A small rant

[Jack Brunk]

Got to see and hold up close a brand new Colnago C59. To keep this short and no pissing contest, I wouldn't pay 50 bucks for that plastic toy. I mean they don't even make it look expensive. A new low in my book.

[esldude]

How should they have 'made' it look expensive?

[Jack Brunk]

How should they have 'made' it look expensive?
Don't do a nude version. To me it looked like a toy. I've seen a bunch of carbon frames. Go check one out and come back and tell me your thoughts. :)

[TMB]

Pretty much the same as any Colnago, overhyped, over priced.

[Earl Gray]

Damn! You know the economy sucks when you start bitching about prices twice in the same few weeks! :crap: :crap:

[Jack Brunk]

Damn! You know the economy sucks when you start bitching about prices twice in the same few weeks! :crap: :crap:
Earl,
I feel the same my friend. I've owned at least 8 different colnago's and still today I consider the C40 pre 2003 bstay to be the best carbon frame made. This C59 can't hold the C40's jock strap. I still today love Dave Wages work. I won't pay the prices though. I know there's a large group of builders out there that would build me a frame that would kick ass for a lot less cash. My feeling is wheels and other stuff are almost as important as the frame. That's why I'm jazzed to ride frames made by Joe D. who get it. Design and smarts trump crampy marketing. trust me it hurts to think about how low Colnago has taken their work.

Just my thoughts and worth about the same.

[dhoff]

has anyone ridden it?

when you have, your opinion will seem perhaps a little bit relevant. in the mean time, if all you care about is what it looks like, then enjoy.

[54ny77]

i think prices of most of big bike-related stuff is thru the roof, which includes frame, fork, wheels, even clothing. $500 for shoes? $400 for shorts? $6k for wheels? unreal. that said, everyone has their limits. it's all a question of value. i for one would not derive joy out of owning something that takes a big chunk of a monthly paycheck or two...or several, just to buy.

years ago i had a then-new colnago steel super that i bought and paid for working summer jobs in high school. several hundred bucks or so, busted my TAIL off, but it was manageable. today, how much is one of those new c-whatever's you picked up? several thousand dollars or so just for frame?

for those who want something "right now," the price of entry can be staggering. i was in an lbs the other day and nonchalantly about 10 feet away from kids' $199 specials was a $9k specialized road bike. nine. thousand. dollars. plain ol' point of sale ticket on it. "yes i'll take a pack of gu and, umm, throw one of those venge's on there would ya? does it come with free tune up's? thanks." :crap:

[Jack Brunk]

has anyone ridden it?

when you have, your opinion will seem perhaps a little bit relevant. in the mean time, if all you care about is what it looks like, then enjoy.
Really?

I wouldn't pay to ride one after having the frame in my hands. I'm only going off my 15 years of riding Colnago's and truely loving the brand for that long.

Sorry I brought this up.

[rustychisel]

Really?


Sorry I brought this up.



C'mon, don't be sorry. Some of us may opine you had a little spit for all the right reasons, knowing what you know about supposed high-end bikes. I feel much the same about Cervelo's, having lusted after a nice steel model, then the first model Soloist...

anyway, I'm pulling up a pouf and getting a bowl of popcorn; this has the makings of a fine thread...

[54ny77]

at what point does the bike industry push the marketing proposition to the backseat and emphasize the value proposition?

this has the makings of a fine thread...

[pdmtong]

I'd have to agree with Jack the nude C59 looks rather ordinary. Like the painted ones more.

I'd also have to agree that dave wages is killing it. I am looking forward to seeing more of his work in 3 days.

[gone]

has anyone ridden it?

when you have, your opinion will seem perhaps a little bit relevant. in the mean time, if all you care about is what it looks like, then enjoy.

While I agree the proof is in the riding, given the number of lust worthy bikes Jack has owned I'm inclined to give his opinion a fair amount of weight. I also think in the price range the C59 operates in, how it looks matters. Down a bit from how it rides but not irrelevant.

[Elefantino]

Exhibit A.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l84/gmmtwo/c59.jpg

[bicycletricycle]

the really thick clearcoat all over carbon colnagos always look scrappy to me, it puts huge fillets on all the lugs.

[gemship]

I'd have to agree with Jack the nude C59 looks rather ordinary. Like the painted ones more.

I'd also have to agree that dave wages is killing it. I am looking forward to seeing more of his work in 3 days.


Wages has been killing it forever as far as looks go, I've never ridden one of his bikes. Always miffed that his name doesn't come up more often. One the prettiest frames out there more so than a Kirk or Sachs,Bedford,Serotta.... and that's a loud ATMO!

[sg8357]

It's a race bike, who cares what it looks like, as long as the logo is gigantic,
the sponsor will be happy. The farther from any practical use a piece of
athletic equipment is, the more PRO it becomes.

[gemship]

While I agree the proof is in the riding, given the number of lust worthy bikes Jack has owned I'm inclined to give his opinion a fair amount of weight. I also think in the price range the C59 operates in, how it looks matters. Down a bit from how it rides but not irrelevant.


+1 and a baffling one at that, of course never meeting the man. I first visited this forum and registered as a protocol when it was a Serotta Forum just to view bikes in the galleries. Of course this is how I learned of Brunkism. :hello:
Since then I spend more time in the General Discussions. It's always entertaining to read a Brunk post, I think his taste in bikes has evolved or maybe he's just rediscovered his roots. In other words the guy seems to like metal bikes more than ever. Now having said all that if I stand corrected then thats cool.

[gemship]

It's a race bike, who cares what it looks like, as long as the logo is gigantic,
the sponsor will be happy. The farther from any practical use a piece of
athletic equipment is, the more PRO it becomes.


+1 very true of any carbon bike. A little paint goes a long ways though.

[Climb01742]

i think jack has earned his right to have an opinion about high end bikes. but beyond that, just like with every member here, our opinions are, well, just opinions. where's the harm in jack stating his? rock on, jack. :beer:

[Jack Brunk]

+1 and a baffling one at that, of course never meeting the man. I first visited this forum and registered as a protocol when it was a Serotta Forum just to view bikes in the galleries. Of course this is how I learned of Brunkism. :hello:
Since then I spend more time in the General Discussions. It's always entertaining to read a Brunk post, I think his taste in bikes has evolved or maybe he's just rediscovered his roots. In other words the guy seems to like metal bikes more than ever. Now having said all that if I stand corrected then thats cool.
My first real high end road bike was the C40. So I guess I strated off on the more blingy side of things. Gemship, you know me well and yes metal bikes work better for me. i have pretty simple needs when it comes to bike frames. I've learned through trial and error that there's great frame builders around that build terrific frames at what I consider to be of good value. Hopefully we'll see a bunch of pictures this coming weekend.

[giverdada]

saw this in a tweet by bill strickland, someone whose writing i've wrestled with and respected as long as i've been reading bike magazines, and it seems to get it done, as well as take a good hard stance in the roiling waters of industry and frame building:

http://www.embrocationmagazine.com/online/metropolis-shotguns-ducks-and-nahbs

holding plastic frames always cracks me up. they're just so light and flimsy-seeming, i have a hard time wrapping my head around hanging parts on them and bombing down descents above the speed limit. of course, all of this is mostly 'seeming', as i still ride carbon forks on my metal bikes, and no one in the pro peloton seems to have problems with these things dissolving underneath them and their huge watts. i continue to lust after the c40 as the one carbon bike i really dig though, production anyway. and maybe it's not all about looks, but it's not all not about looks. form and function are one, right?

[Delpo]

Mr. Brunk is absoutely correct about the current quality of Colnago frames. I own both a C50 and an E1 and both bikes have been back to Italy multiple times due to construction or finish issues. Their customer support is atrocious and totally unacceptable for the price they ask for the frames. I continue to enjoy the ride provided by the bikes but would never again pay for new Colnago. Thank God my number has been called by Mr. Sachs.

[Fixed]

Ernesto got old
nobody last forever
IMHO he made some
great historic bikes
Cheers :bike:

[William]

+1 and a baffling one at that, of course never meeting the man. I first visited this forum and registered as a protocol when it was a Serotta Forum just to view bikes in the galleries. Of course this is how I learned of Brunkism. :hello:
Since then I spend more time in the General Discussions. It's always entertaining to read a Brunk post, I think his taste in bikes has evolved or maybe he's just rediscovered his roots. In other words the guy seems to like metal bikes more than ever. Now having said all that if I stand corrected then thats cool.


Just for the heck of it I image Googled "Brunkism" and only one image popped up.... :D

http://icefarm.com/horses/geldcan/brunkism.jpg


That being said Mr. Brunk is no arse when it comes to experience with bling frames.





William

[fuzzalow]

I would agree about not being too impressed by the current paint applied, or rather, not applied to C59 as far as the nude carbon look. But most Colnagos have had IMO pretty dreadful taste in paint going all the way back to the Art Deco paint themes oft found on Jack's venerable C40s. So the new paint could be viewed as just another unsightly blot along the continuum of tres gauche aesthetics.

One of the few exceptions to this is the Saronni Red paint theme. That look predated Ernesto's need to distinguish his brand with paint jobs that stand out and apart as uniquely Colnago. Think of it as doing with paint what Pinarello has recently done with wavy forks and stays. Except that Ernesto had that part of it figured out about 2 decades earlier. Or maybe he just has questionable taste in paint.

For my C50, I bought it with PR-06. Sidesteps the gaudy paint job and can still enjoy one of the classic geometries in the world of cycling. Unlike the paint, the geos weren't allowed to get all eff'ed up.

[Jeff N.]

Got to see and hold up close a brand new Colnago C59. To keep this short and no pissing contest, I wouldn't pay 50 bucks for that plastic toy. I mean they don't even make it look expensive. A new low in my book.
That's good to know, Jack. Thanks. I mean it. Jeff N.

[Jeff N.]

Earl,
I feel the same my friend. I've owned at least 8 different colnago's and still today I consider the C40 pre 2003 bstay to be the best carbon frame made. This C59 can't hold the C40's jock strap. I still today love Dave Wages work. I won't pay the prices though. I know there's a large group of builders out there that would build me a frame that would kick ass for a lot less cash. My feeling is wheels and other stuff are almost as important as the frame. That's why I'm jazzed to ride frames made by Joe D. who get it. Design and smarts trump crampy marketing. trust me it hurts to think about how low Colnago has taken their work.

Just my thoughts and worth about the same.Must agree on the pre-Bstay C40. Got one. Sweet ride. Jeff N.