As its name suggests, the Colnago Prototypo is a new prototype race bike from the Italian bicycle manufacturer. For now, it is exclusively for UAE Team Emirates riders and is available in five different trim grades, but will soon be narrowed down to one option based on rider feedback. The prototypes will be used by the team in the 2022 Tour de France, where Tadej Pogachar will attempt to defend his title.

Slovenian riders have already tried out the Prototipo as part of the development process, but as a final testing phase before sign-off, all team members will have access to the competition bike starting today.UAE Team Emirates riders will be able to use the bike on the race course by Prototipo and the existing Colnago V3R.

According to Colnago, Prototipo is a new construction method. The end result is a monocoque frame design, but initial test benchmarks were conducted on the individual parts that make up the "new C Series" frame. This method allowed the brand to calculate and refine its carbon fiber thickness and placement protocols in a more holistic manner.

After trying many options, five different frame blueprints were selected for field testing. From these five different laminations, Colnago will select a final version for consumers that will be tested in a real racing scenario and then signed off.

No official specs have been released to outline the Prototipo's weight and aerodynamic figures, but the bike will almost certainly be in line with modern road bike weight limits, not to mention lighter than the current V3R.

The key points of development for the prototipo were concentrated around the head tube and bottom bracket to balance stiffness and weight. Similar to the Colnago V3R, the modified head tube and deeper seat tube show the aerodynamic potential of this bike.

"Computer and wind tunnel testing is important but has its limitations," says Davide Fumagalli, head of Colnago R&D. 'It is difficult, if not impossible, to replicate the unique conditions of the race, the irregularities of the course, the stresses caused by the terrain, the aerodynamic turbulence, and the accelerations at different moments in the competition.' At the level of development we have reached, it is increasingly difficult to achieve improvements. Thus, we feel that by tapping into the experience of people who ride bicycles for many hours a day, we can take racing bikes an important step further"

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Considerable effort was also put into creating a visually stunning bike, which was also a challenge when combined with the technical science behind the frame construction. The Italian design philosophy is the same in the field of automobiles and bicycles: form is the result of function. To achieve this balance, Colnago enlisted the help of Norwegian industrial design icon Torgny Fjeldskar

, who was able to create a bike that was both functional and functional.

"The starting point for the development of Prototipo was to create a completely performance-driven frame. The goals we set and worked on with Davide and his team were to increase stiffness in the areas of greatest stress from pedaling and to lower aerodynamic drag relative to the overall frame weight."

No specific release date has been announced yet, but it is expected that an official announcement will be made after this year's Tour de France.

What do you think of the new Colnago Prototypos? Let us know your opinion in the comments.