2024 Superbike Review | Colnago V4RS The Colnago V4Rs is the latest road racing machine from Colnago, focusing on stiffness, lightness, and comfort, whilst also trying to include some aerodynamic enhancements where possible. The V4RS has already had a successful 2024, with Isaac Del Toro claiming an emphatic victory in Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under earlier this month. The V4RS will be ridden by Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates team mates throughout the 2024 season and will no doubt feature on countless podiums throughout the season.
The V4RS is an incredibly well-rounded performance bike able to take on any sort of terrain you can throw at it. With a relatively ‘low slung’ geometry, the front end is not overly steep which makes the bike handle very well. When pushing hard through an off-camber section or clipping the apex of a chicane at speed, the Colnago V4RS feels tight, precise, and direct – a well planted machine. The V4RS also responds well to hard braking, when slowing before you head into a bend even if you must scrub off a bit more speed mid bend to change your line, the V4RS never feels flustered. The stiff V4RS frame can be felt through the entire frame and form, with the V4RS being designed to cope with pro-rider level watts.Compared to the V3Rs, in a real race setup (tested in the wind tunnel with an athlete pedalling at 50kph with 1 bottle and one empty bottle cage) we measured an aerodynamic saving of 3%, corresponding to approx. 13.2 watt. With an advanced aero setup (aero wheels and aero Colnago Computer support) the bike had an aerodynamic saving of 6% (approx. 27.7 watts saved)
The V4Rs's carbon fibre monocoque frame has a claimed weight of 798g for a size 51, while the full carbon fibre fork is around 375g. This is fractionally lighter than its predecessor, the V3Rs, but Colnago says that the main changes are that the carbon structure is now more resilient to impacts in vulnerable areas like the seatstays, which should see it fare better in a crash.
The V4RS offers impressive tyre clearance at 32mmm, which means comfort can be boosted for those longer rides by using some larger tyres ran at lower pressures. The V4RS frame is designed for wireless electronic groupsets only, with no entry points for cables or wires. The V4RS seatpost clamp is also integrated, keeping those smooth lines flowing, and you won't find any mounting points for anything other than a couple of bottle cages. For the bottom bracket Colnago has gone down the T47 route; which is a larger version of a standard threaded BSA bottom bracket with the dimensions of a press-fit option. This means that by threading the bearing cups into the frame you are removing the issues that haunted some press-fit setups where the tolerances between frame and cups weren't tight enough to stop creaking from ingress of dust, water and so on.
The V4Rs is offered in seven sizes. The sizing is in relation to the seat tube length, so for example a 51 has a 510mm seat tube, an effective top tube length of 550mm, with the smallest bike getting 504mm, and the largest measuring 599mm.
The V4RS features the Colnago CC.01 cockpit that has a drag surface reduced by up to 16% compared to the cockpits mounted on V3Rs, and at the same time the shape has been designed as a NACA-derived profile in order to have the minimum impact on the air flow, which is laminar and clean while impacting the components. This aerodynamic evolution was carried out without reducing the cockpit’s overall stiffness, which is as important as aerodynamics in sprint and acceleration.
Explore the Colnago V4RS range here: Colnago V4Rs |
