Italian tubing and component maker Columbus has an all-new Trittico system of carbon bars, stem & fork developed to bring modern fully internal cable routing to the custom handmade bike market. Designed to fit inside a conventional 1 1/8″ upper headset cup, the Columbus Trittico features a unique Trefoil fork steerer tube that outperforms many other shaped steerers. Plus, a creative stem solution delivers unmatched cockpit adjustability, without messing with your brake lines…
Columbus Trittico carbon cockpits integrate handmade bikes
The idea behind these new Columbus Components carbon Trittico parts was simple. Give handmade bikes the option to build fully internal cable routing with existing tubing – specifically headtube – sizing.
Columbus sells a lot of steel and (increasingly) titanium tubesets to custom frame builders. And even though most of those now use so-called ‘oversized’ tubing diameters relative to old school 1″ steel tubes. We’re still talking about a maximum 44mm headtube for tapered 1.5-1.125″ steerer tubes.
While oversized carbon bikes can often get away with going to a massive 1.5″ upper headset cup to fit shift & brake lines inside. Metal bikes start to look weird with bigger headtubes.
So, Trittico means keeping whatever 1 1/8″ upper headset cup you prefer. And routing cables inside it. Electronic shifting only though, so we’re only talking about internal routing of hydraulic brake lines, or electronic wires on older groupsets.
How does it work?
To make that fit, Columbus developed a new Trefoil steerer tube shape for their own full carbon forks. Their patent-pending design lops off the front 2 corners of the carbon fork steerer for the cables to slip down into the frame. And of course requires a proprietary expander to go inside.
As compared to similar 1.125″ internal routing solutions with D-shaped or I-shaped steerers, the Columbus Trefoil design is uncompromisingly stiffer both front-to-back AND resisting lateral forces.
Unmatched integrated cockpit adjustability
Now, it is relatively straight-forward to route just a couple of hydro brake lines inside a separate bar and stem, assuming the correct size routing holes all line up. But Columbus goes one step further with their carbon Trittico stem. Here, they use a oversized steerer clamp diameter, and fill out that space with an alloy sleeve spacer.
The result, one -8° stem can be adjusted in length by 5mm and its angle by 5°. All without removing any hoses. The regular black steerer sleeve can be left in its 0 position, or rotated 180° to offset stem length by +5mm. Or swap in the red -5° angled insert sleeve, which keeps the original stem length, but lowers the handlebar creating an effective -13° stem angle.
That sleek carbon stem gets a removable alloy faceplate with hidden 3-bolts, and hidden GPS mount. So you get both streamlined looks and real-world ease-of-use.
Combine it with ergonomically-shaped “Smart Fit” handlebars, and you can fine-tune your cockpit positioning, exactly as you prefer. Columbus gives their Trittico carbon bars unique shaping. With a divot for extra space behind the lever for more secure braking from the hoods – especially for riders with small hands who’ve adjusted their lever reach – and triangulated shaped drops for extra grip while sprinting.
Trefoil forks
The Columbus Trittico system is built around the Futura Trefoil full carbon 1.5″ tapered steerer road fork.
425g with 32mm tire clearance (367mm axle-crown, 45mm rake), flat mount 160mm (or 180mm) brake rotor compatibility, and a magnetic cover to hide the front mounting bolts.
There also will be a Trittico-compatible Futura Trefoil Gravel fork with bigger 700c x 57mm tire clearances, anything cage & fender mounts, and dynamo wiring routing. The Futura Trefoil Gravel fork gets a 405mm a-c and adjustable 47/52mm offset, at a claimed 565g.
Trittico component specs & sizing
The carbon Trittico stems are customizable in both length and angle with their adjustable steerer tube sleeve. The 5 sizes are 90-130mm (in 10mm steps) with the standard -8° stem angle. Rotate the stock black steerer sleeve 180° to offset length +5mm. It keeps the -8° angle, but shifts the stem lengths to 95-135mm. Or an optional red angled -5° insert sleeve keeps the original lengths, but lowers the front handlebar clamping area to create a -13° angle.
Columbus also created a direct out-front GPS/GoPro mount. Called the Race Spoon, it mounts to 2 bolts on the bottom of the Trittico stem.
The Trittico carbon road bars come in 40/42/44cm widths at the hoods, with subtle 4° flare in the drops (below the levers) for an extra 2.7cm of width (center-center) at the ends. The 31.8mm bars feature 71mm reach and 128mm drop, with a claimed weight of 215g.
Wider carbon Trittico gravel bars will add more dramatic 15° flare. Plus, they feature an extra ergonomic loop at the ends of the drops, yet only a shade heavier at 225g. The 75mm reach/110mm drop gravel bars will also come in 40/42/44cm at the hoods. But, in the end, 11cm wider at the drops thanks to the flare and further 4° oustweep at the ends.
There’s also a matching carbon Trittico seatpost to finish out your contact points. It’s available in 27.2 or 31.6mm diameter (200g or 210g). The seatpost features swappable 2-bolt head guts for 15mm or 25mm offset, round or carbon rail compatibility, and an asymmetric carbon shaft layup for optimal rider comfort.
Columbus Trittico – Options, Pricing & Availability
Columbus designed the Trittico cockpit system as an integration solution for custom handmade bike builders. So for now, your best bet it to buy a new custom road bike. Then, tell your frame builder that this is what you want. Columbus says a number of builders are already using the Trittico system. Beyond the Jaegher bikes I photographed above, you can also already find Trittico-equipped bikes from Barco, Beach Club, Belle, Bixxis, Cinelli, Condor, Festka, Ioklin, Legot, Onguza, Passoni, Repete, Stelbel, Titici, Victoire, Wittson, and more.
Officially, only the road bike series with the Futura Trefoil road fork has launched so far. But Columbus shared renderings with us of a gravel series with a Futura Trefoil Gravel fork and flared carbon bar. And we’ve seen the gravel product names already pop up with some distributors. Those likely are already making their way to bike builders early this year.
As for aftermarket retrofit installation into your existing bikes… Columbus has a “Pre-Order Now” contact form on their microsite for consumers looking to buy the Trittico system components. But we’ve also seen the individual components already being offered online separately. With fork prices around 475€, stems/seatposts/bars for around 420€.
