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FEATURES: LIVE FROM EUROBIKE 08: I BELLISSIMI (ITALIAN ROAD BIKES RULE)
Road Bike Action
September 13, 2008
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Road Bike Action already scooped il mondo di bici on Colnago & Pinarello 2009 when we served up some tasty offerings in our Antipasto Italiano story last month but we couldn’t resist a revisit to lead off our latest Eurobike report on I Bellissimi (the beautiful ones) / Italian Road Bikes Rule!
Pinarello: Pretty Pina
Our man Fausto Pinarello always shows up at the bicycle trade shows in an elegant Italian suit and 2008 at Eurobike was no exception. While Fausto styled, so did his cycles with great new graphics and colorways that had to be one of the best looking lines at the entire show.
Using a shape inspired by Pinarello models like Montello & Prince FP, Pinarello's new FP3 is made in a 30HM12K carbon composite material rather than 50HM1K of the more expensive Prince FP. FP3 comes in 10 sizes and has the same Pinarello geometry as the Prince FP, with a monocoque front triangle, bonded to a rear triangle with new wider fork blades for more stiffness & control, a 1 1/8"-1 1/4" integrated headset, a personalized look and Pinarello's house brand MOs.t. components throughout.
Is putting Shimano components on an Italian bike sacrilege? The pope might think so but he is German. This Prince FP has a sweet new color scheme that contrasts perfectly with the new Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 groupset.
Colnago: Change Will Do You Good
Like Sheryl Crow sang, Change Will Do You Good and Ernesto Colnago must have been listening. Many changes at Colnago for 2009, including the world premieres for the CF-7, EPS & CX-1.
Ernesto Colnago told Road Bike Action in an exclusive interview at Eurobike “my new CX-1 has a special monocoque carbon fibre front triangle with an assembled rear triangle which is joined with a special proprietary bonding process we have developed. We created this CX-1 for strong riders who have been asking asked for a more aggressive, ultra-modern monocoque frameset. CX-1 has a multi-shape top tube with a unique polygonal profile that has a very strong, solid structure with two flat surfaces on bottom and top for extra stiffness and the polygonal profile also disperses road vibrations. The CX-1's rear chainstay and seat stay shape have been developed to optimize overall torsional and lateral rigidity without adding weight.
Another key innovation in the CX-1 is the Colnago Headset System, or C-HS, an all-new semi-integrated headset that allows easier assembly and maintenance without removing the entire headset assembly and provides extra stability to the head tube. Signor Ernesto told us "we have tested the new C-HS in racing situations with Rabobank riders like Graeme Brown & Oscar Freire, who won various stages of the GP Malllorca and Tirreno Adriatic races on new CX-1 prototypes."
We spotted the EPS prototype at the Tour De France under Ete Zabel and this new frame is, like the CX-1, a product of "ColnagoRevolution” a new design initiative from Colnago. Alessandro Colnago, Signor Ernesto's grandson and marketing director at Colnago told Road Bike Action in our antipasto Italiano "For the EPS, we have used a mix of ultra high and high modulus (HHM-HM) unidirectional composite with a 3K twill finish. This frame has an all-new frameset with what we call Multi Shape Tubing-3PRS System; the tubing varys from a special conical toptube with a 40mm diameter at the headtube, which tapers to a 35mm diameter at the seat tube lug, which uses a 31.6mm seatpost like the Extreme Power model.
For the EPS downtube, we have a constant diameter of 44mm from headtube to bottom bracket, and have four 3PRS internal reinforcing ribs of varying widths and thicknesses inside the downtube which give exceptional stiffness and power transfer to our new Colnago EPS frame." And Like the new CX-1, Colnago’s Extreme Power Super has the Colnago Headset System, or C-HS, an all-new semi-integrated headset, mated with a NewStar Carbon in 1-1/8" 1-1/4" diameterwith new fork blade shapes which blend smoothly with the new 1-1/4" diameter of the bottom of the headtube.
Carrera; Consider Phibra
Are Carrera bicycles the best-kept secret in the business? For the last twenty years, when Carrera team manager Davide Boifava teamed up with master bike designer and builder Luciano Bracchi, Carrera bikes have had over 500 pro race wins under many top riders. For the distinctive Phibra model, Carrera teamed up with well-known Italian industrial designer Massimiliano Della Monaca to create a sleek, science-fiction swoopy and very distinctive model in the Phibra. With a RC2 carbon triangle, first used by Carrera 12 years ago, to the Headset Integrated Concept (HIC), a beefy 1" 1/8 headtube area and an innovative 2B Double Arc Bloc toptube / downtube combo pierced by the seattube structure, Phibra combines monocoque construction with tube to tube assembly to allow custom frame sizing. Phibra has carbon fibre re-inforced with titanium weave in high-stress areas and kevlar reinforced weave where outside parts are added.
New for 2009 is an upgraded version of Carrera's Veleno frame, a monocoque carbon fibre frame with 3K weave high-modulus carbon fibre main tubes, mated to an assembled rear triangle
and featuring an integrated seatmast.
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