New Colnago V5Rs: Pogacar's secret weapon for the Tour

A few weeks ago, Tadej Pogacar was already seen training on a Colnago prototype that we suspected could be the V5Rs that the brand has now officially presented and that the Slovenian will start using right away, with a first stop at the Ardennes Classics where he will try to continue his successful season.

More aerodynamics and lightness in Tadej Pogacar's favorite Colnago

Although during the beginning of the season we saw Tadej Pogacar competing on the Colnago Y1Rs, the first aerodynamic bike from the Cambiago brand, in Flanders and Roubaix the UAE Team Emirates-XRG cyclist returned to the Colnago V4Rs with which he has been competing in recent years, a climbing bike with certain aerodynamic touches to fit in with the current bike scene.

Now, Colnago has sought to make this machine more competitive by turning it into a true aerolight, attacking both the weight parameter, with the goal of being at the UCI limit of 6.8 kg ready to ride and, on the other hand, improving its aerodynamics to bring it as close as possible to the Y1Rs so that it is as efficient as possible in this aspect given the high speeds at which races are contested today.

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Although aesthetically this Colnago V5Rs is very difficult to distinguish from its predecessor, the frame has been completely redesigned to meet these objectives. Starting with the weight, which has been addressed by deepening the simulation work through finite element software or FEM to find a new laminate that would allow weight reduction without affecting stiffness parameters. The manufacturing technique has also had to be improved to shave off every gram, with the use of preformed mandrels that act as a mold for the interior part of the frame and a precise definition of how each fiber sheet should be placed and in what order. Also, in an effort to save every gram, Colnago has opted for a conventional BSA bottom bracket instead of the T47 it was using, which is lighter and better suited to the Shimano cranks used by the team.

The result is that the unpainted Colnago V5Rs frame achieves an incredible weight of 685 g in the medium size compared to the 798 g of the V4Rs, which represents a reduction of 12.5%, a remarkable figure when we are already at these levels. A reduction that also extends to the fork so that the total weight of the frame+fork assembly goes from 1,173 g to 1,027 g

The other pillar of the V5Rs is aerodynamics, for which the work done in the development of the Y1Rs has been used as a starting point. The improvement work has been approached from two aspects. On the one hand, the reduction of the frontal area in which the redesign of the fork has played an essential role, integrating better into the frame lines by gaining width to allow the use of tires up to 700x32c.

On the other hand, work has also been done on the tube profiles, reducing the section of all the tubes and sharpening the sections of the fork legs or the steering tube. In order to have the narrowest possible steering tube, a 1'' 1/8 upper bearing has been chosen while the lower one is 1'' 1/4.

The result is an improvement in aerodynamic resistance across the entire range of angles of incidence compared to the V4Rs and, furthermore, it comes very close to the specifically aerodynamic Y1Rs.

Regarding handling, Colnago has maintained the geometries of its current V4Rs in this V5Rs, although it now incorporates two fork versions with different rake, 47 and 43 mm to maintain the same behavior in small and large sizes.

A bike that, as has been customary in its recent models, Colnago will offer to its customers in the colors of UAE Team Emirates XRG, the UAE Team ADQ women's team, and, of course, in the World Champion colors worn by Tadej Pocagar. All this with a starting price of €10,000 and will have to be increased depending on the chosen configuration. A configuration with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Enve wheels, as close as possible to what Tadej Pogacar uses, has a price of €15,900.