it seems to me that colnago are (while still an excellent frame builder) a bit old-school and lack the ability to compete with the big Taiwanese frame manufacturers in terms of production cost and R&D. their R&D seems to be a good way back from cervelo, scott, giant, etc. is this perception wrong or should colnago be investing more in development of new products.

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http://peakdistrictcycling.wordpress.com

Colnago has some advantages.

Pedigree, quality of finish, Team in the pro tour (ok so does some taiwanese), being Italian thus living up to some peoples ideas of where a bike should be from, The Name and a good reputation for making frames that riders love to ride.
As long as they can make bikes right at the UCI limit and keep a high profile they will be around. Also just being expensive makes them a status symbol to some.

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The unbearable wallet lightness of being a weightweenie

A lot of that is true, but I heard nothing in there about performance. Status symbols lose their status if they don't perform.

That being said: I've never ridden a Colnago nor have the budget to do so, so my comments are based purely on the two previous posts.

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7.3 kg Jamis Xenith
9.07 kg Fetish Cycles D&S
7.4 Salsa Chili Con Crosso

C40s-50s are widely regarded as extremely comfortable rides.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but not many bikes look as good as Marathon's Extreme C.

The performance can't be too bad, Rasmussen won KOM on one!

Colnago are now making some high end carbon frames in Taiwan to compete on price, check out the new aero CLX bike. With full DA and Ksyrium sl's is around £3200.

http://www.colnagonews.com/en/catalogo2007/clx.php#
(CLRD is the DA speced bike)

They also do Ultegra and 105 alternatives.

It's not their high-end, but their low-end carbon frames that are made in Taiwan/China on Giant's factories.
And Colnago has also started to rebadge the Giant TT-frames for sponsored pro teams like Rabobank.

but, the thing is if you compare the figures for a R3 and an Extreme Power the colnago is left wanting in nearly every aspect. style over substance?

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http://peakdistrictcycling.wordpress.com

What about build and finish quality?

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http://worksrider.wordpress.com/

All that figures have to show is that they are high enough. Whether you're 20 or 30% away from the maximum achievable stiffness has little impact on performance. Same goes for weight. There are pros and cons in both instances.

Bottom line: try a frame first before you decide which one is the best for you.

This thread is as good as any....

extreme power video

Ripped off from *that* italian forum

Innovation is in the mind. THe tooling & production are the expensive parts. Colnago seems to have a strong hold in the market & in pro racing. Whether they build 20 or 20,000 production frames a year makes no difference in quality though it may just cause you to dig deeper if they make less

(What follows is a translation):
I don't understand too good this question. Colnago was in beginning, like young companys, having many new things-cold bending of steel and other things. Later they becoming more conservative and use help of other companys- Allan, Ferrari to make bikes. I think the more older is Mr. Colnago, the more conservative will be his company. Why he need to take chances and make bad product. In past some Colnago innovations did no good-remember Oval Cx?
But really what product does Colnago not have really?
Other ones Scott, Cervelo making very light bikes ( I like them too much) but they braking all the time. Colnago don't want no headache.
Now if you talking about labor (mano de obra) nobody can beating Asia.
In EU workers getting good pay, benefits-in Asia poor things are working for almost nothing.

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!Palos con gusto saben a almendra!

Just what I thought also...

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www.oldklein.com

Colnago innovation goes in cycles. He’s been ahead of and behind the times, but the bikes always ride beautifully. The geometry just works, uphill, downhill, cobbles, etc. The things are generally well built.

They cost a lot, but they last a long time and hold their value. Is a ten year-old CR1 or R2.5 going to hold its value like a C40? I’d bet against it.

Ernesto does invest in some sketchy stuff (those HP chainstays…), but is generally good at combining proven tech that works just fine (conventional headsets, for example) with new materials, crazy paint and strong pro & amateur teams.