COLNAGO Carbitubo Prototype 24″ uphill bike by M.Lelli – Team Ariostea (1992) – SOLD

Ernesto Colnago was born on February 9, 1932 in Cambiago, near Milan, Italy. At age 13 he entered in world of two wheels and immediately he fall in love with bikes and cycling. In 1952 he founded Colnago and started to work as mechanic for several professional teams. Colnago’s bikes still have a domination of the world’s cycling sports because Ernesto was always an innovator and pioneer of new technologies which supposedly provide more efficency or comfort.

In late 1980s, Ernesto Colnago was looking for ways to push the boundaries of bike performance  dand ecided to use different materials and frame geometries. He started to cooperate with Ferrari and came out with the Carbitubo, which immediately succeeded. The entire frameset is very precisely manufactured and made of carbon fiber tubes inserted into aluminium lugs and, beside that, shows a unique geometry with a double-tube down tube which makes the bike very stiff.

Ariostea cyling team was one of the strongest teams back in 1991-92, directed by G.Ferretti. For 2 seasons their best riders were winning on exactly the same Colnago Carbitubo framesets with the same Shimano Dura Ace groupset. They had many starts on board like: M.Argentin, R.Sorensen, M.Lelli, G.Furlan, D.Cassani, A.Ferrigato…

M.Lelli (Team Ariostea) at the Tour of Trenitno 1992

Here we are proudly presenting a special bike made by Ernesto Colnago back in early 1990s – COLNAGO Carbitubo Prototype 24″. The bike was designed for the races with a lot of climbs. Somehow they calculate that the 24″ wheels are faster on steep climbs than standard 28″ wheels. So Ernesto designed a special Colnago Carbitubo with 24″ wheels for Massimiliano Lelli, a. strong climber of Team Ariostea.

Extremely rare. 1 or 2 bikes in existence. A museum piece.

Frame & Fork: Colnago Carbitubo Prototype 24″

Size:

– seat tube (c-t): 50 cm

– top tube (c-c):  52 cm

– headset tube: 15 cm

– standover: 76,5 cm

Crankset: Shimano Dura Ace 7402

Front Derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace 7403

Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace 7402

Levers: Shimano Dura Ace 7402 STI 8s

Brakes: Shimano Dura Ace 7403

Hubs: Shimano Dura Ace 7402

Headset: Shimano Dura Ace 7402

Seatpost: Shimano Dura Ace 7402

Stem: ITM

Handlebar: ITM

Pedals: Shimano 7401

Tubulars: Clement 24″  (new)

Handlebar tape: Colnago, cork, white

Condition: Used, but very good condition. Original paint and decals. No cracks, no dents, not bent. Some signs of normal use. All parts are working fine.

Year: 1991-92

Price: SOLD (June 2021)