Check out the Colnago C59 Disc - the beginning of the end for rim brakes

Colnago has more heritage than most other brands could shake a stick at, but did you know that it was one of the first to bring hydraulic disc brakes to a performance-focused road bike back in 2012? Fast forward to today and hydraulic disc brakes are very much the norm on bikes of this kind, but the C59 Disc was in there right at the start.

Colnago C59 Disc (credit: road.cc)

It was at the 2012 Taipei Show that the Colnago C59 Disc burst onto the scene and, as with any radical new tech, it garnered plenty of attention. However, little did we know that we were staring at the future. Most people thought that disc brakes would eventually become common on road bikes, but how soon? And to what extent? We just didn't know.

> The bike Pogačar wins Milan-San Remo on? Colnago claims outlandish new aero road bike is "most aerodynamic in the WorldTour"

The C59 Disc certainly wasn't the first road bike to feature disc brakes, but it was an important machine and represented the first card of many to be played by cycling's big brands.

Disc brakes were already huge in mountain biking, of course, and the UCI permitted disc brakes in cyclocross competition from 2010, but road cycling was slower to pick up the technology. The UCI first allowed disc brakes in road racing on a trial basis in 2015, and full authorisation wasn't granted until 2018.

Colnago C59 Disc - front disc (credit: road.cc)

Back in 2012, there was no such thing as a complete hydraulic disc brake groupset for road bikes. To overcome this, Colnago got together with fellow Italian brand Formula. These Colnago-branded hydraulic callipers were mounted to the frame using a post mount system rather than the flat mount standard that we most commonly see today.

Colnago C59 Disc - integrated hydaulic lever(1) (credit: road.cc)

The remainder of the drivetrain came in the form of Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 – R7900 generation – but with Formula levers adapted to house the brake's master cylinder. This hydraulic fluid took up all the space previously used for the mechanical shift workings.

Colnago C59 Disc - Formula disc brake (credit: road.cc)

It's not just the groupset that had to be altered, the C59 Disc frameset also saw some changes from the rim-brake version. The fork was completely redesigned to prevent unwanted wheel ejection, for example, and the frame featured beefed-up chainstays to help cope with the extra braking forces generated by the Formula disc brakes.

Colnago did a good job of strengthening the C59 Disc because it was the bike that featured in Martyn Ashton's famous 'Road Bike Party' video on YouTube. Check out his bike in the gallery above...

On the flip side, in our First Ride review at Eurobike 2012, Vechiojo described the C59 as “big boned”.

> Read our Colnago C59 Disc First Ride from 2012

He said, "Sadly, the Colnago C59 Disc isn’t quite the revelation or revolution it might be. It could be the future, just not quite yet…"

Top-level disc brake bikes, although still often heavier than their rim-brake counterparts, can usually meet the UCI's 6.8kg minimum weight limit for racing these days.

> Colnago C59 Disc first ride

2022 Colnago Prototipo x TdF - 1.jpeg (credit: road.cc)

Colnago officially unveils V4Rs road bike with its ‘fastest monocoque frame ever’

Since 2012, Colnago has developed its disc brake bikes massively. There's the beautiful C68 Disc, for example, the superb V4Rs that Tadej Pogacar rode to victory in last year's Tour de France, and the recently-released Y1Rs aero road bike.

Check out our review of the Colnago V4Rs

Plus, everyone believes that a V5Rs launch is imminent, although we're still waiting for Colnago to reveal the details of that one.

> Here are the stats and attributes the mysterious new Colnago V5Rs needs to have to be good enough for Pogačar

These bikes owe a lot to the Colnago C59 Disc. Although it's just 13 years since Colnago introduced its first disc-brake road bike, rim brakes have almost (but not quite) disappeared from the range.

Do you think the Colnago C59 Disc is one of the most iconic bikes of the century so far? Let us know in the comments below...

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