Colnago C50 spec

Posted by: Tim Jones on 05 January 2004

Paging Stefano R!

My C50 is now finally on order. Very difficult to choose colours (God, it was hell...) but eventually decided on PR10 - the blue/white/carbon one.

It will have Dura Ace 10-speed. Nice to see Colnago are allowing different seatposts on C50. I will ride my C40 as (ahem) a 'hack' bike Big Grin

But I'm not sure about wheels. The new Dura Ace wheels look nice and are clearly very well put together. The hubs, in particular, are a work of art. Ksyrium SLs (the latest ones) are a bit lighter, but I think they will be a real pain to keep clean and I have nagging worries about Mavic hubs.

Any suggestions/recommendations/wise words?

Thanks

Tim
Posted on: 05 January 2004 by Roland Huu
Nice choice for colours, Tim. As for wheels I would go for the Mavic. They are solid. A friend of mine had bad experience with 2 sets of Shimano wheels... he claim that they are just too soft especially on bad roads.

Roland
Posted on: 05 January 2004 by Tim Jones
Just to clarify, I have in mind the new (2004) Dura Ace wheelset:

http://dura-ace.shimano.com/publish/content/duraace/en/home/the_product0/wheels.html

..not the slightly dodgy older versions.

There's something slightly worrying about Ksyrium SL hubs (perhaps not other Mavic ones). In particular there is a serious gap, in both my original 2000 ones and my 2002 SLs, before the freewheel engages - so that when you turn the crank, it goes through twenty or thirty degrees before the whell actually starts turning. This is annoying and doesn't seem to happen with other manufacturers' hubs.

Incidentally I like Carbone Cosmics too - on the flat. But I suspect they weigh too much to be a decent climbing or all round wheel.

Tim
Posted on: 05 January 2004 by Martin D
couldnt help it:

"all round wheel"

ho ho
Posted on: 06 January 2004 by Tim Jones
Swine! Big Grin
Posted on: 14 January 2004 by Tim Jones
Stefano -

Thanks for your reply. I agree with you about Nucleons/Neutrons - wasn't there some arrangement (like a third party casette) which allowed Shimano groupset/Campy wheelset compatibility?

Given the amount I'm spending I will get my dealer to let me test both the Ksyriums and the DA wheels when the frame arrives (in...er...three months).

I raced my Principia with Corima Aero carbon wheels (tubs, very light), but thought them too fragile in some ways. Also some friends of mine have had bad experiences with both Zipp and Corima Carbon wheelsets, where the carbon 'delaminates' when it gets really hot.

I do really like the idea of Reflex rims on DA hubs (not least because they look so 'ordinary' to most). Nearly bought a pair of Mavic GEL tubular rims with a similar thing in mind last year.

Tim