Colnago B-stay vs other versions

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bogdanescu
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Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2015 6:44 am

by bogdanescu

Hi all I'd like to see some of yeou experiences with various colnago rear ends ( b-stay etc) that is to see as much as possible the diffrences between versions, how they make the bike different, for instance my BMC slr 01 rear stays are very thin to enhance compliance, ride confort etc ; in terms of Colnago stays my EPS has thicker stays, thicher than c59, may be similar to the ones on look 695... so looking fprward to see some input of yours many thanks

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Calnago
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by Calnago

Well I'll take a stab at this. Let's see, I've owned the later B-stay C40 (with the diamond cutout and kind of squared tube profile), two C50's also with the diamond cutout but somewhat more rounded tube profile, a C59 and a C60.

To be honest, it's mostly been an aesthetic difference for me. I actually prefer a single, simple flow in all the tubes, regardless of what bike it is. The cutouts kind of ruin that flow a bit, but the smoothed out edges on the C50 are more to my liking than the harder edges on the Bstay (diamond cutout) C40. My least favorite chainstay was on the EPS, the Bayleaf design. It is tall and narrow, which intuitively would imply a harsher vertical compliance than some others, and it was marketed as being super stiff for the likes of Zabel, etc. Meh... wasn't my cup o' tea. My favorite chainstay design of all the Colnagos are of the C59 and C60 (just edited this I had originally wrote C50 but that was a typo), and maybe the early C40's (but they had some issues with bonding of dropouts). Simple, no nonsense, straight and beefy. Well proportioned, laterally and vertically. They just look right. Extending the discussion a bit beyond just the chainstays for a minute, I'll say that I really like kind of a uniformity of design in a bicycle. By that, I mean a consistent shape of tubes and flow etc. I just think it looks better than some frames where they've tried to jam every possible shape known to man and done it with super thin tubes, super fat tubes, some round tubes, and some square tubes, all in the same frame. Again, it's a preference thing, but not for me.

As for ride differences, I haven't noticed a lot that I could specifically isolate to the chainstays. Get the geometry that works for you and adjust your ride feel with different tires and wheels.
Last edited by Calnago on Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bogdanescu
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2015 6:44 am

by bogdanescu

thanks for yoy swift reply Calnago, I was looking forward to hearing from you on this issue, I got an EPS that you know well and a more recent for me MIX frame with the same B stays, and I discovered that they are sturdier and stiffer than my other bikes, but I consider that for instance the Bianchi Infinito responds better that it easier to effort - as may be my BMC slr o1 - than others, even though the Colnago puts up some overall compliance that I think, overtakes the other ones in terms of sturdiness and accuracy, may be only my TIMEs (vxrs Ulteam and RXRS) are providing a smoother ride altogether with the easines in pedalling that I,m trying to find in all bikes that I ran into, thank a bunch

c50jim
Posts: 1015
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Location: Calgary

by c50jim

I've owned most of the carbon Colnagos up to EPS, Master, Tecnos, Dream (al rear end, not B Stay) and Bititan (yes, even that not made in Cambiago thing). This includes three different generations of C40 (original, late B Stay and B Stay plus HP stays). Most of last week was spent on pre HP C40s, Saturday on Extreme Power and today on HP C40. I used to think the HP stay bikes were a bit more harsh than the others (including even the EP) but I was wondering today if it's just in my mind. Frankly, for a 65 year old who doesn't have a heap of power any more, they all seem to work well. In the end, I decided that I really prefer the overall ride of C40s so have sold the rest except the EP. It has Chorus rather than Record and has been on a plane a couple of times so it's a bike I can throw in the trunk if we're doing a driving holiday with bikes since it's already "used". The older C40s have narrow rims while the B Stay and EP have wider rims and lower pressure tires (same tires, just 90 pounds instead of 100). The wheels seem to improve the ride more than differences in frame construction. For me, the EPS was the biggest disappointment because I had the EP, thought based on things I'd read that the EPS would have a smoother ride but found the EPS harsh. That's kept me away from buying either a C59 (although R&A has Mapei in my size, which is pretty tempting) or a C60 (although that MHCF paint is a modernized toned down version of the paint on my original 1995 C40 and is also tempting).

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