C59 Disc Appears…

This was unexpected!

Colnago seem to have a fully developed, market-ready C59 disc bike with hydraulic Di2 compatible levers and their own disc wheel.

Formula make the levers and seem to have got the jump on SRAM, Shimano and Campag with getting the hydraulic fluid reservoir into the lever body.  The calipers are post mount and the rear is neatly mounted inside the rear triangle. It’s not yet clear whether the hose routing is internal or not, but I get the impression this is a production bike that you would be expected to buy complete so I wouldn’t be surprised if it is.

Impressive.  More here.

I can’t help thinking – whether we want it or not – this could signify the start of a ground shift…

UPDATE:  Here’s a shot of the internal rear routing…

It’s also quite clear that the rear caliper mount is slightly inboard of the frame – perhaps to try to keep the caliper out of the airflow, but also a likely indicator of the widened frame for the 135mm axle(?).

FURTHER UPDATE:  Rumour has it the UCI are set to be lobbied to make disc brakes on road bike UCI legal.

AND MORE:  Here’s another shot of those levers from the article on the road.cc website…

Word is the weight penalty is only 200g too, and that’s despite extra strengthening on the chainstays and fork legs.  That might surprise some -I know it surprised me!

It has also been confirmed that the rear spacing is 135mm – logical really.