Colnago has been steadily adding to its C68 bike collection. Starting off with the C68 Road (with disc brakes), then it was the C68 Allroad, then the C68 Gravel. Now Colnago, which back in 2013 was one of the first bike brands to offer disc brakes on its road bikes with the C59, has gone full circle and launched the Colnago C68 Rim Brake frameset.
In other respects, the new bike is the same as the disc brake C68 Road: same design, same geometry and same hand-assembled, made-in-Italy modular frameset.
Colnago itself describes the launch of a rim brake bike in 2024 as ‘unconventional’, when even the likes of Pinarello have gone entirely disc brake with the latest update of the Dogma F.
But Colnago says that it has launched the bike for the die-hard rim brake lovers out there. It says it’s now almost impossible to find a modern frame with rim brakes and it wants to be there for them with a rim brake option for its most prestigious bike.
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So what has Colnago done to adapt the C68 frame for its new/old stoppers? First up, there’s a modified fork that will take direct mount brake callipers. Next, there have been large revisions to the seatstays so that they too will accommodate direct mount callipers.
Finally, there are new titanium quick release dropouts in place of the disc brake C68’s thru-axle housings. Colnago says that the metal is inert and there’s no risk of corrosion between the dropouts and the carbon frame.
Colnago doesn’t seem to be expecting to sell the C68 Rim Brake in large numbers and says that its modular construction method used for the C-series bikes is key to allowing it to customise frames and manage really small production lots.
Although Colnago has gone all traditional with its brakes, that doesn’t extend to groupsets, with the frame compatible only with electronic groupsets. The modern standard T47 bottom bracket is carried over from the disc brake C68 too.
It’s only Shimano that offers you a top spec electronic rim brake option now, mind, so your rim brake dream may still be scuppered if you’re not a Dura-Ace fan.
If you want a matchy-matchy Italian groupset, you'll have to settle for Campagnolo’s last generation Super Record EPS. There's always the previous iteration of SRAM Red. Anything newer from either brand is disc brake only.
Colnago quotes an unpainted frame weight of 925g for the disc brake C68 in size 485; it’s unclear whether the rim brake bike will match or better that, but without the encumbrance of disc brakes, we reckon a complete bike might shave a few grams off its disc brake rival.
The Colnago C68 Rim Brake is available as a frameset only, including frame, fork, seatpost and headset. It’s priced at £6,299.99 / $7,750 / €6,930, with a discount to €6,750 for Italians.
- For more information on the Colnago C68 Rim Brake, visit colnago.com
