Our latest Bike of the Week, the C68 Allroad joins Colnago’s lugged family of bikes (which includes the existing C68). It brings with it the same high-tech endurance bike approach with some light off-road potential thrown in.
To that end, the C68 Allroad sports clearance for voluminous 35mm-wide road bike tyres or narrow (by today’s standards) gravel tyres.
Although the proof will be in the ride, do you think a bike with relatively conservative tyre clearance can be considered a true all-road bike? Let us know in the comments.
Subtle tweaks to a proven platform
The C68 Allroad uses a modular, lugged frame design rather than the monocoque approach almost all of the best road bikes use.
Colnago is an advocate for lugs because it says it can more closely control the properties of the individual frameset tubes, and can tune stiffness and compliance levels more accurately.
The down tube has been redesigned, with a more oblique profile than the C68 and the rear triangle has also been reshaped to accept the wider rubber.
Colnago claims a 930g frame weight for an unpainted 51cm bike without hardware – that’s identical to the C68.
Geometry-wise, the C68 Allroad sports a slightly shorter reach (3.5mm on average, across the size range) and a 19mm increased stack height.
Colnago says this puts your body into a more upright position, which takes some weight off your hands and puts it on the saddle.
Colnago claims this enables the frame to further dissipate vibrations, increasing compliance.
The fork rake has also been increased by 7mm in a bid to make the bike more stable on rougher surfaces.
Colnago specs CeramicSpeed’s increasingly popular SLT (Solid Lubrication Technology) headset bearings. These are claimed to be self-lubricating and corrosion-resistant, reducing the need to disassemble the front end to perform headset maintenance.
It runs on a T47 threaded bottom bracket and the front derailleur mount is removable in case you want to run a 1x drivetrain.
A Granite Stash RCX multi-tool that’s been modified for Colnago is concealed under the integrated bar-stem’s top cap.
What is Bike of the Week?
Every fortnight, we'll bring you a detailed first look at one of the latest bikes (or framesets) to arrive at BikeRadar HQ – from road to commuting, gravel to enduro, and anything in between.
This is our chance to introduce the bike and everything that makes it unique before hitting the road or trails.
Head to our Bike of the Week hub for previous editions.
A suitably lofty price tag
Our test bike has come festooned with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset. Colnago specs 52/36t chainrings and an 11-30t cassette – a very road-oriented range considering its claimed off-road potential.
The Japanese brand’s electronic groupset is paired with an ENVE SES 3.4 wheelset. The carbon wheelset is claimed to weigh 1,390g and sports hookless rims with a 25mm internal rim width. The front rim is 39mm deep, with the rear 43mm.
The ENVE wheels are shod in 30mm Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR tyres.
The C68 Allroad comes equipped with Colnago’s CC.01 one-piece carbon bar-stem. It’s available in 16 length and width combinations – our test bike has a 430mm-wide handlebar and 130mm stem length.
A Selle Italia Boost SLR saddle sits atop the proprietary D-shaped seatpost that’s shared with the C68.
All in, the build costs £14,000. If you wanted to build a frame up, it would cost you £5,999.
On our scales of truth, the bike weighs in at 7.6kg for a 55cm size.
