NATHAN'S COLNAGO G3-X PURPLE RAIN

For Bike of the Week this week, we’re celebrating our recent partnership with Nathan Haas and Colnago, and featuring his signature gravel bike, the G3-X “Purple Rain”.

A collaboration between Haas’ sponsors Colnago, Campagnolo and Deda, the bike was completed to mark his return to gravel racing, following his retirement from the Cofidis road racing team at the end of 2021. Since then he’s embraced his roots at the highest level of gravel racing, competing in events all around the world.

After competing in the 2022 gravel season with five different designs of the G3-X, the Purple Rain was the final design to be unveiled, for SBT GRVL. Since then, he’s stuck with the tonal purple custom paint job, taking it into the 2023 season. Originally totally custom for Haas, Colnago was understandably inundated with customer requests for the bike, and so they produced a very limited run of 50 Purple Rain bikes.

He’s since taken the purple theme a step further, working with his apparel sponsor Castelli to produce a custom kit to match.

Beneath the striking paint work is of course a highly capable Colnago G3-X, the Italian manufacturer’s first foray into the world of gravel, released back in 2019. The frame takes some inspiration for their cyclocross-bred Prestige model, but with geometry adjustments aimed at making it a more comfortable and stable long distance gravel rider. Greater clearance allows for 700x42c tires, and numerous mounting points allow for bottles and frame bags. Utility is the key for a great gravel bike, as many of these gruelling long-distance gravel events demand a huge amount physically of the rider and technically of the bike.

Working with key sponsors, the bike features a classic, high-performance Campagnolo 13-speed groupset, a wider range than is typically seen in gravel racing. This is paired with carbon disc brakes, giving Nathan the confidence to bomb down descents on the trickiest, most challenging surfaces. To help him in the climbs, the bike keeps weight to a minimum, with extremely lightweight Deda bars and stem, and the 3D printed Fizik Aliante R saddle.

We’ve had the pleasure of seeing the bike in person not just at this weekend’s gravel events, but also at gravel races we’ve been fortunate enough to compete at in 2023. The Rift race in Iceland was perhaps the most spectacular, and we spotted Nathan there, wearing the #1 jersey. We caught a few glimpses of him at the start of the race, before he took off like a rocket at the first water creek crossing.

It’s amazing to see what Nathan is capable of on this G3-X, his amazing talent and ability to take on these most hardcore trails only amplified by the capabilities of the bike.