Mapei's Franco Ballerini won the 1995 Paris-Roubaix and suddenly everybody was aware of the fact that the demise of Aluminium frames might have begun. They proved that the bike was capable of coping with the roughest conditions.
However, the frame had yet to prove that it was capable of being a threat to the aluminium and steel bikes in the hard races pro teams have to attend.Įrnesto outfitted the Team Mapei as the first squad to race his prestigieous machine. All paintjobs were carried out by hand and found the company some extra fame. A construction of profiled carbon fibre tubes, fitted together by well proportioned carbon fibre lugs and steered with a high tech steel fork.Īnd it became available in an unbelievable amount of paint schemes. Well constructed enough to equally compete in the mountains and the classics of Flanders.ġ994, to celebrate the company's 40th birthday, the C40 was first presented to the public. But to that point no carbon fibre bike proved so safe and light at the same time, that it was suitable as a professional team bike. When Ernesto released the Colnago C40 he started a revolution.īefore, carbon fibre has been seen as the future of cycling and there have been loads of experiments going on since the 1970s.