Cipollini Ago
£7,800 The Italian brand’s first gravel bike
Weight 8.37kg (M) Frame Monocoque carbon Fork Carbon Gears Campagnolo Ekar 13-speed (9-42t, 38t) Brakes Campagnolo Ekar Wheels Campagnolo Levante Finishing kit FS ACR 95mm x -6˚ alloy stem, FSA K-Wing AGX handlebar, Cipollini carbon 27.2mm seatpost, Selle Italia Model X BB FEC saddle, WTB Raddler 700x45mm tyres
Like Mario Cipollini, the Italian ex-pro behind the brand, the Ago is a fast, flamboyant performer. Unlike the former racer, however, the bike won’t lose interest part way when its preferred terrain is done. With a lot more off-road capability than the brand’s MCM Allroad, the Ago seeks to tick boxes for the aspiring gravel racer as well as the long-distance explorer.
Made as a full monocoque (one-piece frame) carbon unit to improve strength, the Ago has all the hallmarks of a modern performance bike, including a BB86 pressfit bottom bracket, subtly shaped aero profiles and full internal cable routing. Its short, 427mm chainstays across all sizes keep weight over the rear axle to aid traction while improving power transfer and quickening handling.
Ready for adventure
The Ago has your adventurous spirit covered too, with dual bottlecage mounts in the front triangle, accessory mounts on the underside of the down-tube and on the toptube, triple-bolt cargo cage mounts on the fork legs and an optional mounting kit for mudguards and pannier rack (with limited compatibility due to its design).
There’s also scope to add a double chainset to give you more gears, and the seatpost is a 27.2mm round unit offering more choice for upgrades. While the 427mm chainstays and 77mm BB drop remain constant across all sizes, everything else is size-specific to ensure a consistent experience for all sizes. The geometry of the Medium Ago on test gently points towards the performance end of the scale with its 386mm reach, 572mm stack, 71˚ head-tube angle, 73.7˚ seat angle and 1,034.2mm wheelbase.
The Ago has a full, gravel-specific Campagnolo Ekar groupset including hydraulic brakes with 160mm rotors. The 1x13 drivetrain comprises a 38t chainring and a 9-42t cassette, which offers enough of a range for both winching up steep gradients and hauling a serious pace on descents. The closer jumps between the higher gears help make riding at speed smoother.
Campag’s Levante gravel wheels are shod with WTB Raddler 700x45mm tyres set up tubeless. The carbon seatpost is own-brand and topped with a Selle Italia Model X BB FEC saddle, while the cockpit comprises FSA’s ACR 95mm, -6 ˚ alloy stem and 42cm K-Wing carbon bars, flared to 49cm at the tips. The bike’s weight
“The first thing I noticed when riding the Ago was its sprightly nature. It’s a very fast bike with comfortable wide tyres”
including the Cipollini branded bottle cages is a sensibly light 8.37kg.
The first thing I noticed when riding the Ago was its sprightly nature. The low weight, short chainstays and semi-deep wheels make for a very fast bike (I wished there were higher gears when riding it on the road) with comfortable wide tyres.
On rougher unpaved roads, the Ago remained comfortable and as composed as you could expect a bike without supplementary shock absorption to be. At the local trail centre, it only really felt out of its depth on the fastest, roughest sections.
Great handling
On long, adventurous gravel rides when the bike was laden with (sensibly distributed) kit, the normally sharp, but not twitchy, handling was slowed to a useful point. This bike is fantastically smooth to ride.
The Levante wheels coped well with everything thrown at them, remaining arrow straight even after all they were subjected to. The WTB Raddler tyres were surprisingly grippy off-road considering their speed on tarmac. The Selle Italia Model X BB FEC saddle was comfortable in a range of positions and, while I was unsure about the shape of the FSA K-Wing bars, I warmed to them. I’d tape further along the tops to improve grip, though.
The mech hanger is made of an extremely soft alloy, and had to be straightened after every second or third ride. Even with the hanger straight, after one wet off-road ride, the gears couldn’t be set up to shift both ways without issue. With minimal gap between brake pad and rotor, any dirt entering that space does cause issues. The rotors also seemed rather prone to warping, then making all sorts of noises and needing more looking after than most. Brake feel stayed positive and solid though.
In short, the premium-priced Ago is fast, light, comfortable, versatile and rides well whether loaded or bare. It’d suit someone wanting to be competitive at gravel races or bikepacking using all the luggage capacity. That makes it a pretty rare beast. Just take some steps to weatherproof it.
Verdict A highly capable, agile bike that’s also very versatile