Just seen on YouTube (cottoned on a bit late!) is this DVD promo of Mario Cipollini’s 2011 range. Super Mario started his own line last year, providing bikes for and acting as consultant for Italy’s ISD Neri Continental team (which may explain their garish lycra).
Anyway, the new bikes, although slightly more sober (at least in this prototype version), very much take their cue from last year’s. The muscular-looking pro model features the same distinctive curved seat-tube and integrated seat-post as 2010 – which means only one bottle cage (surely a minus for everyone bar elite racers?). The new frames have a claimed weight of 1,050g, so they’re not the lightest in the peloton by any means, but presumably they’re built that way so as to be stiff and strong enough to meet the demands of pro sprinters.
And, for 2011, Cipollini is yet another Italian brand that has opted for Cannondale’s BB30 bottom bracket, attracted no doubt by the claimed stiffness and weight benefits. Aside from that, I can only tell two more things from the vid: firstly that I’d really like to live in Tuscany; secondly that the old rogue remains pretty damn cool, and can still bash out 1800w without breaking a sweat. See what you think…
Thanks Gazzetta Della Bici for the heads up.
