Colnago has always created beautiful frames – and whoever is responsible for designing the C60, we'd like to meet that person and shake them by the hand.
When steel was king, Ernesto’s fabrications shared the crown as widely acclaimed ruler of the artisan empire. But the emergence of carbon as raw material to the masses meant an awkward transition for some companies, Colnago included, who while still making beautiful frames, were eclipsed by those who could offer equivalent dynamics at a lower weight and a more competitive price.
- Highs: Comfortable, rapid, superb spec
- Lows: Low front end won’t suit everyone
After the C59, which majored on semi-conventional looks without pushing carbon’s potential, the C60 is bang up to date, combining great looks with all you’d expect in a carbon machine. There’s a nod to Colnago’s heritage with subtle fluting at the front of the top tube and the whole of the octagonal down tube, which carries through to the one-piece head tube lug. The feature is also used at the base of the seat tube, inside edge of the chainstays and rear of the fork to increase rigidity.
It’s not steel, but the C60 still features tubes and lugs
The 31.8mm diameter seatpost led us to expect a choppy ride, but even perched on a skinny Colnago-branded Selle Italia SLR saddle, the result is the opposite. It’s a stunningly comfortable bike with a superb plushness whatever the road surface.
We’ll often say a bike soaks up bumps well, but few endurance bikes can match the ride quality of the C60, and even fewer top-flight race bikes. No matter what we pointed it at, the Colnago belittled it all with no excess vibration or steering deflection.
But this is far from a flexy, noodly frame that relies on pseudo suspension to keep you comfy – it’s designed to perform at the highest level, and as such treats you to a ride of utter composure with well-balanced handling that was never fazed by any of the ambitious turns we threw it in to. Changing line mid-corner is drama-free, the enlarged bottom bracket aids maximal sprint efforts, and that tight back end gives it a fine kick that’ll see you scurrying away like Thomas Voeckler in the Alps.
Black beauty? Colnago has delivered something of a masterpiece with its superlative new C60
Campagnolo’s Super Record oozes years of understated carbon refinement and sublime engineering, with those beautifully ergonomic levers providing an ideal grip on a stunning package. FSA supplies its four-arm K-Force Light chainset, which is very rigid and ups the carbon quota still further, as does the K-Force compact bar and carbon-wrapped alloy stem.
The 25mm Continentals are the limit of the C60’s clearance, with only 3mm between seatstays, brake bridge and rubber, and around 5mm at the seat tube and fork crown. But they certainly help the ride, accentuating the C60’s floaty passage over everything short of pavé, and we dare say it would look after you better than most on that too. The combination of wide rims – 27.5mm max in this case – and larger volume boots is steadily gaining traction as the answer to stability, speed, grip, comfort and feel. It’s a win-win situation, and once you’ve experienced the gains, you won’t want to go back.
Vision’s Metron 40C wheels are well proven and a favourite of ours, but in this configuration, while fast, they lacked stopping power. With Vision’s own pads this has never been a problem, so we have to assume it was the BBB CarbStop pads fitted on this custom build.
