its widest point at the really big headtube to the lug at the top of the seat-tube.

colnago offers the c60 in two distinct formats: sloping and traditional, the latter available in five sizes and the former in nine. there's a confusing diagram of angles and numbers to aid choice of the appropriate frame style or size, so if you feel the desire to spend the price demanded of a c60, make sure you try before you buy. the model on review had an effective seat tube height of 54cm and a 55cm top tube, and it seems even cambiago's traditional offerings bear a slight slope.

as with most top-line offerings these days, not only does the headtube continue with colnago's semi-integrated headset, but the use of a tapered steerer, meaning a very large crown to the carbon fork, a substantiality continued even to the dropouts, though obviously tapering as they head downwards. oddly there seemed only scant testament paid to the usual lawyer's lips on the dropouts. activating the quick release required no subsequent unscrewing to release the wheel. despite the enormous lugs required by the frames substantiality, colnago have more or less retained the fluting originally derived from the custom drawn steel tubing on the master. all the cabling is internally routed meaning clean lines but probably harder maintenance. it also makes it compatible with electronic groupsets.

the c60 was used for every last kilometre of my 2014 festive 500 challenge, and in view of heading out fairly early each morning, i had intended fitting a rear light to the drive side chainstay. however, the distinctly square cross-section was less than impressed by my bracket clamp, and since the b-stay configuration offered no alternative position, the light was eventually clipped to a jacket rear pocket. if the seatstays are largely square, the chainstays are enormously flat, no doubt encouraged to do so by having need of meeting the aforementioned very large b/b lug.

the latter is the point that originally caused a bit of consternation when initially unveiled. ernesto has had an unfortunate habit of making claims that certain features common in the rest of the bicycle industry would never infiltrate any of his bikes. one of those was the press-fit bottom bracket, an item very much in evidence on the c60. however, in order to obviate the oft-mentioned creaks and groans that seemingly beset the genre due to an inability to have carbon machined perfectly round, colnago has installed a threaded alloy insert to allow perfect roundness joined to future replaceability.

held in place by a 120mm carbon wrapped alloy stem, the carbon handlebars are badged as colnago's own, as is the carbon seatpost. i really have no idea why they (and others) insist on complicating matters by offering, in this case, a two bolt fitting. the single bolt adjustment originating on campagnolo's seatposts accomplishes the necessary with ease. the twin bolt arrangement makes it a bit of a faff to get the saddle perfectly level. though the bicycle arrived with a colnago badged saddle, in order to combine two reviews, i replaced it with a rust coloured brooks cambium c15.

gear duties were undertaken by a mechanical eleven-speed campagnolo super record married to a 50/34 compact chainset, while braking continued the vicenza theme via a super record skeleton caliper brakeset. none of the above would be going anywhere, however, were it not for a pair of wheels, in this case a pair of fsa team issue carbon wrapped wheelset shod with continental gp4000 700x25c tyres. two oddities displayed by the team issue wheelset concern the rim material and the spoking pattern on the rear.

i cannot conceive what the potential benefits might be by wrapping the alloy rims in a thin layer of carbon fibre. these were profiled, yet almost standard depth rims bearing an alloy braking surface, so the portion covered by the carbon was relatively minimal. the rear spoking pattern - radial on non-drive side, two cross on drive side - was rather unusual at the rim, with both drive side spokes alternating with a single spoke from the non-drive. this gave a 2-1-2-1 sequence around the circumference. according to a wheel expert of my acquaintance, this is mostly cosmetic and known as triplet lacing.

review bikes rarely, if ever, arrive with pedals in place, so for the duration of the review, i fitted a pair of mavic/time iclic pedals.

the festive 500 bike ride

it is rare that plans and timings manage to meet each other in the middle, but the colnago c60 arrived at thewashingmachinepost croft only a day or two before christmas. this offered the perfect opporchancity to ride a consistent number of kilometres over an unbroken series of days; the ideal system as far as i'm concerned. even though i have consulted colnago's online measurements chart, i'm still a tad unsure as to whether i'd received the sloping or traditional version, though i'd tend to err towards the latter.

as mentioned above, the bike arrived with a colnago badged saddle which was unceremoniously removed and replaced with a brooks cambium c15, the more race oriented version of the latest non-leather offering from smethwick. and very comfortable it proved to be too.

though the c60, by the very definition of its numbering sequence, is directly descended from the c59, they really are substantially different bicycles. to be honest, one look at the downtube/bottom bracket juncture ought to provide more than a singular clue. despite this, the c60's crowning glory is its remarkable unremarkability. though i have no idea how a frame of such apparent solidity can be so comfortable no matter the terrain over which it is pedalled, the bike did everything asked of it without ever turning me into a shaken and stirred version of james bond.

the monthly magazines and more commercial cycling websites may well have the budgets to send reviewers off to italian or pyreneean climbs, providing picturesque backgrounds and testing climbs on which to ply their trade. contrast this with two weeks of pouring rain, galeforce winds, hail and road surfaces that would create serious envy in a comprehensive set of roubaix cobbles. at certain points of the route, i was activey trying to avoid the road repairs which had only succeeded in making matters worse instead of better.

though it may be as a result of riding courses such as those described, i'd be quite happy to go on record as saying the colnago c60 is a classics bike. yes, as has been the case with every colnago i've ever ridden, it descends with serious aplomb, diving through corners spread with loose gravel far more accurately than its rider could ever manage on his own. i seriously doubt whether there actually is a scale of chuckability, but if there were, the c60 would simply smile sweetly and disapragingly at its upper limits.

and despite its girder-like tubing, even hammering very quickly across those roads we only take out on special occasions (of which there are far more than there used to be), the incessant chattering was notable, yet scarcely transmitted to the rider. despite a 55cm top tube, the 120mm stem meant i found the cockpit just a smidgeon on the cramped side; a 130mm would have served me better, but had this been my own bicycle, i'd simply have swapped to the longer version. it's more than likely that the carbon bars assisted with the damping properties.

the c60 also brought me to the realisation that i might well be a born again campyphile. though both my own colnagos have centaur and chorus, they're of the older ten-speed variety, and things have come along way since then. not only did i find the lever hoods to be distinctly more comfortable, but even the gear-changing seems subtly to have changed for the better. shifting from inner to outer front ring was every bit as precise as that of eps, campagnolo having sensibly retained the ability to trim the front mech from the lever. the world's other gear providers ought to take note.

however, on a carbon super-record gear mech costing several hundred pounds, one could surely expect stainless steel adjuster screws? after only one and a half weeks, both were starting to display signs of rust.

referring back to my contention that the c60 makes for one of the world's finest classics bikes, it was comforting to see the wheels shod with 25c tyres. colnago's cx-zero runs those as standard, but almost everything else at this level rides on 23c; some scarcely have clearance for those extra two millimetres. it would have been nice to think a pair of 28c tyres might have squeezed in, but i rather fear that would be a frame-scraping too far. it's quite likely that the tyres also had at least some bearing on the comfort factor; they certainly improved rider confidence on many of those crappier roads.

i did experience a bit of bother with the fsa team issue rear wheel, though this may have been as a result of a problem it arrived with. the rear axle is in two parts, the non-drive side featuring a cone that ought to allow locking in place via a small allen bolt. but despite tightening until i had white knuckles, it seemed less than keen to stay in place. this caused no mechanical problems as such, but occasionally a constant series of loud cracking noises, quite possibly the cone rubbing against the heads of the radial spokes.

however, minor technicalities aside, the wheels ran beautifully smoothly throughout, offering the sort of stiffness that a bike like this demands from its wheels. despite radial straight spokes and few of them (20 front/24 rear), there was a conforting lack of harshness. i have read elsewhere of complaints regarding the alloy braking surface on the carbon wrapped rims, but though i have no lengthy alpine descents on which to test, the few short, sharp versions offered no disappointments at all. personally, i could find no cause for concern.

though it may seems a tad bizarre to try riding a bicycle at very slow speed, necessity is often the mother of invention. though likely not a situation the average pro comes across, when expressing courteousness towards oncoming traffic by dipping into a nearby passing place, very slow becomes a place of refuge. though cars are often sold on the basis of their acceleration properties, it seems colnago c60 oncoming drivers are oblivious to this, even when the cyclist in the passing place is desperately trying not to have to unclip. thankfully, the c60 handles every bit as well at half a kilometre per hour as it does at 55. and when battered by galeforce crosswinds, it exhibited a very comforting level of stability.

heading uphill on islay bears no relation to anything they might have in france or italy. any hills we might have here are between 8% and 14%, but feature mostly poor surfaces and curtailed length. the unremarkability of which i have made previous mention, simply manifested itself as an unfussed adeptness at climbing those ascents. do a graeme obree and press harder on the pedals, and nothing moved in any direction other than that for which the c60 was designed. i could put the colnago into the biggest gear i could physically manage and bust my kneecaps across a gravel infested climb and the frame exhibited no lateral movement whatsoever.

i spent most of the review period telling those who admired its less than inspiring colour scheme (if i were to purchase a colnago c60, there's not a chance in heck i'd choose matt carbon with italian flashes. art decor every time) that the bike was way too fast for me. ultimately, that was perfectly true, but my average speed over the length of my festive 600 was only a few points off 3kph faster than last year. however, as one mostly bereft of any flavour of speed, the bike's handling was of far more interest, a feature in which it did not disappoint. it's not the lightest bike i've ever ridden; in fact probably not the lightest colnago i've ever ridden, but really, we're into the realm of diminishing returns at this point. it really is of no nevermind if i make it to debbie's a few seconds (or minutes) ahead of the velo club peloton. it is far better to travel well than to arrive really fast.

i was of a mind to tell windwave that i'd just hang onto the c60 for a long-term test, at least until ernesto came out with the c70. however, honesty prevailed, and i just cried when they took it away. surely the pinnacle of italian carbon engineering.

thursday 8 january 2015