Colnago

Colnago was founded in 1954 in Cambiago, Italy, by Ernesto Colnago — a former racing cyclist who, after an injury ended his time in the saddle, began building wheels and frames from a small workshop on Via Garibaldi, with a workbench his father built from a mulberry tree in the family garden. From those beginnings, Colnago became one of the defining names in Italian frame-building, working closely with the sport’s biggest names including Eddy Merckx, for whom Ernesto served as personal mechanic.

Colnago’s reputation rests as much on innovation as craftsmanship: the brand was first to bring carbon fibre into professional road racing with the C40, and the star-tubed Master remains one of the most recognisable steel frames ever produced. Today, high-end models like the C68 are still hand-built in Cambiago, the same town — and in some cases the same building — where Ernesto started in 1954. The brand currently supplies UAE Team Emirates, including Tadej Pogačar.