One-off Colnago Gioiello Numero 1 sells for £108,000

Road bikes can be expensive. Many higher-end models will set you back over £10,000. But even these five-digit price tags pale in comparison to the Colnago Gioiello Numero 1 which recently sold at auction for a staggering 120,650 CHF (roughly £108,000).

Colnago created a range of 50 limited-edition Gioiellos in homage to this year’s 106th edition of the Giro d’Italia. They went one step further with the Numero One, the first of the range, creating a bike the Italian brand says is “unique and unrepeatable”.

It fetched the eye-watering price at an auction as a part of Sotheby's Luxury Week in Geneva where it was joined by other items including jewellery, watches, designer handbags, real estate, plus much more.

We can’t claim to have any expertise about designer handbags or real estate, but we know a thing or two about bikes, and the Numero One’s design certainly stands out, as you’d expect from this price point. The model is the C68, Colnago’s race-focussed superbike, but that’s not enough to justify the price tag - the frame usually markets for just over £5000.

So, what exactly does £108,000 get you? To coin the old cliché, it better be made of gold. And it is! Shunning traditional paint colourways, the Numero 1 is part-wrapped in gold leaf. This is one frame you definitely wouldn’t want to scratch.

Colnago

A jewel is embedded into the top cap

Colnago’s Ace of Clubs badge on the head tube is made from 24-carat gold and the 3D-printed bottle cage also follows the colour theme and is shaped to emulate the Trofeo Senza Fine, the Giro d’Italia’s trophy.

Even the finer details are decorated with gold leaf, including the handlebar and thru-axle caps, plus there are oversized titanium 3D-printed pulley wheels which are finished with a special gold cover.

What really sets the bike apart from the rest of the Gioiello range is a 2.03-carat jewel embedded into the head tube top cap. It doesn’t seem particularly practical, but it’s unlikely the bike will spend much time on the road.

Understandably, we don’t expect the bike to be used very much. Even so, Colnago hasn't skimped on componentry, ensuring it’s still a high-performance road bike. This includes Shimano’s 12-speed Dura-Ace groupset, Enve SES 3.4 wheels (a gold version of course), plus Pirelli’s P ZERO Race TLR tyres which, you guessed it, have gold trim.

Colnago

One of the most iconic Italian bike brands, Colnago has supplied bikes to some of the best riders in the world, including Eddy Merckx and Tadej Pogačar.