Fabio Aru's Giro d'Italia Colnago C64 - Gallery
Italian frame and components for the national champion at home Grand Tour
Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) flies the flag for Italy at the Giro d'Italia, with the home nation hoping he can somehow defeat Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and so pull the maglia rosa over his Italian national champion's tricolore stripes.
Aru rides for UAE Team Emirates, funded by the Middle Eastern nation and its brands, but will ride the Giro d'Italia on a very Italian bike made by Colnago, equipped with Campagnolo components.
Chris Froome tested his Giro d'Italia bikes at the Tour of the Alps and Aru did the same with his Colnago C64. Compared to the team issue Colnago C64, Aru's bike is close to 200g lighter due to the limited colours. The logos and decals are all simple white paint, with just a touch of white behind the head tube and on the forks to highlight the new tube shapes of the C64.
The C64 is built in the Colnago factory in Cambiago, northeast of Milan. Its chunkier carbon fibre tube shapes and carbon fibre lugs follow the successful Colnago designs that began with the C40 in the nineties. It's maybe a little heavier and perhaps lacks the curvy aesthetics of many other carbon fibre frames but it remains distinctive.
For the C64, the lugs around the seat cluster have been integrated into the seat tube, resulting in a unique seat tube for each size variant of the model. Another update to the new model is a D-profile seat post, which is the same component used in the aerodynamic Concept model frameset from Colnago and a popular design for a variety of carbon frames from a number of manufacturers. The forks are also chunkier and wider than the predecessor, allowing for up to 28mm tyres.
UAE Team Emirates pair their Colnago frames with Campagnolo's Super Record EPS groupset and Bora Ultra carbon wheels, not yet switching to the recently announced 12-speed groupset from the Italian company. The crankset comes courtesy of Power2Max with their Type S Campagnolo power meter system.
Senior team mechanic Giuseppe Archetti pointed out the tiny brass screws added to Aru's brake levers. This artisan pro touch helps Aru reach the levers by limiting their return more than the standard Campagnolo options.
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Aru runs a relatively short Deda Elementi stem. Archetti had yet to make a final cut to the fork tube as Aru was still to finalise how low he could go at the Giro d'Italia.
Alongside Campagnolo and Deda components on the Italian champion's Colnago frameset, more Italian components in bottle cages, saddle and tyres come from Elite, Prologo and Vittoria, respectively.
Look provides Aru and UAE Team Emirates with Keo Carbon Blade pedals.
Click or swipe through the gallery above for a closer look at Fabio Aru's Collage C64 for the Giro d'Italia.
- Frame: Colnago C64
- Fork: Colnago C64
- Front brake: Campagnolo Super Record direct mount
- Rear brake: Campagnolo Super Record direct mount
- Brake/shift levers: Campagnolo Super Record EPS Ergopower with custom reach
- Front derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Rear derailleur: Campagnolo Super Record EPS
- Cassette: Campagnolo Super Record
- Chain: Campagnolo Record
- Crankset: Power2Max Type S Campagnolo
- Bottom bracket: Colnago Threadfit 82.8
- Wheels: Campagnolo Bora Ultra 35
- Tyres: Vittoria Corsa, 25mm tubular
- Handlebars: Deda SuperZero
- Stem: Deda SuperLeggero
- Pedals: Look Keo Blade Carbon
- Saddle: Prologo Nago Evo
- Seat post: Colnago C64
- Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race Plus
- Other accessories: K-Edge out-front computer mount
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
