ProTour-caliber sprinters don't care much for the mountains -- it's not that they can't climb, but they get paid to win field sprints, not KOM points. With that understood, it's no surprise that brilliant, fearless sprinters like Erik Zabel and Alessandro Petacchi are happy to swallow of bit of added bike weight in order to gain extraordinary benefits in bike stiffness. It's with that equation in place -- a few added grams bringing untold resistance to lateral and torsional flex -- that Colnago introduces the Extreme Power.

You can map out the top-end of the Colnago line with ease: The C50 is still the golden child. It's Colnago's ultimate every-circumstance/every-condition road racing bike. It does everything exceptionally well, and if you're not utterly obsessed with one of cycling's specialized disciplines -- i.e. if you're not starving yourself to a heroin chic slimness to improve your climbing, or if you don't sprinkle creatine on your Wheaties to give yourself an added edge for criterium sprint finishes -- you're an ideal candidate for the C50.

The Extreme C takes much of the technology of the C50, but puts it on a diet in order to shave every last gram away to fine-tune it for the high mountains. As evidenced by the consecutive Tour de France KOM titles won by Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen, the Extreme C is indeed a stupendous design for the climbing-fixated.

In the same spirit of specialization as the Extreme C, the Extreme Power takes many of the virtues of the C50 but modifies them to the benefit of sprinters, gear mashers, and large riders. In comparison to the C50, the main triangle of the Extreme Power has larger diameter tubes. For example, the top tube is 38mm in diameter at its ends, tapering down to 35mm at the midpoint. The down tube is 44mm at its ends, tapering down to 35mm at its midpoints. All three tubes of the main triangle benefit from varying thicknesses throughout their length, and the top tube and down tube have what Colnago refers to as "contrasted, molded internal longitudinal reinforcements." Some people might call them "ribs", but in our minds "ribs" suggest that these reinforcements run around the circumference of the tubes. That's exactly what they don't do. Rather, each reinforcement runs down the entire length of the tube -- they look like raised humps, about a millimeter or two wide, and maybe a half-millimeter or so high. Three reinforcements run down the length of the down tube and top tube in order enhance the stiffness already lent to the Extreme Power by its oversized tubing. These reinforcements are absent in the seat tube, since they'd prevent any seatpost from sliding in, so Colnago beefs up the seat tube even further to maximize stiffness. And since it's a question on everyone's mind, we should be clear on an important detail: For all of Colnago's work to beef up the stiffness of the Extreme Power (Colnago states that it has 30% greater stiffness than the C50) it only weighs on average 50g more than a C50.

Other small details amount to a lot on the Extreme Power: It has the same CNC-machined, titanium bottom bracket and B-Stay seatstays as the C50. But rather than employing the HP chainstays of the C50, it has leaf-shaped carbon chainstays. They're exceptionally tall beginning at the BB shell, and they maintain a constant height for about 2/3rds their length before slimming down near the dropouts. It further maximizes drivetrain rigidity while saving weight.

The Extreme Power is available in 7 sloping sizes and 14 standard sizes from 52cm-65cm. It comes in 3 stock color options -- ST01, PR00, and TWBK. And for those of you who (like us) get weepy about the glorious 1980's -- Stephen Roche, Roberto Visentini, et al -- Colnago is making a limited number of Ruby Red Extreme Power framesets identical in finish to the one ridden to fame by Giuseppe Saronni. The rich Red paint is offset by Gloss White panels and an exquisitely old-school Colnago decal on the downtube. Forza Del Tongo!!! The Saronni paint, referred to in some circles as "PR82", will come at an added cost of $200, making the frameset cost $4,834. You will see this price reflected on your order confirmation email.

The Extreme Power is equipped with a Colnago C75 Carbon monocoque fork. It requires a 1-1/8" threadless headset, an Italian threaded bottom bracket, a braze-on front derailleur, and a 31.6mm seatpost. It comes with a 2-year warranty from manufacturing defect.

2008 Colnago Extreme Power Pricing
	Frameset	Record / Chorus	Centaur / Dura Ace	Ultegra SL / Red	Force / Rival
Extreme Power	$4634	7443 / 7036	6441 / 7187	6349 / 7178	6553 / 6175

2008 Colnago Extreme Power Geometry

Seat Tube (c-t)	Seat Tube (c-c)	Top Tube	Seat Angle	Head Tube Length	Setback	Chainstay	Head Tube Angle
52.0	50.0	53.1	74.5	11.4	13.3	40.1	71.1
53.0	51.0	53.5	74	12.3	14.0	40.2	71.1
54.0	52.0	54.0	74	13.2	14.3	40.2	71.5
55.0	53.0	54.3	74	14.4	14.6	40.2	71.7
56.0	54.0	55.0	73.5	15.0	15.3	40.5	71.8
57.0	55.0	55.6	73	15.8	16.1	40.7	71.8
58.0	56.0	56.3	73	16.5	16.4	40.7	72.2
59.0	57.0	56.9	73	17.3	16.7	40.9	72.8
60.0	57.1	57.7	73	17.3	16.7	40.9	73.3
61.0 Freuler	58.2	58.2	73	18.3	17.0	40.9	73.3
62.0 Freuler	58.2	58.5	73	18.5	17.0	41.1	73.4
63.0 Freuler	58.2	58.7	73	19.5	17.0	41.1	73.4
64.0 Freuler	58.2	59.0	73	20.3	17.0	41.3	73.4
65.0 Freuler	60.0	59.2	73	21.3	17.4	41.3	73.5

2008 Colnago Compact Geometry: Extreme Power, CLX, Ferrari 60th Anniversary Complete Bike

Seat Tube (c-t)	Seat Tube (c-c)	Effective Seat Tube (c-c)	Effective Top Tube	Seat Angle	Head Tube Length	Setback	Chainstay
45.0 Sloping	42.5	47.0	51.8	75.3	10.8	10.8	39.9
48.0 Sloping	45.5	50.0	53.1	74.3	11.5	11.5	40.0
50.0 Sloping	47.5	52.0	54.0	74.0	13.3	13.3	40.2
52.0 Sloping	49.5	54.0	55.0	73.3	15.8	15.3	40.5
54.0 Sloping	51.5	56.0	56.3	73.0	16.5	16.4	40.5