The Colnago CX Zero – the Italian frame-builders' first Classics-specific carbon frame. Those Campgnolo 80th anniversary wheels are just for show(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The Colnago seatpost has a standard 27.2mm diameter(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Though the chainstays are thicker, they also narrow out closer to the bottom bracket(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The seat tube extends past the seatstay cluster slightly. This frame – one of just two that Europcar have at the moment – carried decals celebrating the 100th Tour de France(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The frame is compatible with both electronic and mechanical groupsets(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The CX Zero features fairly narrow seatstays that should also dampen vibration(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The ace of clubs: the unmistakable mark of Colnago. There’s extra space in the forks for a broader rim and tyre combination(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The frame has been given a longer head tube – a development that will give the bike mass market appeal as well as benefits over the pavé(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The chainstays have been given broader diameters and made curvy to boost the frame’s vibration damping properties(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The CX Zero’s heritage comes from the C59 and the M10(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) came out to pose with the new frame, which he’ll start riding after the Tour(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Iconic Italian frame-builders Colnago have launched their first carbon frame designed for the tough cobbled Classics – the CX Zero. It might find favour with riders looking for a smooth, easygoing ride, too.
The arrival of the CX Zero means riders on the Colnago-sponsored Europcar squad won't have to choose between the Prestige cyclo-cross frame and C59 road bike for the 2014 Classics.
Europcar directeur sportif Sébastien Joly - who unveiled the bike on the second rest day of the 2013 Tour de France, in Avignon - explained that the frame inherits most of its DNA from the company's top-of-the-range C59 and monocoque M10 frame.
However, there are significant changes. The CX Zero's wheelbase is longer than the C59's and should give more predictable handling over lumpy surfaces - be they in northern France and Belgium or on your weekend ride.
The steering tube has also been lengthened to aid comfort. On the 52cm model BikeRadar saw, the head tube was 16.5cm – just over a centimetre longer than on the same-sized C59.
Meanwhile, at the back, the chainstays have been beefed up and curved to dampen vibration. And when the Classics season starts, the increased frame and fork clearance means the CX Zero can be fitted with broader rims and 28mm tyres – a standard cobbles configuration that helps give a smoother ride.
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"It's a true bike for the Paris-Roubaix and the Flandrian Classics," said Joly, who said the bike was currently being tested by Europcar rider Alexandre Pichot. Thomas Voeckler – who stepped out of the hotel for a photo with the bike – will also give the bike a race test in the Tour du Poitou-Charents in August.
See our image gallery, above right, for more details on the CX Zero. And for more information on Colnago bikes see www.colnago.com.
Voeckler and the rest of Europcar have another choice for racing on rough roads
Sam started as a trainee reporter on daily newspapers in the UK before moving to South Africa where he contributed to national cycling magazine Ride for three years. After moving back to the UK he joined Procycling as a staff writer in November 2010.
