The New Kid On The Block...

For years Colnago have been the brand that every cyclist lusted over. The classic frame sets like the master, C40, C50 and the newest incarnation the C60 have always been had huge followings.

Over the past few years Ernest has been working closely with Team EuropeCar to produce something a bit different. Designed as the teams "Classics" bike it was designed to take on the toughest European races like Paris Roubaix and be able to handle to worst roads that Europe could throw at it.

2014 will be it's first season...this is the Colnago CX Zero.

Full carbon in construction, and complimented with a full carbon tapered fork the new frame has a BB86 bottom bracket the first frame Colnago has used a press fit system. A semi integrated headset system may strike some people as strange, however the serviceability of the units had to stay high for the team mechanics to deal with. Cables are internally routed for the gears or electronic cable as required and the rear brake is a fully lined affair to again, aid servicing and ease of installation.

Clearance has been kept generous with ample space for 25c tyres and we have been told to comfortably take a 28c, although we have not tested this theory! A more sportive geometry fit gives a more comfortable feel to the bike and the wheelbase and angles of the frame have been tweaked to be more comfort than race orientated.

Stu has managed to get one of the first in the country built up and now finally after a spare day off and a break in the weather managed to get it built up and this is the finished result...

  

The bike has come together really nicely! Based around Campagnolo Record group set, Rotor 3D 52/36 chain set and a hand built set of Powertap DT RR585 wheels and Zipp/FSA K Force finishing kit.

 

The Rotor chain set is both light and super stiff, paired with Rotor's own ceramic BB86 bottom bracket. Speedplay stainless zero pedals finish it off nicely.

 

Campagnolo Record group set, legendary, smooth, slick and it works...every time!

 

These are the Vredestein Fortezza Senso tyres 25c, new for 2014 and literally JUST come into stock! The aren't the lightest tyres, however they aren't expected to be. The all year round do it all tyre is our firm favourite at the shop. Great grip, great wear and great puncture resistance...if you need a new pair of tyres ask anyone at the shop, these are the daddies!!

After a recent Velonews seat post test, the K Force came out on top. I have now got it on 2 of my bikes, light and comfortable the new 2014 models are all Di2 E Tube compatible which is a bonus!

Zipp Service Course SL finishing kit with the carbon bar...rides beautifully. I prefer a more classic drop on my bars and I feel the new compact standard doesn't really work for me so this shape is great...

First impressions were quite amazing! An FTP power test on this bike over my race spec alloy Cyfac frame put me pushing out 246 watts to 342! The comfort irons out everything on the road...and I literally mean everything. Paired with the 25c tyres I was pinging along on country road with easy and then as soon as I hit the drops the bike just wanted to go!! Fast and agile it has shown me that I may have finally found a bike that literally does everything...time will tell but it looks like its heading in the right direction.

The Colnago CX Zero frameset retails at £2,200 and this build that Stu put together retails at around £5,500. 

Cyfac Zona Build

We recently had another nice addition to our French family come through the door at LifecycleUK. The Cyfac Zona is the entry level steel frame that the Loire valley company produce. It is accompanied with a full carbon fork and that is where the standard options end and the customisation begins.


Every steel frame is a custom made to measure finish that can be painted any colour the customer requires. This model is 100% brazed steel and can have any number of options from additional bottle bosses to press in or integrated headsets.

Paint is also something that the French brand pride themselves on. The Zona has 5 colour patterns available with infinite colour combinations and two additional designs available for £150 up-lift. Cyfac also offer the CDS system (Cyfac Design Studio). Information fed to Cyfac will result in a one off colour design specially for you. This is the route that we went down when creating the XCR frame set for the shop (pictured below.)

The concept of the Zona build was comfort. The steel frame has such beautiful properties that we didn't want to hide through huge amounts of carbon or stiff harsh wheels. We decided that it would be rude to put anything else but a Campagnolo Athena group set on the Zona and so we opted for the 52/36 carbon chain set and a wide range cassette making it as fast on the flats of Norfolk as the hills of a major sportive.


Hand built wheels were added for additional comfort thus cue to Campagnolo Record 32H hubs. Super smooth bearing hubs built onto Ambrosio Evolution rims. Keeping the classic finish to the bike we added a classic drop bar by 3T and married it up to the matching stem and seat post to complete the build. 18.5 lbs later this sportive killer was complete. The result is a classic, timeless bike finished to an amazingly high standard.

Below are a few pics of the finished article...enjoy....

 

Bike Ahead ac29 Biturbo Carbon Wheels

Wheels are considered to be one of the most noticeable upgrades that you can do on a bike. Road or mountain its well known that new hoops puts a spring in your step and makes climbs a whole lot easier. How much gain can you make though? Christian Gemperlein from Bike ahead composites believes that he really has revolutionised the high end mountain bike wheel with his new ac biturbo wheel range.

 

The 6 spoke wheels are something that you might expect to see more on an 80s BMX however these wheels are quite exceptional. The wheels are made from carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) specifically for the off road market and are made in Germany.

The wheels come in the three mountain bike standard sizes 26, 650b and 29er in carbon clincher and tubular (apart from the new 650b which are carbon clincher only). 

Hubs are supplied by Acros of Germany offering freehub and axle fittings to suit most standards including the new XX1 freehub. Finish is also adaptable with either matt, satin or gloss finish avaliable to the wheels and either black or red anodized finish to the hubs...a nice touch. 

The wheels are light, I mean really light. The tubular 29er wheels come in at 1189g's and the clincher 1289g's. Due to this fact they do come with a weight limit of 95kgs.

The current RRP of these in clincher is £2499 and £2399 in tubular (prices based on the 29er model). If you are interested in seeing these wheels or giving them a go, we currently have a demo set that are avaliable to test in store.