C59 DiscWith all the talk of disc brakes coming to road bikes in the near future, Colnago released their concept C59 Disc a couple weeks back.  Based on the (truly) handmade in Italy C59 platform, this model eschews regular calipers in favor of Formula produced (Colnago branded) hydraulic discs paired with what appears to be 140mm rotors.  A few other surprises are noted as well as more photos after the jump.

C59 front disc

A close look at the front discs will reveal that the caliper and rotor are undoubtedly rebadged Formula R1 units on post mounts (no special road mount yet.)  The rotor is a heavily drilled and vented 140mm disc on an aluminum carrier.  Colnago states that the fork has been “beefed up” against the single sided braking forces that discs produce.

The rear mount is similar post mount style, but is tucked into the rear triangle (probably for aerodynamic reasons.)  The same 140mm disc is present, but dropout spacing has moved to 135mm (mountain bike standard.)  Again, the rear end has been “beefed up” to combat asymmetrical braking forces.

Formula Hydraulic levers

The new Formula (even branded as Formula, unlike the calipers) levers are the most interesting bit to me.  While they look unfinished (and ugly,) they supposedly house the guts of Dura Ace Di2 electronics as well as a hydraulic master cylinder.  If that's the case, things are looking pretty bad for SRAM and their claim that their levers had to be significantly larger because of the master cylinder itself.  Interesting to me is how they're going to coerce Shimano into signing off on this little venture, as you know it will take business away from Shimano's (almost guaranteed) future hydraulic disc project.

My take on this

The C59 represents an inexorable march towards forced obsolescence.  The introduction of a 135mm rear dropout standard and a frame that can only accept disc brakes (there are no rim brake mounting points on this frame) clearly point to an industry hoping to force consumers into tossing out their old equipment and buying all new.  Those of us with multiple bikes and wheelsets don't really appreciate that.

Further, Colnago states (as mentioned above) that they “beefed up” their frame and fork to handle disc braking loads.  Yet one of the most important things to many road riders looking at a top flight racing frame is weight, and in this case, weight is not mentioned (neither frame nor full bike weight.)  I'm going to wager a guess that this entire setup will gain probably 250 grams over a comparable C59 with rim brakes.  Better than half a pound with the tradeoff of being unable to use any of the wheels in my garage is unacceptable.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: wheel and brake technology for carbon wheels (the big “issue” with rim brakes and carbon wheels being stopping power and rim damage) is still really in the formative stages.  Zipp has begun to conquer the carbon clincher issues with the 303 and 404 FC CCs, and brake track technology continues to evolve.  Installing an entirely new set of standards (disc tabs, no rim brake mounting and 135mm rear spacing) is a solution looking for a problem.

Actually, more than likely it's a marketing solution to the problem of “how can we sell more stuff?”  From some of the rumbling I've heard, the professional ranks are seeing it as just that, and their acceptance and desire for disc frames is lukewarm at best.  Time well tell though.

 

Agree?  Disagree?  Comment below.