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Capatain
CAS
Categories
Cipollini, Mario
Cipressa
Cleats
Colnago, Ernesto
CPA
Criterium
Cross-country cycling
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Ernesto Colnago is the master among frame builders, one of the “Godfathers” of classic modern road racing cycles. As a 12 year old the Italian, born in Cambiagio, learned to weld and only a year later started working for the then prestigious cycle manufacturer Gloria in Milan. As a 14 year old Colnago obtained his first racing licence and won 13 races over the course of his career. In 1951, a bad fall forced him to retire after which he decided to found his own company. In 1954 everything was ready and the first step on the road to success for the company Colnago was taken. Right from the very beginning he subjected the existing frame geometry to some radical changes and at the same time created the modern look of road racing bikes - up until that time the pre-war design had been dominant with a large frame, a long wheel base and saddle that was only a few centimetres above the frame. Since then Colnago has had his finger on the pulse of the cycling scene, he is in close contact with the best cyclists in the world, for whom he has in many cased personally prepared the bicycles. As a mechanic the lively Italian was part of the legendary Molteni team of Rudi Altig and Eddy Merckx, Gianni Motta and Michele Dancelli. During the company's 50 year history, more than 5,000 wins have been ridden on Colnago bikes, but one special victory went into the Colnago history books: It was “lucky devil” Dancelli's victory in the Milan-San Remo in 1970 that persuaded Ernesto Colnago to change his logo from an eagle to the ace of clubs that it is today. The logo stayed the same, but the technology behind it set standards: Colnago was one of the first to experiment with using carbon fibre and has been working together with car manufacturer Ferrari for years: In 1987, he came up with the idea of forks with straight connectors. Tony Rominger broke the world one-hour record on a Colnago carbon monocoque in 1994 – 10 years later Colnago celebrated the company’s 50th anniversary with the “flag ship”, the state of the art C 50 frame. The latest creation is the carbon monocoque “Cristallo” with a sloping top tube, on which many of the Milram riders and also their colleagues from the Rabobank, Landbouwkrediet-Colnago, Ceramica Panaria and Navigators Insurance Cycling Teams sit on their way from win to win.
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