Bike at bedtime: Take a look at Colnago's V3Rs

Let’s take a look at the Colnago V3Rs, the top-of-the-line road racer from one of Italian cycling's most famous brands. It strikes a well-judged balance between being a lightweight climber and an aero machine.

“Today the V3 represents the best of Colnago technology applied to a monocoque frame," said Colnago when it introduced the bike in 2019. "Every detail has been studied and developed to obtain the maximum in terms of performance and comfort.” 

The V3Rs retains some details from the two frames that preceded it, the V1-r and V2-r, but is lighter, stiffer and sees some slight geometry shifts that allow larger tyres to be mounted.

Colnago asks, “What is the point of making a light bike if you can’t ride it effectively?” This explains the brands’ geometry shake up, with a shorter head tube and longer fork introduced for greater balance across all eight size options. The height of the bottom bracket has also been lowered to work with an increased tyre size of 28mm.

To reach a new weight target of 790 grams for the size 50 in the raw disc version (including metal components) without sacrificing rigidity, Colnago says that it has used a new type of carbon fibre.

The V3Rs claims to have 12% higher rigidity in the rear compartment and 6% in the front head tube area compared to the V2-r.

“The ability to absorb vertical shocks has improved significantly, which translates into greater comfort,” Colnago says.

The V3Rs fork is completely new and much lighter than that of its predecessor on the V2-r, with a claimed raw (uncut) weight of just 390 grams.

“The new shape with concave sheaths in the upper part optimises the wheel passage allowing the use of wide tyres (28mm), along with comfort and lateral rigidity,” says Colnago.

The disc version of the V3Rs uses the TFS Integrated fork system for clean aesthetics as well as improved aerodynamics. The cables pass entirely internally from the handlebar to the Colnago Sr9 stem and then through the fork steerer.

Another key area of focus for Colnago was improving the seatpost closure in order to reduce its weight and improve functionality.

The new locking system is smaller than that of the V2-r and C64, and is integrated into the frame.

The clean aesthetics of this performance bike are top notch. There’s also the option for the frame in this frozen red colourway that looks incredibly snazzy…

www.colnago.com