# buying a new colnago, need help!



## baharmic (Apr 5, 2007)

Hi all, after 10 years I am coming back to the road,
i am 75kg and 173cm i will decrease my weight to 72 kg,
i want to go back to race, i am 28 and can be very strong rider,
i looked,read, thought , and now i have to decide,
extreme -c , extreme power, c -50
now after reading a lot i think the power will be the best for me, i am planning to ride everyday, about 350 km per week. i would have take the extreme c but i am afraid to crack it,
first question: do i need to be afraid? is the extreme power better then the c 50 for me.
( i want to race, biathlons, road, and time trail)

second question: i live in new york city, is there a good place to buy arround the city?

third question: i want to get good measurments, do i need to worry about it or any good place, shop will do the job?

fourth question and last: i want to buy wheels for training with the record parts what kind or rims should i put on.

thank you all michael bahar


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## gibson00 (Aug 7, 2006)

baharmic said:


> Hi all, after 10 years I am coming back to the road,
> i am 75kg and 173cm i will decrease my weight to 72 kg,
> i want to go back to race, i am 28 and can be very strong rider,
> i looked,read, thought , and now i have to decide,
> ...



I think either the C50 or the Extreme Power would be fine. In fact, a lot of places have C50's on sale for about 3200 right now due to the previous US distributor clearing out their inventory. I think R&A Cycles is in NY? If yes, I would go there, supposed to be a very good shop, and they are a Colnago dealer.
Question - You say you want to do biathlons. Doesn't that involve cross country skis and a rifle??? I'd go with the Extreme C for that....


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## ETWN Stu (Feb 15, 2007)

You are not much different to me in size, though weight wise when you drop will still be heavier than I. If in your position I would one go for the best you can afford and two look at the bike that is going to serve your all round requirements. With my understanding the C50 will be that bike. It can be ridden daily and they are considered to be the best all round frames on the market and have been for the past few years. I have ridden an Extreme C but they are really a climbing specific frame. Also the model that I rode only had provisions for the one bidden cage. As far as breaking one, I have never seen a broken one nor have I heard of any. I have seen people on Extreme Powers and they all seem to be in the race position all the time…ok for a pro and a race bike, but for your training rides it would be pointless. Also they were designed with riders that can generate up to 180kg of force with every pedal stroke…so they are very stiff.

As far as size goes, I would be going for a 50cm sloping frame. You will be able to sit a fair bit of seat post out of it and throw it around easily. I ride a 48 to keep the weight down and have that extra control and to sit proud when I am on the tops of the bars or on the tops of the hoods. (You can see my ETWN in the Pictures Thread).

When it comes to wheels, firstly what wheels are you going to race on? The heaver the training wheel + the more drag that is generated over the spokes = the better for training.

For example, I race crit and road on Hyperons and train on Vento’s. If I was doing biathlons and time trials I would race on an aero wheel like a Bora, Zipp, Lightweight, and Corima, Cosmic what ever and so on. And train on something similar to a Vento or lower end Mavic Ksyrium…these are also fine and your weight will not worry them at all. Or build up a wheel using in rims like CXP 33, CXP 22, CXP 23 Ect and you will never budge them with a heavier gauge spoke and nipples. Also they are easily replaced as they are a mass produced item. My Vento are a fantastic wheel and have Record class bearings in them. They retail at a fraction of the price of Mavic Ksyrium and other out of the box type wheels, but the performance and reliability are not sacrificed. From Mavic also look at AKSIUM

I am not sure about shops in your area or a good place to get fitted up. wrenchscience.com will be an interesting read for you and I am sure you could pick their brain for free to obtain some info. Their addres is Wrench Science, Inc.
1022 Murray Street Berkeley, CA 94710. Phone:Toll free: 866.497.3624 Shops like cyclefitcentre.com.au even offer this type of service and I am sure you can send them your measurements and they could assist. also they do final set ups for interstate and international customers via the use of video images and they reply back via email and instruct on their recommendations, then you take another clip and send it back until its done right. Trust me it works and it is operated by cyclingnews.com tech guy Steve Hogg.

Hope this is any benefit to you and will look forward to seeing a picture posted soon…also welcome back to road racing and you have surly made a wise choice in choosing a Colnago.


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## gibson00 (Aug 7, 2006)

ETWN Stu said:


> I have seen people on Extreme Powers and they all seem to be in the race position all the time…ok for a pro and a race bike, but for your training rides it would be pointless. ...
> 
> When it comes to wheels, firstly what wheels are you going to race on? The heaver the training wheel + the more drag that is generated over the spokes = the better for training.
> 
> .


Stu, a couple of things to consider:
1. All of these Colnago models have the exact same geometries. If someone is in the racing position all the time, it isn't because he/she is on a particular model.
2. Regarding wheels for training, one of my coaches once said: "slow/heavy wheels for training will simply make you slower in training.". The point being, you should be training by heart rate, etc., not the speed you are going at. OK, that said, I wouldn't use super expensive wheels for training simply because they tend to be more fragile/expensive. BUT, I -do- make it a point to still ride nice wheels for training. Why? Because 90% of my time on the bike is training, so I might as well ride some nice wheels... :thumbsup: 
Cheers!


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## baharmic (Apr 5, 2007)

*one more question*

 hi all again
thank very much i really appreciate your time and afford,
i read more and, if that is true that there is a limit of 90 kg on the extreme-C that doesn't sounds good. i would really go on the power or c 50, still don't know which. :-( will decide in one week next week i want to buy them.
i do have one more question 
i looked at the http://www.maestro-uk.com/ it is cheaper can i buy it over there?
i look at r&a cycles looks good 
so
*IS IT worth to go to Europe to measure my self or r&a cycles will be the same.*
thank you all again

biathlon is running and cycling i know that it is waht you said too


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## gibson00 (Aug 7, 2006)

baharmic said:


> hi all again
> thank very much i really appreciate your time and afford,
> i read more and, if that is true that there is a limit of 90 kg on the extreme-C that doesn't sounds good. i would really go on the power or c 50, still don't know which. :-( will decide in one week next week i want to buy them.
> i do have one more question
> ...


At the moment, Idon't see a lot of benefit of buying from the UK. Two reasons:
1. If you want a C50, there are a lot of places in North America that have them on sale - cbike.com, competitivecyclist.com, gvhbikes.com, and I'm guessing R&A might have gotten some of that stock as well. At about 3200 US, you are likely getting a better deal than Maestro.
2. With regards to the Extreme Power, you will probably only save at most a few hundred dollars getting it from Maestro, and may have a long wait, and then your local bike shop won't be as happy to help you with the fitting, etc., if you don't buy from them.


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## toonraid (Sep 19, 2006)

If you have been out of Road bikes for 10 years a few things to consider;

1 - Your position on the bike will change as your body becomes comfortable with the required riding position - perhaps a good idea to buy a cheapo bike and train for a while so you have a better idea of "what you need" - this can then be used as a winter bike/training bike.
2 - if you are going to do close to 20000 km / yr you will need something comfortable and C50 is as good as it gets.
3 - Again given the annual 20 k you will wear out all the components pretty quick so perhaps a good idea to have 2 sets of wheels/cassette - durable and bomb proof cxp33 rim/centaur hub/cassette for daily grind and an exotic set for race days (campag Eurus & Fulcrum racing 1s are pretty good too). Also the handbuilt wheels are easy to maintain and get parts/have fixed in an LBS if you run into problems.

I suggest 2 bikes with similar geometry - perhaps a used colnago (steel or dream) training bike with durable parts for training and a sunday bike for racing and training.


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## baharmic (Apr 5, 2007)

thank you all now i need to make my final decision, hope to send you all picture soon enough. 
again thank you all,
michael bahar


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## TAW2112 (Aug 18, 2006)

*Fitting suggestion*

There are several good places on the internet to plug in some numbers and get a general guide to fitting. One of them is competitivecyclist.com. They have a fit calculator that takes into account a variety of body measurements and will give you several ball park figures on sizes. You might start there since it's been a while since you've been on a bike. A fit calculator will help you determine not only what size bike you need, but also seatpost and stem sizes as well. I've used this in doing some fittings for friends, and while it's not fool proof, it's a pretty good guide.

I also participate in duathlons, and think you'd be well off with a C-50. It's not like a crit race where you might crash or need a quick, stiff bike. One of these would serve you well as an all-around bike and one that would work well in those types of races.


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## ETWN Stu (Feb 15, 2007)

Hey Gibson thanks for the reply, I can understand where you are coming from when you said that you train to your H/R. I use to, but I don’t use any H/R monitor at all now. Instead I train to an RPM and continually try to improve on that. For a few years I trained with a multiple world track sprinting champion and he even has the real trophies on the mantel.. I don’t train with him anymore due to differences in private issues but he still is winning and his methods are still proving to be the best for me and because of him I can hold a high rpm in the big chain ring on sprints.

Im am not sure of what your coach or some one else’s coach has told you regarding the matter re the wheels, but the reason I use a heavier wheel is so that it takes a lot more effort to crank them up and when I do it takes a lot more effort keep it there. The Vento wheels that I use are fantastic value for money and the Pro, Continental, and A grade riders that I knock about with all seem to think the same. Also they are not supper expensive and I even think I paid about 300AUD new with a ten speed Veloce cassette. 

Sure, the geometry of EP, EC and C50 may be the same and the riders that I have seen on them have probably been fitted wrong, that was my bad but Im sticking to the claim that the C50 is still the best all round machine on the market.


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