Cipollini Dolomia Disc Frameset

The Cipollini Dolomia Disc Frameset is Cipollini's dedicated climbing platform — the lightest frame the Italian brand produces, at 780 grams in a size medium. Named for the Dolomites mountain range of northeastern Italy, the Dolomia exists to do one thing well: get over a mountain as efficiently as possible, then come back down with full confidence. Cipollini built its reputation on speed — the brand bears the name of Mario Cipollini, one of professional cycling's most decorated sprinters — but the Dolomia shows that the same engineering discipline that produces fast, reactive road bikes applies equally to altitude. Every watt you put into the pedals goes to the road.

The construction method behind the frame's weight is Cipollini's True Carbon Monocoque process, known as TCM. Most carbon frames are manufactured as two assemblies — a main triangle and a rear triangle — that get bonded together at the chainstays and seatstays. TCM eliminates that joint entirely. The Dolomia's frame is laid up and cured as a single continuous piece of Torayca T1000 carbon fiber, with no bonding agents, no overlap material, and no inserted rear sub-assembly. Load paths run uninterrupted from the rear dropouts to the headtube, producing consistent stiffness across the frame without the variation that can occur near bonded sections. The frame weight of 780 grams and fork weight of 370 grams reflect what becomes possible when the construction removes every gram of bond material from the equation.

Cipollini spent over a year developing the Dolomia. The engineering process ran through more than 20 different carbon layup configurations, evaluated by professional riders over six months of real-world testing before the final specification was confirmed. That final spec uses Torayca T1000 throughout — frame and fork — finished in a 3K weave. The 3K pattern delivers a stiffness-to-weight ratio suited to extended climbing efforts: direct enough to transfer power under hard accelerations, with sufficient compliance in the carbon to keep the ride manageable on long descents over rough pavement. The frameset meets UCI weight regulations and is built for sanctioned racing without any compromise made simply to clear the legal threshold.

Where Cipollini's geometry work on the Dolomia stands out is in the decision to tune each frame size independently rather than scaling a single set of angles. Head tube angle, seat tube angle, and reach are each optimized per size, so the fit on an XS and the fit on an XL both place the rider in the same mechanical relationship with the drivetrain and steering. On a long gradient, that precision keeps you in an efficient pedaling position without fighting the front end for balance; on a descent, the Dolomia handles with more composure than its weight suggests. Cable routing is fully internal, using a specially designed fork and steerer tube that channels all lines from the cockpit to the bottom bracket inside the frame. The profile stays clean, and there is no external housing to create drag or add friction through tight bends.

Brakes mount via flat mount calipers with 12x100mm front and 12x142mm rear thru-axles. Maximum tire clearance is 29mm, which supports a 28mm tire and gives you some ability to tune the ride quality on rougher roads. The bottom bracket shell is press-fit BB86 at 86.5x41mm, and the front derailleur requires a braze-on mount. The frameset includes a Dolomia carbon seatpost with universal saddle clamp compatibility. Five sizes span XS through XL, and four colorways are available: Carbon/Anthracite/Red Matt, Carbon Anthracite Spectraflair, Silver/Carbon/Red Metallic Shiny, and White/Carbon/Blue Shiny. The Spectraflair finish is worth noting — it shifts between dark carbon and a bright metallic shimmer depending on the light, a visual effect that reads differently from the matte and standard gloss options typical at this price. For a rider building a UCI-legal, disc-brake climbing bike from the frame up, the Dolomia is the top of what Cipollini produces.