has anyone ridden a 'nago EPS?

[Climb01742]

i'd appreciate hearing any ride impressions anyone has. thanks in advance. ;)

[don'TreadOnMe]

Yeah, what Climb asked.
What's the word?
Spring's approaching, and new bike lust is about to flower.
:0

[mkbk]

Okay, here we go...
My EPS was born on 01/07/10 at Vecchio's in Boulder Co. DA 7900 group, 7900 hubs and DT rims, Ritchey bar and stem, 15lbs in a 52 slope.
I once spent eight years selling Serotta's (amongst other things) and I am about to sell my Legend Ti to help finance another Colnago.
The EPS may be the best bike Colnago has ever made, I have 800mi on mine in winter weather with 4 wash and lubes. It is stunning in its finish and it's ride qualities. Stiff, responsive, smooth and comfortable. A true super bike. The most amazing aspect for me is it's fit. It took a huge leap of faith to go with a slope (I am a 55cm square traditional c-c) and I may never go back. It is a noticeably FAST bike and almost worth what it costs.

[chad_k]

i'd appreciate hearing any ride impressions anyone has. thanks in advance. ;)

You may not want to, but why not give the jerk a call?

[Ti Designs]

I've taken out out EPS twice, no significant mileage yet, but I like to take test ride bikes on a "fair" test ride. Around here that means steep hills and potholes. My way of explaining the ride of a bike is different than most as I don't so much look at what the bike can do as start with an ideal and pick at what it can't do. My complaint about so many carbon bikes is that they don't handle sharp enough for my tastes (my own road bikes are track bikes with road dropouts), that's not the case with the EPS. As with the C50, compliance on potholes is far better than most. My test for this hasn't changed in the last 20 years, I take it up old Concord road in Belmont Center. It's steep (16 - 18%) and there are potholes everywhere. The EPS maintained grip the whole way up, which is saying something 'cause that road has been reduced almost to gravel. The Pro3 tires helped that a bit... Bottom bracket stiffness is, as is the case with so many carbon frames, not an issue under my 150 pounds of fury. Having tried Colnago's climbing and sprinter's bikes, I get the feeling the EPS is designed to offer most of both without going overboard (which their sprinter's bike does). Being color blind I can't comment on the paint scheme...

Lastly, there's one performance catagory I tend to ignore, which I couldn't with the Colnago. The braking on my Serotta is OK at best. I have Dura-Ace brakes, but I also have a 74 degree head angle and 4cm of fork offset, which is to say getting on the brakes hard is sketchy at best. My test ride went up Belmont hill, so it follows that it also came down. It's hard not to notice the power of the Campy skeleton brakes, the light feel at the levers and the amount of modulation. Combine that with a fork that refuses to chatter (I started aiming at potholes while on the front brake just to see) and a bike that remains stable and you start to understand the demands of pro riders who come down mountain passes as they do.

So in conclusion, I hate bikes that point out what my own bike doesn't do well.

[1centaur]

You may not want to, but why not give the jerk a call?

I suspect he would or will, but in my experience jerk's call on ride qualities is driven from a racer's perspective, not loaded with airy adjectives that can help a ride-feel cyclist get a handle on things. Part of this is jerk's disinclination to puff, part a salesman's natural instinct not to create a reason to say no. All us punters have no such restraint and happily lard up the descriptions any way we please, leaving climb free to parse, ignore and aggregate an impression and hope it's in the ballpark.

weightweenies is probably a good place for EPS comments.

[Charles M]

A little here:


COLNAGO EPS CUSTOM (http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7177)


http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/colnago/epslarge.jpg

[mike p]

WOW! Nothing subtle about that bike.

Mike

[rnhood]

That's a pretty thorough review. And yes, the bike is flamboyant yet not gaudy.

[Charles M]

Oh someone will call it fugly, but paint's just a personal choice thing. doesnt change the ride.

[rustychisel]

.... paint's just a personal choice thing. doesnt change the ride.


HERESY!!!!

Burn 'im!

[sspielman]

Climb, at your size what you want to look for is an Extreme-C....

[Climb01742]

Climb, at your size what you want to look for is an Extreme-C....

logically, i agree. that's what surprised me when i rode an extreme c a couple of years ago. it certainly was light but unfortunately it rode like a lot of very light bikes--sorta harshly and "jumpy", meaning bad roads tossed it around a lot. what has me curious about an EPS is its reputed balance of stability and composure over bad roads. folks have said it absorbs bad roads without being "soft". being weasel-sized, i sure wouldn't overpower it ( ;) ) but it's said to have the best ride of a 'nago ever, which is very intriguing.

[Charles M]

The exC is built like that to some degree. I think they handle pretty similarly but the tactile feedback is different. I like the EPS for that reason. It's not over the top stiff but it's not t all a slopy bike. far from it. And it just damps the jitters better than the exC.

[Keith A]

Pez -- How would you compare the C-50 to the EPS?

[oldguy00]

A little here:


COLNAGO EPS CUSTOM (http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7177)


http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/colnago/epslarge.jpg

Love the paint, but you need to learn how to wrap bar tape!
;)