Colnago

CX Zero Evo Road Frameset-2015

With the CX Zero Evo Road Frameset, Colnago is throwing its expertise and pedigree behind the new breed of so-called endurance frames that have become popular in the pro peloton. As it's used here, "endurance" actually means grueling days in the saddle when the pros want a frame that'll comfortably handle less than favorable surfaces without sacrificing efficiency. The CX Zero Evo is made to carry riders through the rolling hell of the spring classics — Flanders, Roubaix, the Strade — and deliver enough kick to get the jump on your fellow survivors in the final sprint.

The story of the CX Zero's classics pedigree is told by the longer wheelbase, higher stack, and shorter reach, which put you in a more comfortable and stable upright position than traditionally aggressive racing frames like the C60. This design earns its keep in the pro peloton by eating the gravel, punchy climbs, and — of course — the cobblestones that give the spring classics their brutal appeal. It's also smooth enough that some Europcar pros opted to use it during the long mountain stages of the Tour. For our purposes, this translates to making butter of rough, chipseal road surfaces over long days on the rural roads whose tendency toward uninterrupted expanses mean they often feature in both training rides and races to avoid impacting the host community's day-to-day.

The frame's rear triangle deserves some special attention, as its disparate elements have been designed to improve comfort without sacrificing the efficiency that makes the CX Zero Evo Europcar's go-to for races like Roubaix. The seatstays are thinned and slightly flattened to absorb hits and road noise, and the chainstays spring from the bottom bracket with a stiff vertical thickness and taper into an up-curve where they meet the rear dropout. The traditionally sized 27.2mm seatpost also contributes to compliance with a more forgiving ride than the harsh oversized and integrated seatposts that have become common throughout the industry.

While the classics geometry is the CX Zero's defining feature, the quality of carbon fiber used in its build would make it a star in any other manufacturer's line. Over nine different types of carbon appear throughout the CX Zero Evo's construction, all of which are sourced exclusively from Toray's Japanese factory. This is the most consistent carbon fiber in the world, guaranteed perfect, every time, which is why it's the same stuff that Boeing insists on for its aircraft. This carbon is so sought after that Colnago is the only manufacturer able to use 100% Japanese carbon fiber in its frames.