Colnago Classic

Price Paid:  $0.00 at Reser Bicycle Outfit

Bike Setup:
Campy veloce group. Colnago carbon fork. Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels.

Summary:
Beautiful bike. Great ride. You won't find a classier frame on the road.

Strengths:
The ride is stable and responsive. Haven't really noticed any bottom bracket flex. The paint job and chrome lugs are gorgeous. Colnago = pedigree.

Weaknesses:
Perhaps a tad heavy for racing purposes, but I still race on the bike with good results.

Price Paid:  $980.00 at velocite bicycle spo

Favorite Ride:
my most recent

Bike Setup:
chorus groupo; stella azura seatpost; itm fibra handlebars; itm millenium stem; campy proton wheels; sella italia saddle

Summary:
the best frame I have owned, I ride a 49cm. MUCH better than my past two road bikes. I test a fair amount of bikes. This one inspires confidence going through the turns-VERY responsive. Absorbs the road but still gives me the information I need.
listen up guys: colnago IS a girls best friend!

Strengths:
a head turner, rides wonderful (see above)...must be the geometry-nothing beats a frame tested in on mountains w/hairpin turns

Weaknesses:
paint chips easily...when I am weight conscious I say the weight...but then again-how fit is the rider?

Similar Products Used:
nothing-but did own: raleigh R600 w/carbon fork; trek 1000; fuji-old steel frame;
test ridden: bianchi eros donna, eddie merckx, lemond, specialized allez

Price Paid:  $1600.00 at Turin Cyclery

Bike Setup:
Mostly Veloce, some Chorus.
Triple crank for our "little" hills.
Speedplay pedals. "retro-grouch" Brooks saddle.

Summary:
This bike turns heads, even in Colorado, which is filled with bikes costing 3 times as much.
There is nothing like classic Italian steel. The ride is incredibly lively, compared to my dead-feeling aluminum Trek.
I weigh 215 lbs, and there is NO bottom bracket flex.

Strengths:
Solid, tight turns.
Smooth, yet lively road feel.
A bike you will hang on your wall when you're done riding it.

Weaknesses:
Weight !
Only 1" steerer.

Similar Products Used:
Trek 1200
Lemond Zurich

Price Paid:  $1400.00 at sheepshead cycles

Favorite Ride:
32 miles east on LIE service road then back crusing on the northshore

Bike Setup:
54cm-D21. Reynolds Ouzo Pro, ITM Millenium stem, ITM TheBar, Thomson seatpost, Selle Italia TransAm, Campy Veloce and Mirrage (soon to upgrade), Look 337 pedals, Ambrose wheels w/Michelin tires.

Summary:
aaahhh the awesome feel of steel. The wife calls her "the other woman in my life" - well, she's right!

My Classic is equiped with a Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork, reducing road vibe and assuring a confident ride. I have never felt uneasy and the bike always goes to where I steer. Its' smooth ride is easy on the body when doing 60+ miles, never really feeling that I need to stop. Due to its strong composition and renowned geometry the bike is sturdy and never really displaying a sign of flex when I hammer the cranks. Love it!

Strengths:
appearance, the name means business - see above for more

Weaknesses:
Aside from its' current weight, none other to mention.

Similar Products Used:
none- I'm a mountain biker also turned roadie.

Price Paid:  $850.00 at Bicycle Pro Shop, Ge

Bike Setup:
-Colnago Precisa Steel Fork
-Full Campagnolo Veloce Group
-Mavic MA3 rims/DT 14g spokes/3x/Veloce Hubs
-Deda Bar and Stem

Fully built with Speedplay X2 pedals, Cuissi cages, and standard 250gram tires and 100gram tubes, the bike weighs in at 21.5 pounds. Not bad considering that everything on it is bulletproof and can probably take more punishment than a top of the line XC mountain bike.

Summary:
This bike is classic Italian. From the gorgeous paint job, masterfully crafted lugs, and chromed head tube lugs, chainstay, and rear dropouts, this bike turns heads and produces envy from those with higher tech, more expensive bikes.

The bike has panache, great ride, and phenomenal handling. Unlike other generic bikes, the combination of all things that make this bike a Colnago instills in its owner a certain pride of ownership. So much so that it will be difficult for them to be swayed otherwise.

This is the kind of bike that you would, and should, keep for a lifetime.

Strengths:
This bike posesses such a heavenly ride quality that I am convinced that steel will be around for quite a while. The ride is very smooth and comfortable, yet it still manages to be lively. Small vibrations are damped out, yet the frame still transmits enough information to the rider to let him/her know what's going on.

The handling is nothing short of phenomenal. On my second ride on this bike, we came upon a long twisty descent. Our ride leader, whom has descended this particular stretch of road before, was gone. I noticed that everyone else started dragging their brakes at around 40 mph. I kept my speed up and the bike handled corners and connects apexes with the best of them. The bike gave me the confidence to rail turns fast. About halfway down, I started gaining ground on our ride leader. We paused at the bottom and he checked the max speed, 51mph. All I can say was that the bike's geometry allowed me to stay relaxed the entire time and handle turns with confidence.

The paint and small details such as the chromed headtube lugs, chainstay, and rear dropouts shows that someone took the time to sweat the details.

Weaknesses:
This bike has few if any. But if I had to pick one, I would say that the steering feels slightly floppy at slower speeds (<15mph). At first, I thought this bike had a steeper head angle than my Giant, but at 71.1 degrees for a 53cm frame it is actually .9 degrees slacker than the Giant. I have to add that I am currently using a stem that is about 10 to 20mm shorter than what I should be using which could add to the floppy feeling.

Similar Products Used:
-Trek 1000
-Schwinn Super Sport GLX
-Giant TCR 2