Colnago has unveiled its third-generation gravel machine, the G5-X, marking a significant evolution from its predecessors. The Italian brand’s latest offering follows the G3-X, which Colnago candidly admitted was essentially a cyclocross bike adapted for gravel, and the G4-X, which carried Colnago athlete Piotr Havik to a record-setting victory at this year’s Badlands gravel race, completing the grueling course in just 36 hours and 15 minutes.
Even with that impressive achievement, Colnago’s design team, led by Davide Fumagalli, recognized that the G4-X required refinement. Gravel bike geometry has been evolving rapidly, driven not only by the growing appetite for wider tyres but also by increasing rider expectations around comfort, handling, and aerodynamic efficiency.
According to Fumagalli, the primary objective for the new model was achieving balance. Colnago set out to create a bike capable of competing at the highest level across gravel events ranging from 200km races to ultra-endurance challenges like Badlands. The focus landed squarely on compliance-driven comfort and stability rather than chasing the outright aerodynamic gains seen in bikes like Factor’s Elara.
“With the G3-X, we created a fast, race-oriented gravel bike,” Fumagalli recalls. “Some riders described its stiff character as a ‘crit’ gravel bike. The G4-X brought improvements to ride quality, and now the G5-X represents a substantial leap forward in both comfort and handling.”
He adds: “We’ve incorporated some aerodynamic elements into the tubing profiles and the integration of the cockpit and fork, but we aren’t producing a pure aero-race gravel bike. This isn’t a gravel Y1Rs—we aimed to create something closer to a V5Rs for the dirt.”
G5-X Design Changes
The G5-X’s enhanced capabilities stem from a completely revised geometry and updated carbon layup schedule, maximizing the material’s compliance characteristics while preserving stiffness where it matters most.
The new geometry features a slacker head angle of 71 degrees on larger frame sizes (70 degrees on smaller ones), a longer wheelbase, and a lower bottom bracket with an 80mm drop. To complement the slacker head angle, Colnago increased fork rake to 52mm, resulting in a trail of 72mm when running 50mm tyres, or 68mm with 40mm rubber.
Beyond geometry, both frame and fork have shed weight. The frame now tips the scales at a claimed 950g for a medium (size 51), down from the previous 1,050-1,120g range. The fork weighs a claimed 420g. The flagship Red XPLR AXS build in size 48 (small) comes in at a claimed 7.2kg with 50mm tyres—lighter than its predecessor equipped with 45mm tyres.
Fumagalli notes that the updated carbon construction enhances compliance while maintaining the drivetrain stiffness that made the G4-X famous. Additional comfort comes from swapping the aero D-shaped seatpost for a standard 27.2mm slimline carbon post, which also opens up compatibility with gravel dropper posts for added versatility.
Colnago also acknowledged that the G4-X’s minimalist frame design limited some riders. The new model adds fork mounts to complement its triple bottle cage positions and top-tube bento box mounts.
The G5-X also features down-tube storage, and the bike ships with Fidlock’s magnetic bottle cage mounts and compatible bottles.
The Fidlock system occupies less space than conventional bottle cages, creating more room for larger frame bags. Colnago includes a replacement plate for the down-tube storage cover for riders who prefer standard cages.
The cockpit on the two top-tier models is the new CC.01 Wide, derived from the CC.01 found on the V5Rs but with an additional 3cm of flare. It offers 72.5mm reach with a width of 40cm at the hoods and 44cm at the drops, available with stem lengths from 80mm to 120mm.
Tyre Clearance Considerations
The most debated specification on the new bike is its seemingly conservative 53mm tyre clearance.
“We have 53mm of clearance using the road ISO standard of 6mm clearance all around. Some competing gravel bikes use the mountain bike ISO standard, which reduces that space to 4mm,” Fumagalli explains.
On the test bike fitted with 50mm Goodyear XPLR Inter tyres, the fork had ample room, and the rear maintained more than 4mm between tyre and stays.
The 53mm figure was chosen because Colnago wanted to preserve 2x drivetrain compatibility.
Many Colnago customers use their G-series bikes as all-road machines, preferring a traditional double-chainring setup. The G5-X accommodates a road-oriented 50/34 crankset rather than being limited to smaller adventure-focused 46/30 or 48/32 combinations.
Colnago G5-X Range and Pricing
The G5-X lineup is headlined by a race-ready SRAM Red AXS XPLR model featuring Zipp 303 XPLR SW wheels and the Colnago CC01 cockpit, priced at £9,999 / €9,200.
The range begins at £5,299 / €4,900 for a build with SRAM Rival AXS XPLR, Vision TC45 carbon wheelset, and alloy gravel bar and stem.
