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Colnago has never treated its C Series quite like the rest of its range. Where the V5 RS or Y1RS are built around pure performance, maximum efficiency and results on the line, the C models have gradually shifted toward something else: a more heritage-led, more emotional, and more deliberately Italian high-end vision.
With the new C72, the Cambiago brand pushes this separation of roles even further. This model is not trying to become Tadej Pogačar’s bike, nor to go head to head with the best monocoque race frames on the market. Instead, it has a different ambition: to offer a high-end road bike, made in Italy, technically current, but designed first and foremost for the pleasure of riding, the beauty of the object and a sense of historical coherence.
🚀 In short:
Colnago launches the new C72, successor to the C68 within its C Series.
The frame remains made in Italy with a modular construction, far from the monocoque standards of pure race bikes.
The C72 is easier to live with thanks to revised geometry, tyre clearance up to 35 mm and integrated storage in the down tube.
The first thing to understand about the C72 is that it is not a race bike in disguise. Colnago is not telling that story anyway. The C72 is not here to dethrone the Y1RS or to replace the V5 RS in the brand’s racing universe. It follows a different logic.
We already saw this logic with the C68. But where the C68 could sometimes feel a bit too tame, a bit too endurance-leaning in both behaviour and positioning, the C72 seems to correct that without denying the original philosophy. In short: remain a Colnago C – a bike apart – but make it more accomplished, more coherent, and likely more appealing in use.
Colnago calls it a bike that is “fast, but not extreme”. That is probably the best way to summarise its intent. The C72 is not a radical bike. Nor is it a simple prestige object frozen in its heritage. It is a bike that aims to blend comfort, responsiveness, sophistication in manufacturing and desirability.
At a time when virtually all ultra high-end carbon road frames are monocoque, the C72 persists with a multi-piece construction. That is the core of its identity.
The frame is assembled from several carbon elements, then joined in Cambiago. Colnago states a seven-piece structure and presents this approach as both a technical and cultural choice. The idea is simple: retain a more artisanal manufacturing method, with more control over certain adjustments, and above all one that is more faithful to the history of the C Series.
In practice, that also means the C72 is not playing the same game as the most extreme monocoque frames on the market. It does not seek to break records for integration, aerodynamics or absolute weight. Colnago’s message is to highlight precise distribution of stiffness, overall balance in handling and build quality.
This is important because it avoids a misunderstanding. The C72 is not an “old-school” bike in the bad sense. But it is not a pure display of modernity either. It is a bike that embraces a different hierarchy of priorities.
Visually, the C72 is immediately identifiable as a Colnago from the C Series. You see those visible lugs, that way of making the frame junctions stand out rather than hiding them completely, and an aesthetic that is both very Italian and very considered.
But this new model also evolves several details. The head tube area looks slimmer and better integrated than on the C68. The lines are crisper, cleaner, less massive. The seat clamp has evolved too, with reworked integration. The new seatpost clearly contributes to the bike’s overall elegance.
Colnago seems to have refined the whole without diving into an aerodynamic arms race. That is likely a good thing. The C72 does not feel like it is chasing trends. It remains restrained in its forms without being dated.
Where this C72 becomes particularly interesting is in its functional update.
First concrete point: tyre clearance increases to 35 mm, versus 32 mm previously on the C68. That is not anecdotal. It means the C72 opens much more clearly to modern road use, with wider sections that are more comfortable, more versatile, and adapted to real road conditions. For a bike at this price level, it was almost essential.
Second major change: the arrival of an integrated storage compartment in the down tube. Again, this signals a bike less frozen in a museum mindset. Colnago acknowledges that a prestige bike can also be practical. The system integrates with the carbon bottle cages that double as the closure. On paper, it is smart, tidy and far more relevant than a mere styling exercise.
Third notable change: the bottom bracket switches to the threaded BSA standard. This is probably one of the best technical decisions of this launch. In a market that has too often confused sophistication with complexity, returning to a simple, reliable, easy-to-service standard is anything but a detail. On a bike built to last, it is a very coherent choice.
The C72 also evolves its geometry. Colnago announces a bike that is a bit easier to ride, a bit taller up front, with a more comfort-oriented approach without giving up a certain sportiness.
In practice, this looks like a clear-eyed update. The C Series could not stay stuck between two worlds: too tame for racers, not modern enough for demanding riders who want to go long and fast in good conditions. With this C72, Colnago seems to have understood that real modernity on this kind of bike is not necessarily about going more radical, but rather about being more coherent.
Stack is up, the cockpit is a touch more accessible, and the whole should make it easier to achieve a clean, rewarding position without piling on spacers. That is an aesthetic detail, but also a practical one. On a bike in this category, nobody wants a build that looks cobbled together.
The new CC.02 cockpit points the same way. Colnago says it is lighter than the previous CC.01, with revised ergonomics, a shorter reach and a slight flare.
Alongside the standard C72, Colnago is also launching the C72 La Scala, inspired by the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where the bike was presented.
The proposition is clear: make the C72 a prestige platform and push its symbolic dimension even further. With its red, gold and white colours, specific finishes and production limited to 72 units, the La Scala is obviously not aimed at a broad audience. At 22,000 euros for the frameset, this is about collecting, image, almost a showpiece.
You can judge the exercise excessive. And it obviously is. But it is at least coherent with what Colnago has always been: a brand that sells not only performance, but also narrative, prestige and a certain idea of Italian cycling.
The real question is therefore not whether this C72 La Scala is reasonable. It is not. The question is rather whether Colnago still knows how to produce bikes capable of eliciting something other than a rational trade-off. The answer is clearly yes.
The C72 will be offered as a frameset from €6,780, including frame, fork, headset and CC.02 cockpit. Colnago also announces several complete builds, with prices rising quickly.
The entry build starts around €14,200 with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and a Fulcrum Sharq 57 wheelset. Other versions are planned with Enve SES 4.5, Campagnolo Super Record 13-speed or SRAM Red AXS, up to around €16,600.
In other words, the C72 remains a very exclusive bike, including in its “normal” version. Colnago announces deliberately limited production to 3,000 frames per year, which further reinforces its unique positioning.
On the market, that puts the C72 in a space where the purchase cannot be purely rational. At this price level, you are buying a ride feel, a build, a story, an aesthetic, an emotion. As for pure performance, it can often be found elsewhere for less.
The Colnago C72 is interesting precisely because it does not pretend. It is not a modern superbike disguised as a heritage machine. Nor is it a collector’s item totally disconnected from use. It is a bike that embraces a very particular proposition: that of a very high-end Italian bike, made in Italy, technically brought up to date, yet refusing to enter the war of absolute performance.
It is obviously a bike of passion more than reason. But truth be told, a Colnago C almost always has been.
The good news is that this C72 seems more coherent than its predecessor. More modern in its useful choices, more credible in real-world use, without losing what makes the series unique. It will not speak to everyone, and it probably was not designed to. However, for someone looking for a high-end, status-rich, durable road bike in its desirability and less trapped by fashion than a pure race bike, the C72 could well be one of the most interesting launches of the year.
| Riding style | All-road bike |
|---|---|
| Frame | Carbon |
| Electric assist | No |
| Gender | Unisex |
| Year | 2026 |
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