# Colnago C59 vs Bianchi Oltre



## under1630 (Feb 22, 2011)

I have narrowed my search to these 2 bikes. Both have rave reviews from so called experts and owners alike, I would like to know if anyone here has personal experience with either.

Thanks.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

have you test rode them ?

I sold all my Bianchis ( I had 2 ) when I experienced my first Colnago. now I have 3 Colnagos.


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## takl23 (Jul 22, 2007)

Bianchi speaks to me from a cycling passion point of view, I love the history and the look of their bikes. Colnago seems cutting edge like Ferrari, all kinds of technology. Just my point of view.


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## Mr. Scary (Dec 7, 2005)

takl23 said:


> Bianchi speaks to me from a cycling passion point of view, I love the history and the look of their bikes. Colnago seems cutting edge like Ferrari, all kinds of technology. Just my point of view.


Colnago's high end carbon bikes like the C59 are lugged, nice for ease of custom builds but not the latest technology by a long shot. I think you are confusing expense with advancement, Nags are nice bikes though.


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## orange_julius (Jan 24, 2003)

Mr. Scary said:


> Colnago's high end carbon bikes like the C59 are lugged, nice for ease of custom builds but not the latest technology by a long shot. I think you are confusing expense with advancement, Nags are nice bikes though.


If the OP prefers non-lugged custom carbons, options are still slim at this point. I don't know of any company other than Cyfac that offers this. Cyfac uses tube-to-tube construction (mitre-cut), then the joints are hand-wrapped with carbon and kevlar. Makes for a very pretty frame, very expensive, and I haven't had a chance to try one yet.


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## chuckice (Aug 25, 2004)

One is a Colnago....the other is who cares.


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## ghostryder (Dec 28, 2009)

c59 had the Yellow jersey for many days in TDF. I think it also had something to do with the Voekler, so definatley the C59


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## ciclisto (Nov 8, 2005)

*wow!*

I would venture to day if you got them both it would take a week and the Bianchi would sit in the garage. Bianchi, my first bike in 1960, was(emphasis) was the Italian brand to own. It has since become a badge engineered frame , as in a badge is put on in Italy and all else in Taiwan. They are no longer and never were especially stellar frames. I still have a 1984 "campione del mondo" but the Colnago is without a doubt the bike to own on two scores.
One they are made perfectly and ride like no other. Second they are worth more used than almost anything else should you decide to sell at some point. They are worth owning, a used Bianchi , well just look on ebay for one. If you are spending what I think you are even a Asian Colnago like the CX-1 is a better choice. Made there but with Ernesto's supervision.
This is like choosing between a Ferrari and a Viper or Corvette..


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

orange_julius said:


> If the OP prefers non-lugged custom carbons, options are still slim at this point. I don't know of any company other than Cyfac that offers this. Cyfac uses tube-to-tube construction (mitre-cut), then the joints are hand-wrapped with carbon and kevlar. Makes for a very pretty frame, very expensive, and I haven't had a chance to try one yet.


More options now. 3 in Austin alone. 

Custom Carbon Fiber Frames & Bicycles | Crumpton Cycles | Austin, Texas

KirkLee Bicycles

Pages | Alchemy Handmade Bicycle Company


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## maxxevv (Jan 18, 2009)

You could check out Strong and Serotta for custom carbon too.


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## onefour02 (Jan 7, 2009)

i did not have the chance to ride bianchis, but i had a trek which i sold and have 4 colnagos now.



Salsa_Lover said:


> have you test rode them ?
> 
> I sold all my Bianchis ( I had 2 ) when I experienced my first Colnago. now I have 3 Colnagos.


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## Erion929 (Jun 10, 2010)

Dunno, don't know much about Bianchi....but this looks pretty sweet and modern. Has great reviews, too, on build, performance, and ride. I used to hate that color, but on this bike it grows on me. I'd take that! :thumbsup:

**


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## biker58life (Aug 7, 2009)

*If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it.*

My Colnago C59 PR99 arrived on my birthday and was built in 2 days and I have been riding it for about a week. It's frigging fantastic!

I don't know Bianchi bikes but I have heard great things about it but the C59 is something quite special. 

The C59 is like an organic thing. It knows what you want to do and becomes your partner and help you become the best you can do. I don't know if I will ever reach the limits of this frame (c'mon, I ain't never gonna race the TdF, so I guess I will NEVER find its limits). 

The frame is an amalgamation of contradictions; soft yet stiff, racy yet comfy; it's a jack of all trades and master of EVERYTHING.

I have other bikes but they were all good at one thing, two, at most. The climbing bike chatters, the aero bike not so good on hills, cruiser bike too soft. Don't get me wrong, they are all wonderful and way better than me but the C59...oh man, it's magical.

It's kind of sad because I always want to try other bikes and work up to that one bike, that one bike which can give me everything. Now the search is over. It's like your wife. You know there are other girls out there but this one is just so good, so right that you have to put a ring on it. I know I will never "need" another new bike but, thankfully, unlike a wife, you can still have the C65 when it comes out.

My only advise to you choosing between Bianchi and Colnago is this; take a look at eBay and look at the used bike market between Bianchi and Colnago. A C50, Extreme Power, or even a C40 still goes for thousands and people are buying the used Colnagos. There is a reason why Colnago bikes are so well sought after.


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## Oasisbill (Jan 15, 2011)

The Oltre is made in Treviglio in Bergamo, not Taiwan or china.

I still love the Colnago.....


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## Oasisbill (Jan 15, 2011)

BTW, Celeste (the Bianchi colour) was the colour of Mr Bianchi's mistress's panties. There's a good reason to buy one :blush2:


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## deus (Jun 8, 2005)

The Oltre is FINISHED in Treviglio, Veneto but frame is Asian...


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

My educated guess is that the C59's ride is closer to the Bianchi Infinito than to the Oltre.


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## Dajianshan (Jul 15, 2007)

For my custom I was inspired, in part, by the C-59. It is a very nice ride.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

I'd get the one with the lifetime warranty.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

Kontact said:


> I'd get the one with the lifetime warranty.


Which one is that? You think you'd ever collect on a lifetime warranty against manufacturer defect? From a European company? A place where everyone accepts that if you break it, you accept it, rather than try to get a new frame for free. The length of the "warranty" is about the least important feature to consider. 

Get the Colnago. It's a classic. The Bianchi just looks kind of gee whiz. Even if it is made in Italy, it still looks like some gee whiz carbon stamping from China. 

I've got a 2000 C-40 that I still ride. I'm sure they're both nice bikes, but I know my C-40 has a great ride. Maybe lugged frames are "old fashioned", but sometimes old technology can be the best technology. Colnago frames have a nice ride and handle really well. 

If you do get the Bianchi -- you have to get the Celeste green.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

pmf said:


> Maybe lugged frames are "old fashioned"


It is wrong to consider lugged frames old fashioned and monocoque frames more modern.

They are just two different methods of constuction, and both are used in all manner of products.

Also, a lot of frames that look like they are monocoque are assembled from pieces.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

pmf said:


> Which one is that? You think you'd ever collect on a lifetime warranty against manufacturer defect? From a European company? A place where everyone accepts that if you break it, you accept it, rather than try to get a new frame for free. The length of the "warranty" is about the least important feature to consider.
> 
> Get the Colnago. It's a classic. The Bianchi just looks kind of gee whiz. Even if it is made in Italy, it still looks like some gee whiz carbon stamping from China.
> 
> ...


Oh, neither, I guess. Maybe buy something else that the manufacturer has stronger feelings about. Calfee, Parlee, Crumpton, etc.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

Cinelli 82220 said:


> It is wrong to consider lugged frames old fashioned and monocoque frames more modern.
> 
> They are just two different methods of constuction, and both are used in all manner of products.
> 
> Also, a lot of frames that look like they are monocoque are assembled from pieces.


Actually, carbon lugs post-date monocoque, and carbon lugs and mandrel formed carbon tubing are made to a higher standard than larger bladder formed parts. One could argue that monocoque is old fashioned and lower quality.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Were moncoques around before the Vitus and Alan carbon and alloy frames? Although I admit they were aluminum-to-carbon and not carbon-to-carbon. The Kestrel was the first one piece frame I can remember, but I don't know if it was really mono or glued together from tubes like a Trek Madone.

All this stuff is hard to tell without seeing the assembly process. From the outside it's impossible to tell the quality of a structure. A Chinarello may look exactly like a Pina but be entirely different inside, for example.

I was speaking in a more general sense anyway, both methods are widely used in non-bicycle applications. Some structures are too big to make in one shot, or have too complicated a shape. And if properly done, assembling something from pieces (like a C59 or a Madone) is just as good as a one-shot moncoque.

You are right about bladders, they are pretty much outdated. Mandrels provide much better quality.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

Cinelli 82220 said:


> Were moncoques around before the Vitus and Alan carbon and alloy frames? Although I admit they were aluminum-to-carbon and not carbon-to-carbon. The Kestrel was the first one piece frame I can remember, but I don't know if it was really mono or glued together from tubes like a Trek Madone.
> 
> All this stuff is hard to tell without seeing the assembly process. From the outside it's impossible to tell the quality of a structure. A Chinarello may look exactly like a Pina but be entirely different inside, for example.
> 
> ...


Carbon to metal lugs was first, followed by true monocoque and almost the same time as OCLV style bladder formed subassembly. Aegis, Trek and Kestrel all traded personnel based on their feelings about the technology. Kestrel appeared correct at the time, but ultimately the people at Aegis and Trek guessed right.

Shortly after that, carbon lugs started appearing that were made in high pressure dies without bladders. All carbon lugs are extremely uniform, as are the mandrel formed tubes. Composites bond to composites in a superior manner to metal, so slip lug manufacturer is very strong.

The only other manufacturing method is tube to tube construction with a pressure molded over-joint, like the kind Calfee popularized as Carbonframes, and used by Parlee, Cyfac, Crumpton and many others. Unlike most lugged or molded methods, this allows for the most customization. Some other methods can be applied to customs, but Colnago's method is not. Colnago does not make custom frames.

Calling one method better than the other misses the advantages of each. Monocoque or subassembly style frames allow very dramatic shapes, but it is hard to argue that a Parlee is heavy or rides poorly, so the advantage of molding is not without question. Especially if you factor in QC and failure modes.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

Kontact said:


> Colnago does not make custom frames.
> 
> .


Yes they do.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

Kontact said:


> Colnago does not make custom frames.


yes they do, but you have to get it direct from the shop in Italy. maybe that in an analogy with tailored suit constuction, could be called more "Made To Measure" than Custom.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

Meanwhile, the OP posted this on Aug. 18th and hasn't been back since. Probobly already lost interest in cycling and has spent the money on some other impulse.


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## Ppopp (Jun 20, 2011)

orange_julius said:


> If the OP prefers non-lugged custom carbons, options are still slim at this point. I don't know of any company other than Cyfac that offers this. Cyfac uses tube-to-tube construction (mitre-cut), then the joints are hand-wrapped with carbon and kevlar. Makes for a very pretty frame, very expensive, and I haven't had a chance to try one yet.


Seems to me what you're describing here isn't much different than a lugged frame where the lugs are formed after the frame is assembled in place, using the frame tubing itself to form the lugs instead of dies.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm the happy owner of a lugged frame (Look 585), with foreseeable desire to change that.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

T K said:


> Meanwhile, the OP posted this on Aug. 18th and hasn't been back since. Probobly already lost interest in cycling and has spent the money on some other impulse.


Yeah, I gotta start taking more careful note of the date on the OP. Why do people resurrect posts that almost six months old? It's pretty annoying.


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## T0mi (Mar 2, 2011)

Those ugly looking Colnagos are made for selfish fat, rude, slow people in their 50's/60's. The only good colnago riders I know are the pros who are paid to ride them but they are just not allowed to tell people how much they suck.

Bianchi is not what it used to be.

Choose something else.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

T0mi said:


> Those ugly looking Colnagos are made for selfish fat, rude, slow people in their 50's/60's. The only good colnago riders I know are the pros who are paid to ride them but they are just not allowed to tell people how much they suck.
> 
> Bianchi is not what it used to be.
> 
> Choose something else.


Wow, spoken like a true moron!
Wait, are you confusing Colnago with Pinarello?


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## mj3200 (Apr 18, 2008)

Monocoque frames were made by Colnago before they made frames with carbon lugs.

This is from the 1988 catalogue......


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## Herkwo (Nov 8, 2002)

T0mi said:


> Those ugly looking Colnagos are made for selfish fat, rude, slow people in their 50's/60's. The only good colnago riders I know are the pros who are paid to ride them but they are just not allowed to tell people how much they suck.
> 
> Bianchi is not what it used to be.
> 
> Choose something else.


Wow! And of course you must be one of those most giving, nice, fast people in their 20's/30's riding a beautiful work of art... But... Once I saw what you are indeed riding, it dawned on me that you couldn't possibly know what ugly is... 
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bi...ead-sorry-269075-post3710038.html#post3710038
If only I could give a negative rep...


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## Mr. Scary (Dec 7, 2005)

Herkwo said:


> Wow! And of course you must be one of those most giving, nice, fast people in their 20's/30's riding a beautiful work of art... But... Once I saw what you are indeed riding, it dawned on me that you couldn't possibly know what ugly is...
> http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bi...ead-sorry-269075-post3710038.html#post3710038
> If only I could give a negative rep...


Campagnolo shifters, Shimano crank, and SRAM rear derailleur-we have found our ugly duckling of RBR... :idea:


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## gordy748 (Feb 11, 2007)

T0mi said:


> Those ugly looking Colnagos are made for selfish fat, rude, slow people in their 50's/60's. The only good colnago riders I know are the pros who are paid to ride them but they are just not allowed to tell people how much they suck.


How dare you! I'm only in my 40's.

I believe that very weirdly colored Colnago is the C-35, which did indeed come out in the late 80s. At the time they were also building Carbitubos, which were carbon tubes bonded to alloy lugs. Double downtube, too... gorgeous bikes (though I don't think the 2 downtubes were more effective).

The C-40 came out in 92 or 93. It was sprayed to look like an alloy frame as the pros tested it, which most people thought it was.


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## T0mi (Mar 2, 2011)

Herkwo said:


> Wow! And of course you must be one of those most giving, nice, fast people in their 20's/30's riding a beautiful work of art... But... Once I saw what you are indeed riding, it dawned on me that you couldn't possibly know what ugly is...
> http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bi...ead-sorry-269075-post3710038.html#post3710038
> If only I could give a negative rep...


you say that because you are jalous, being fat, slow and ugly.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

gordy748 said:


> The C-40 came out in 92 or 93. It was sprayed to look like an alloy frame as the pros tested it, which most people thought it was.


Iron alloy, also known as steel.


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## Herkwo (Nov 8, 2002)

T0mi said:


> you say that because you are jalous, being fat, slow and ugly.


Yep, you got me pegged... I'd gladly trade my CX-1 for your Matte Black P.O.S. -- Not...

Now back to the OP's question... Moronic comments aside, I think you will be very pleased in the Colnago if you choose to go that route.


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

T0mi said:


> you say that because you are jalous, being fat, slow and ugly.


No, your bike is ugly. What's with the white stem? Just wanted to be different?

OP - Colnagos are very nice bikes. I have an Extreme Power and it rides great. Fairly stiff, but also very forgiving over rougher roads. It's a nice compromise. And, being Italian, it has a slightly lower bottom bracket than my Cannondale, which I think actually makes it more stable on descents.


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## T0mi (Mar 2, 2011)

nightfend said:


> No, your bike is ugly. What's with the white stem? Just wanted to be different?
> 
> OP - Colnagos are very nice bikes. I have an Extreme Power and it rides great. Fairly stiff, but also very forgiving over rougher roads. It's a nice compromise. And, being Italian, it has a slightly lower bottom bracket than my Cannondale, which I think actually makes it more stable on descents.


We are talking about Colnago, not my bike. But if you really care I can tell you more about it. It was built on a budget using mostlty second hand spare parts. I never expected it to be a shiny looking bike, total price was around 1200$ including wheel for a bike at the uci weight limit. For the record the stem has since gone to my CX bike and will be replaced soon by a ritchey wcs, the crank is now a Sram Red.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

I like your bike, T0mi, and I've said so before. There is a bit of honey badgerism over it, and, alas, a C59 connection...
But it's not Celeste, haha!


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## deus (Jun 8, 2005)

Kontact said:


> I'd get the one with the lifetime warranty.


The Italians offer either 2 years (Bottecchia, De Rosa, Colnago, Casati, Moser) or 5 years (Viner, Bianchi, Fondriest, Wilier). It is more a cultural thing than an indicator of substandard quality (e.g. compare car warranties in Australia with those in Europe).

Besides, lifetime warranties are "limited" so the chance of benefitting from them are minimal. Then there's now creative manufacturers like Eddy Merckx, which provide a "passport" for each bike and annual shop checkups (free or?) to maintain their warranty.


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## Kontact (Apr 1, 2011)

deus said:


> The Italians offer either 2 years (Bottecchia, De Rosa, Colnago, Casati, Moser) or 5 years (Viner, Bianchi, Fondriest, Wilier). It is more a cultural thing than an indicator of substandard quality (e.g. compare car warranties in Australia with those in Europe).
> 
> Besides, lifetime warranties are "limited" so the chance of benefitting from them are minimal. Then there's now creative manufacturers like Eddy Merckx, which provide a "passport" for each bike and annual shop checkups (free or?) to maintain their warranty.


Did you see the post in Components where the Merckx owner can't get a derailleur hanger for a couple year old bike? 

There are still plenty of manufacturers whose "lifetime warranty" is a lifetime warranty. And there are companies that make bikes that are so durable they probably don't even need a warranty. No one on your list qualifies for either category.

Those are bikes for people who want what's hot right now, and aren't concerned about whether they will be riding them in five years (or two).


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