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Bicycle racers face immense danger every time they swing their leg over the bike, from broken bones to death. Some might argue a severe bone break can be worse than death, for it might spell the end of one’s racing career.

For Ernesto Colnago, a broken leg did just that. He spent sixty days in a leg cast, effectively ending his relatively short career and forcing him to reconsider his passion for bicycles. But he did not let his bad fortune deter him from the sport he loved; instead, he began to reassess how he could impact the sport and decided his best plan of attack was with raw materials and frame-building tools.

Even before Colnago’s racing days, his interest in the construction and design of bicycles was fresh in his mind. In 1945, he began working at a prestigious bicycle factory in Milan called Gloria. While employed there, he began his racing career and collected thirteen major wins. In 1950, Colnago won possibly the most important race of his career, the Coppa Caldirola. Only a year later, however, Colnago took a fall in the Milan-Busseto Classic, ending his racing career and putting him in a leg cast. While laying injured, Gloria gave him wheel-building assignments to occupy his time and talents. It was then, while building wheels during his injury, that Colnago first decided he wanted to start his own business.

Three years later, Colnago opened the doors to his own bike shop in a small town in Italy called Cambiago, marking the unspectacular beginnings of a legendary company. With a wealth of knowledge and the drive to succeed, Colnago began building his reputation, which paid off a year after opening when team Nivea racer Fiorenzo Magni visited the shop. Magni was experiencing leg pains while riding, which Colnago identified as incorrect fit; he lengthened Magni’s crank arms, thereby eliminating his discomfort.

Magni was so impressed with Colnago’s attention to detail and mechanical abilities that he invited the shop owner to become his full-time mechanic at the Giro D’Italia. It was a grand opportunity for Colnago, a hometown-boy who hadn’t seen much of the world. “I was only 22 years old,” he said. “I had never traveled, so that was an adventure. My brother-in-law lent me a cheap suitcase for the trip.”

This stint would open doors for Colnago, who managed his shop and worked as a mechanic over the next several years for such prestigious races as the Giro D’Italia, Vuelta Espana, and the Tour De France. Eventually he was named the head mechanic for the Italian National Team, a position he held for several years.

Throughout his tenure as a mechanic for several different teams, Colnago continued to develop his frames; his team riders began to use his designs during the race season, and in 1960, Luigi Arienti rode a Colnago to its first major victory in the Rome Olympics. Not long after that, victories came abundantly to Colnago, including a Giro D’Italia win in 1966 by Gianni Motta, who was riding for team Molteni. For Colnago, the victories were a sure sign that his frames were winners; however, his desire to improve the designs and make stronger, faster bikes did not diminish as the wins came pouring in.

Colnago eventually became known for his unbreakable forks. He had developed a new method for bending forks, deviating from the normal methods of heating the metal, which weakened the fork overall. Instead, Colnago said, “I figured out a way to bend the blades fixed in a jig on a workbench with two pieces of wood. But before I got this new development right, believe me, there was a lot of hard work and I had to throw away a lot of tubes to get it down perfectly.” In 1969, Colnago further advanced fork design and strength when he employed the use of a new system called microfusion to fabricate his fork crowns and lugs. More durable and thus reliable than pressed lugs and forged crowns, microfusion-cast lugs and crowns added strength—not to mention peace of mind—to a new generation of cyclists.

As Colnago’s products grew, he developed his signature Asso di Fiori (Ace of Clubs) logo and gave a bit more character to his line.

The race wins did not stop: Michele Dancelli won the Milan San-Remo on a Colnago in 1970, and Eddie Merckx rode a custom Colnago track bike to set a new hour record in 1972. But it wasn’t until 1974 that Colnago began to sponsor race teams. His first sponsorship went to Team SCIC, and spanned the course of thirty years to gain over 5000 wins on his bicycles.


As times changed, so, too, did Colnago’s approach to his frame design. Ever conscious of frame flex—which reduces power transfer from the rider’s pedal stroke directly to the wheels—Colnago invented the Mexico frame, which featured a crimped top tube intended to reduce flex and increase lateral stiffness.

A special gold model was presented to Pope John Paul II by Colnago himself; according to Colnago, the Pontiff’s reaction was flattering: “The Pope picked up this bike and told me it was marvelously light and that he wished he had one like it a long time ago!”

The advent of carbon came quickly to Colnago in the 80’s. He produced several prototypes ranging from the aesthetically shocking to the extremely functional. Among the first prototypes were the Krono Flight, an aerodynamic full-carbon fiber model; and the 1981 CX Pista, a time trial bike that was among the first carbon fiber bicycle frames molded as one piece, with no lugs — a ‘monocoque’ frame. Though it never made a splash in the bike market, its inventive design and creative concept earned it a place in cycling history and set a new fabrication process standard with the monocoque design that is still in use today.

Perhaps one of the most notable features of Colnago frames was born in 1983. The Arabesque frame, with its oval CX tubing, became an innovation in frame design; it was eclipsed, however, with the advent of the Master, a steel-tubed frame cold-drawn in a star shape to add rigidity and comfort. In addition to these advances, Colnago introduced straight-bladed forks in 1987, which became a major advancement in the cycling world because of its increased rigidity and reduced flex.

As he became known as a talented frame builder and forward-thinking innovator, opportunities opened up for Colnago; in 1986, he collaborated with Ferrari to combine the Ferrari Formula One technology with Colnago’s extensive bicycle knowledge. The collaboration produced several concepts. The fruits of this labor hit the cycling community in force in 1989, when Colnago introduced the C35, named in honor of Colnago’s 35th anniversary in business, in both a road model and a mountain bike model. Both were designed using carbon tubing.

Carbon, however, wasn’t the only material Colnago began to experiment with. Titanium was also a new and unique metal of choice for Ernesto, and with rigidity always at the forefront of his designs, he came up with the Carbitubo downtube. The Carbitubo was essentially a split downtube. This design would lead to the development of the Colnago Bititan, helping birth mainstream acceptance of titanium bikes.

Arguably Colnago’s greatest achievement in frame design, however, began only a year later in 1994 when he obtained the patent for a carbon-fiber design that employed the use of one-piece lugs. The frame became known as the C40 and remained one of the hottest bikes on the market until the inception of the C50 in 2003.

How does the C50 stack up to its predecessor? According to a review, “Colnago have been at or near the very top on just about any list because they put more of what people want in Bicycles. Passion and Tradition live in the C50 and do so in massive quantities.”

Colnago’s collaboration with Ferrari continued throughout the years with the introduction to two full-carbon models: the CF-1 and the CF-3, the latter of which was a monocoque design. The most promising frame material has made its way into the full 2006 Colnago line, with several models featuring carbon fiber tubing, but Colnago hasn’t forgotten its roots in steel and alloy, either. They’ve combined materials to make hybrid frames such as alloy and carbon, as well as steel and carbon. They also offer full alloy and full scandium frames.

Among the 2006 full carbon models are two Ferrari models, the CF-4n and the CF-4r, as well as the CF-5, which features a more upright riding position for less aggressive riders. In addition to those models, the full carbon line continues with the C-50, which took the place of the classic and revolutionary C-40. Rounding out the carbon rides are the Cristallo, Jet, President, and E-1.

For many cyclists—including myself—Colnago bikes have a draw other bikes simply can’t touch; it’s not surprising, of course, if one considers the classy style and flare of the bikes.

The full-carbon frames come in an array of colors, but most notable are the custom paintjobs—such as the sunflower motif, or the Da Vinci paint job, shown here. With such amazing attention to aesthetic details and tireless production methods, cyclists everywhere find Colnago bikes to be the pinnacle, the ‘one bike’ lusted after and coveted once attained.

The alloy-carbon models, which combine the rigidity and light weight of aluminum with the vibration absorption and comfortable, responsive ride of carbon, start with the aptly-named Dream HP. This model comes available in either a traditional frame or a sloping top-tube frame (similar to what is commonly known as compact geometry), as do several of the full carbon frames. The alloy carbon line is rounded out by the Strada SC and Active plus.

Traditionalists are always eager to tell you the common mantra in the cycling world:

“steel is real."

Indeed, for the greater part of the twentieth century, this was the frame material of choice for almost all bicycle manufacturers. The ride and durability was unrivaled until the advent of carbon, which had similar ride characteristics but lighter weight and less flex.

By combining the two materials to create the steel-carbon line, Colnago has effectively introduced a line of bicycles with the durability and classic styling of steel as well as the light weight, responsiveness and vibration dampening of carbon. The Master B-Stay is sure to placate the traditionalist with a desire for modern advancements, ride quality, and sleek styling.

On the mountain bike side, Colnago offers three frame choices: the carbon C-50 and the scandium Alta Quota MTB. In addition to those higher end models, Colnago offers the alloy Ibex MTB, which should be priced a bit more affordably. With all these models to choose from, it’s hard to believe there’s yet another market of cyclists in need of specialty bicycles. Colnago has identified that group and suited a bike to their needs with the alloy Impact, a solid commuter bike that comes in either a mens’ frame or a sloped-downtube ladies’ frame.

Like his contemporaries, Ernesto Colnago kept his mind on the details and his drive on the quality, but unlike his competitors, he took his designs seriously and meticulously enough to make them into some of the most sought-after and beautifully crafted machines to hit the peloton and beyond. In addition to his contributions to the world of frame manufacturing, Colnago’s presence in the racing world as a constant and successful sponsor has transformed the tiny bike shop in Cambiago into a trusted company with its fingers on the pulse of the industry. Maybe there’s truth to the show business belief that luck lies in the saying, “Break a leg.” It certainly worked for Ernesto Colnago.

Official Company Site for Colnago