Colnago Special EPQ

[Calnago]

Ok, here it is, finally. A kind of special Colnago EPQ that I've been sitting on for some time. I'll post a bunch more detailed pics in the near future but for now I wanted to introduce it's own thread with a build list. I'll try to answer any questions (if any) as they come up.



and here is just an updated pic with a couple of tweaks to fit and some Boras, as well as the Campy 80th Anniversary gruppo. The build list below however refers to the above "classic" look...



Colnago EPQ (Special) Size 61cm Traditional


Frame, fork and hardware
Colnago EPQ (Special PR99) 61 Traditional: 1,224
Fork (Uncut 400g - 20g cut = 380g): 380
Fork Compression Plug: 46
Headset bearings and compression ring: 54
Both Colnago headset topcovers plus 15mm carbon spacer : 30
BB cable guide and bolt: 1
Subtotal: 1,735

Groupset
Campagnolo Super Record
Rear Derailleur: 158
Front Derailleur (less fixing bolt since K-Edge bolt was used instead): 68
K-Edge Chain Watcher and hardware: 18
BB cups, wavy washer and clip: 44
Rear brake - Dual Pivot: 144
Front brake (Dual Pivot) with Colnago Fork bolt: 150
53/39 Ti Crankset 175mm: 602
Ergo Shifters: 334
Record Chain (236g uncut less 8g cut = 228g): 228
Cables and housing actually used on bike: 184
Subtotal: 1,930

Front Wheel
Ambrosio Nemesis Rim (2009 Bronze anodization): 442
Campagnolo Record Hub: 116
32 spokes DT Comp 2.0/1.8: 216
32 DT Swiss Brass nipples 12mm: 30
Campagnolo Skewer: 58
Veloflex Roubaix Tubular 24mm (pre 25mm): 286
Total Front Wheel Weight: 1,148

Rear Wheel
Ambrosio Nemesis Rim (2009 Bronze anodization): 440
Campagnolo Record Hub: 232
32 spokes DT Comp 2.0/1.8: 216
32 DT Swiss Brass nipples 12mm: 30
Campagnolo Skewer: 64
Cassette (Campy SR 12/27): 210
Veloflex Roubaix Tubular 24mm (pre 25mm): 292
Total Rear Wheel Weight: 1,484
Total weight of wheels, tires (glued), cassette and skewers 2,632
Weight of wheelset alone (no skewers, cassette or tires) for comparison to other wheelsets 1,722

Finishing Kit
Handlebars Deda Campione 44cm (outside to outside): 218
Stem Deda Serviso Corsa 130mm (with bolts): 116
Bar Tape Fizik: 62
Bar Gel Fizik (really like this underneath the fizik tape): 68
Top Cap on Stem Custom EPQ Top cap and bolt: 12
Carbon spacer 5mm carbon spacer under top cap: 2
Saddle Selle Italia SLR Team (2010): 158
Seat Post Colnago from Matte Black frame (Post 144gm, hardware 74gm): 218
Campagnolo Seat Clamp (Prefer Campagnolo seat collar clamp over most any other I've seen): 26
Pedals Dura-Ace Carbon: 250
Water bottle cages Arundel Mandible (Oil slick): 58
Water bottle cage bolts Supplied with frame: 10
Chainstay protector Lizard Skin "Carbon Leather" chainstay protector: 8
Subtotal: 1,206

Miscellaneous unaccounted for weight (primarily dried glue and scale rounding errors) 25

Total Build Weight 7,528

Other stuff I ride with…
Garmin Edge 800: 98
Speed Cadence Sensor: 32
Barfly mount for Edge: 20
2 Camelbak waterbottles at 70g each: 140
Lezyne Road Drive Pump (Medium) and mounting bracket: 130

[Calnago]

And I'm sure some of you will probably be asking "why no Boras, or Lightweights", etc. Truth is, I have a set of Bora Ultra Two Dark Labels that I thought might work with this frame, but in the end I like it best with the Ambrosios on the Record Hubs. Built them myself to meticulous (ridiculous) standards and have to say, they are just oh so smooth and it's such a treat to ride them. Love the Boras but I just think the Ambrosios suit this build better. Nonetheless... here's a quick shot of a different angle with the Boras...



I did remove the "CULT" stickers off the Boras and just left the main decals. The Cult stickers seem a little cheesy to me and don't really add anything to the elegance of the wheels but that's just my opinion. Anyone who knows Boras will also know that they have the CULT bearings and races.

[Calnago]

Oh, and if anyone has any ideas how I can remove everything on the seatpost EXCEPT for the "Colnago" I would appreciate the suggestions. When I did my C59, it was a snap to remove the red stripe on a 3T stem with a little acetone and finish getting the residue off with Goof-Off. Tried the same method on the seatpost but acetone wasn't removing the "HM Carbon Fiber". Don't feel it's really necessary to write "HM Carbon Fiber" on this thing. And the seatpost is actually the original post supplied with my matte black C59. The seat post that comes with this frame is a gloss finish and has a lot of white in it. I just wanted a more subdued seatpost. That would match the Deda Campione handlebars well.

[Calnago]

Love love love these bars. First time using but knew when I saw them a long time ago that's what would be going on this build. I love the classic shape (almost identical to the 3T Rotundos), just a little deeper drop which is great for me. The cable routing is external and the cables fit nicely into a double groove on the underside of the bars. A little heavier than the 3T LTD Rotundos on my C59 but overall I like them better becasue they match the Deda stem as well, and the stem was a no-brainer for this build.

[Calnago]

The Ambrosio Nemesis rims are actually from 2009 stock, right before they went to the more darker grey anodization. I was lucky to find this set and built them up with DT Swiss Competition spokes 3 cross onto Campy Record hubs. I have two more sets of these rims (although they are the newer versions with the darker anodization and slightly different etching). I particularly liked this set for this bike because of the more bronze colour which picks up the gold ring on the outside of the Colnago decals on the seat tube and downtube. It's "warmer" looking.



The Veloflex Roubaix's have actually been sitting around waiting for this build too. Same as the 24mm Roubaixs with the newer graphics, but I kind of liked these graphics a bit more for this build so saved them for it. The newest Roubaixs are actaully 25mm in width and I'm experimenting with them as well. But for this build these were the ticket.



To protect the chainstay I used Lizard Skin's Carbon Leather, and trimmed it a bit so as not to disturbe the angled graphics of the chainstay.



The full view of chainstay protector... not only blends right in with the carbon weave but really works well in that it dampens and chain slap that might ever happen... slience is golden.

[Calnago]

As for saddles, I have this same saddle on my C50 and like it so much I picked up another one on sale before they changed the style slightyly in 2010 or 2011?. It too has been sitting around waiting for this build. If they had this saddle in black it would be on my C59 as well. Same general shape as the Selle Italia Kit Carbonio but the padding is denser, which I like.

[Calnago]

And here it is out on it's inaugural ride, and 80 mile loop through the valley with appropriate coffee stops along the way (mandatory).



I know, it's not a great view of the bike, but i love this little coffee stand.

Ok... that should get this thread started. Enjoy the pics.

[Calnago]

Oh, one more pic for now...

Both sides of the frame are identical from a graphics point of view. Signature on both sides of the top tube. No "model name" anywhere on the frame although I did put it on the stem top cap that I had etched. And the signature "Ace of Clubs" on the rear of the seat lub is a nice touch. But nothing on the chainstays or seatstays. The darts and the carbon weave is plenty of detail for me. My C59 is the graphics whore . This one is as clean a Colnago as I could get.

[fa63]

You have great taste in bikes my friend, very well done

Do you mind if I put a couple pictures up on my blog?

[Calnago]

Not at all, and thanks for asking.

[rico]

It's a typically lovely build (and I love the bars in particular). But my main beef with the EPQ is...what's the point of it? What purpose does the frame serve between an EPS and a C59? There may be a perfectly good answer to this - but I'm not sure what it is.

[Tinea Pedis]

Fantastic Cal!

Have similar wheelset, just the Excellite rims instead of the Nemesis. However if I were to go some singles for every day riding, they would it it. Lovely.


(also not sure we needed the shots in separate posts, but whatever. Amazing bike!)

[Calnago]

@Tinea: yeah, sorry for the multiple posts but I was almost completely done with a single first post and all of a sudden got shut out and lost everything. So, I started again, and did it piece by piece so if it did crash I wouldn't lose everything.

@rico: You ask what the point of the EPQ is and, quite frankly, that is an outstanding question. Whether or not there is a very good answer to this is beyond me. But here's my take from my own experience. Bear with me here. When I first saw the EPS in PR99 paint scheme (may have been in 2009 actually), I thought it was the most beautiful paint scheme Colnago had done in some time. I wanted one, but I already had a predominantly white Colnago (ST02 C50). Then, the C59 was announced and I absolutely loved the matte black weave of the C59. I pre-ordered one. But all the while I kept thinking about that beautiful EPS. So, I accepted the fact that maybe I was becoming a collector of sorts and that it was actually ok to own more than one really nice bike and just said "f**# it" and ordered an EPS in PR99. That was in the Fall of 2010, while I was still waiting for my C59. By December Colnago informed me that they couldn't do the EPS in my size (something about running out of EPS chainstays or seatstays or something), but that they could do a kind of hybrid with essentially a C59 rear end and an EPS front end. I remember being in the shop with the local Colnago rep looking at both an EPS and a C59 and was also on the phone with the Colnago America manager while they were looking at the same thing. Ok... I thought, I like the idea of melding the two, but how were they going to fit the round rear tube of the EPS into the squarish seat cluster lug of the C59. They said they'd "remanufacture" the top tube of the EPS to fit it. I presume this probably meant taking existing EPS tubes, placing them around a mandril, heating them up and reshaping that end but I'm not sure how they in fact did it. What I did know was that this was a perfect solution for me, because I really did want the round cross secion of the downtube to place the paneled Colnago decal on. I just think this decal looks better on the round tube rather than the shaped tube of the C59. At this point in time, the name "EPQ" had not been arrived at yet.

They sent me a pic of the prototype in Feburary of 2011 and I said, "yes, that's exactly what I want". It had the round down tube of the EPS, yet with internal routing for the derailleur cables since it used the lugs of the C59. Nice. And it had the rear stays of the C59 which I actually preferred to the EPS stays. I was very happy, but kept my fingers crossed until I actually saw it for real since things sometimes get lost in translation.

So, the short answer to your question, I truly believe is this... during the transition from the EPS to the C59 Colnago found themselves with some leftover EPS top and down tubes but ran out of EPS rear ends. So the short availability of the EPQ was a good way to get rid of them. Except for a few people like myself I can't really see why one would want one over say, a C59, except for the fantastic paint scheme of the EPS in the PR99, the Zabel Blue, or the the Saronni Red. Timeless beauties for sure.

How I was lucky enough to get Colnago to produce the frame as you see it here for me in this thread is another long story, and took a year in itself. But I hope that answers your question as to how the EPQ came about for its very short tenure. I may be wrong of course, but I doubt it. If someone from Colnago cares to elaborate that's fine with me. The geometry is EXACTLY the same as my C59. If the ride feels different, it is because of the wheels. The setup is the same otherwise. The only significant difference in the two bikes is the downtube. The C59 is shaped in typical Colnago fashion with kind of an I-Beam construction (vertical piece of carbon running lengthwise down the center of the downtube). The EPS downtube on the other hand is ribbed, with three ribs (both sides and the bottom) also running lenghtwise through the downtube). The lugs, seatstays, chainstays, headtube and fork are all shared with the C59. It rides beautifully. I am so happy to have it.

So there you have it. And the only reference to "EPQ" on this frame is actually not on the frame itself, but on the custom top cap of the stem which I designed and had etched for me.

[majklnajt]

I like it more with the Boras!

[Calnago]

Thought you might. Who do you think that pic was for .