![1998 colnago c40 carbon art decor 1998 colnago c40 carbon art decor](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f5/8e/f0/f58ef0b68b2ff2ee5d7a037fb1b15bca.jpg)
The UK’s Cycling Weekly called it “an icon of cycling” and the “bike that started the carbon fiber revolution.” But in the end, the carbon fiber revolution largely helped globalized competitors like Specialized, Trek and Giant. Ironically, Colnago is generally credited with introducing the first widely accepted carbon fiber frame, the C40, which was also the first carbon bike to win a major classic, Paris-Roubaix in 1995. The company even just made a special custom bike for Pope Francis.
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Ernesto’s handmade frames dominated high-end cycling in the Sixties and Seventies, winning Olympic Gold, helping racing legend Eddie Merckx break the one-hour speed record, and for nearly half a century many top professional teams have competed in the biggest races on Colnago bikes (Molteni, Maipei, Rabobank, Tinkoff and others). The company was founded by its patriarch, legendary mechanic Ernesto Colnago more than six decades ago. The Colnago C60 is an attempt to bring it back. As a result, legendary Italian craftsmanship was largely left behind. But steel gave way to first aluminum and titanium and later carbon fiber, and now almost all bike frames (except for a thriving cottage industry of hand built frame artisans) are being made in China and Taiwan - even these famed Italian brands now have their frames made overseas. Still collectible today, Italian steel frame building was equal parts art and science, objects of beauty. The country once enjoyed a near monopoly on the greatest and most coveted frames, for the likes of Bianchi, Cinelli, De Rosa, Pinarello and of course, Colnago, all of which built their reputation on amazing workmanship in the prevailing material of the time, steel. But the cache of Italian bikes in general has dropped considerably in the 21st century. I think it is fair to say that Colnago is the single most venerable bicycle brand in the world, sort of what would happen if you combined Ferrari and Lamborghini when it came to bike frames. But when I rode a loaner Colnago C60 in a charity century in New England this summer, most comments were limited to jaw drops and “Wows.” In fact, I have yet to go on any sort of group ride without eliciting at least one question about the bike, usually a mix of interest tinged with jealousy. “Is that the Italian frame?” asked another. “Isn’t that the hand made one?” an incredulous cyclist inquired while leering at my ride.