A €22,000 Colnago and the Best Road Bikes of the Sea Otter Classic

Welcome to Velo’s Sea Otter Classic coverage, where we share our favorite things we’ve found at the 2026 show. Bikes, components, accessories, and more: if we think it’s cool, you’ll see it. See the rest of our Sea Otter coverage.

Sea Otter Classic is a venue known for gravel, but it’s also a chance for bikes of all kinds to shine, and that means road bikes too. Or perhaps, bikes that straddle the line a bit. This is a roundup of all the coolest road bikes I found at Sea Otter Classic 2026, but it has to start with the just-launched Colnago C72.

Colnago is a brand known for heritage and exclusivity, but it makes a variety of models that are maybe only a little more exclusive than other brands. Those bikes face the argument that they aren’t fundamentally different from frames being built in the same factories in a small part of the world. Then there’s the C-series.

The Colnago C-series is not the fastest range of bikes that Colnago makes, but that’s not the point. The C-series is designed for a buyer who isn’t chasing the absolute fastest. It’s about the finer things in life, and the latest C72 leans into that even more with a maximum of 3,000 frames made per year, all of them made in Italy.

As in years past, the C72 is also a lugged carbon design. In the previous model, though, that lugged design very much faded into the background. It was almost hard to tell that it wasn’t a monocoque frame. This time, Colnago is fixing that by actually accentuating the gaps rather than hiding them. The brand claims this is inspired by the concept of “panel gap matching found in high-end automotive design.”

What Colnago is actually reversing this time around is the multiple variations of the C series found in the previous generation. Gone is the road vs. all-road divide, and instead, the latest offering straddles both. The reach and stack are shorter and taller than the previous road version and the V5, but it’s pulled back from the C68 Allroad. At the same time, tire clearance has improved with room for a 35mm tire.

If you feel like 3,000 frames per year is a little too easy to get, there is another option. The C72 La Scala is limited to only 72 numbered builds. For your additional money and exclusivity, you get “a unique artwork that elevates the C72’s livery, inspired by the grandeur of the theatre’s auditorium”. In other words, unique paint and surface treatments. That version will run you €22,000.

For more information on the Colnago, visit the Colnago website and continue scrolling to see other notable road bikes from this year’s Sea Otter Classic.