A local shop has a new M10 frame on closeout that is tempting… But since they only have frames in my size there is not a way to see how it rides and oddly enough the reviews online are pretty limited for the M10…
I was in the exact same situation 6 months ago. I found a lightly used m10s frame for a great price and with very little reviews about the m10 it was hard to decide. Since I’ve lusted for a colnago for years I bought it anyway.
I’m no professional bike reviewer but I’ll do my best. Comparing the m10 to my cannondale caad10 my road bike at the time. The m10 is just so much smoother of a ride and no flex around the bottom bracket. I’m more of a sprinter/hill climber and have broken several chains, chainrings, and a crank. I could always feel the caad10 flex while sprinting, there is no flex with the m10. The m10 is also very light, I built mine with campagnolo record and it ended up being 15lbs versus the caad10 with sram apex at 19lbs. The internal cabling was super easy to work with (anything is easy compared to my CD0.1) it only took me an hour and a half to go from bare frame to riding. I’ve found the geometry of the m10 is suited very well for longer rides. I did a century ride on Tuesday with no issues. On the caad10 I have to take breaks every 30 miles or so due to back pain. My favorite part about riding the m10 is that I haven’t seen another one while riding. The only downfall with the m10 is the paint. The paint job is absolutely gorgeous in the sunlight, but it is very very fragile. I think that bugs at 25mph will chip the paint!
All in all the best bike I’ve ever owned.
Hope this helps
Great, thanks for the review! I have heard that about the paint before. There is a cool video I found online though they shows the painting process- so much work
I have never ridden the M10 but I ride a clx Colnago and a P3 Cervelo. I can tell you that you will love anything made by Colnago. The ride is so smooth and the craftsmanship is top notch. Best of luck.
I’ve owned and raced 3x colnagos. Ovalmaster, CX-1, and M10. Colnago as a brand makes a fantastic product. I’ve also owned Cinelli, Time, Scott, Fuji, and Pinarello and the reason I’ve returned to a Colnago and will likely get a Colnago as my next bike is the ride. I’ll try not to sound cliched but the wonderful thing about a Colnago is that all the strong heritage and relationship with racing has helped them produce an amazing riding bicycle. My Pinarello Dogma was an amazing bicycle to race the steeper head tube angel made for point and shoot precision in the steering…but it was heavier and riding it for fun wasn’t as rewarding. The M10 is as competent a race bike as any machine you’ll find, but its also a wonderful daily driver. Its stiff where it needs to be, has amazing manners when it comes to handling, and is lively and fun to ride even when you’re not racing. They’ve nailed the geometry giving just the right amount a racey-ness without making it a single purpose (racing only) bike.
P.S. The paint has been an issue in the past, especially the white. The 1st generation CX-1s the white paint “yellowed” but they fixed that a year later with a newer paint which unfortunately was more brittle. I had similar problems with my Dogma, the white paint was very brittle and chipped more easily than paint on other bikes I’ve owned. My current M10 is white and the paint seems to be great…the color has remained brilliant white and it doesn’t seem abnormally prone to chipping.
Hopes this helps!