Road Racing

The Colnago Gioiello commemorates the Giro d’Italia with a whole lot of real gold leaf

The limited-edition bike based on the C68 road bike features gold leafing and custom components from ENVE, Selle Italia, and more.

May 4, 2023 Alvin Holbrook

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.

The Giro d’Italia starts this Saturday, May 6, and Colnago has a new limited edition bike to commemorate the 106th edition of the Corsa Rosa. Called the Colnago Gioiello, the bike is based on the current Colnago C68 road bike.

Colnago-C68-Gioiello-bike-gold-leafing — Gold leafing is applied before it is cut and refined into the one of 50 Gioiello you see here. (Image: Colnago)

Gioiello in Italian translates to ‘jewel,’ and this limited edition C68 frameset goes for the jewel-like finish found on the trophy given to the winner of the Giro d’Italia. That trophy, called the ‘Trofeo Senza Fine’ (the Endless Trophy roughly translated), has a distinctive gold finish.

The Colnago Gioiello then has a similar finish. It features a gold leaf finish with small hits of the spiral on the fork to commemorate the spiral of the Giro trophy. The gold leaf finish is unique to every bike as the leafing must be applied every time by hand to create a special texture.

Colnago-C68-Gioiello-bike-bottle-cage — A closer look at the 3D-printed bottle cage. (Image: Colnago)

Oh, and that’s real gold leaf too, not just gold leaf texture. This isn’t the first time they’ve done it; the C64 Private Edition had real gold too, but nothing like this.

The gold leaf extends the full length of the down tube and covers much of the head tube, top tube, seat tube, chainstays, and fork legs too. The lower sections of the fork are decorated with a Colnago pattern.

Colnago-C68-Gioiello-bike-fork-detial — Look closely and you’ll see the tubes, lugs, and Ace of Spades shared with the C68 design. Elsewhere are gold spokes and Carbon Ti rotors. (Image: Colnago)

Colnago says the motif is made of lines, crosses, and the Colnago Ace of Clubs logo. Lines indicate the frame’s tubes and the crosses symbolize the C68’s lugs. The Colnago Ace of Clubs is alternated by diamonds made of smaller Aces of Clubs on the fork, and the pattern is repeated on the Selle Italia SLR Flow saddle and the bar tape too.

If you thought that was enough gold, you’d be mistaken. Each Colnago Gioiello comes with a 3D-printed bottle cage also covered in gold leaf. Its spiral design is a nod to the Trofeo Senza Fine.

Colnago-C68-Gioiello-bike-drivetrain — Each Colnago Gioiello features a gold CeramicSpeed OSPW pulley in gold to match the gold elsewhere. (Image: Colnago)

Elsewhere you’ll find CeramicSpeed OWPW titanium nitride-coated pulleys with a gold finish. The ENVE SES 3.4 wheels are given Colnago-specific lining with unique gold spokes, while the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tires also have color-matched gold graphics as well.

The rest of the bike features a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 drivetrain.

Colnago-C68-Gioiello-bike-saddle-detail — A custom Selle Italia SLR Boost Flow Carbon made specifically with the Trofeo Senza Fine and Colnago fork detail comes with each Gioiello. (Image: Colnago)

Colnago will only make 50 of the Gioiello, with each bike numbered individually. The price? Expect to pay a suggested retail price of €22,000, including VAT. That converts to just over $24,000 USD, or around £19,300. Exclusivity – not to mention gold leaf – comes with a price!