Y1Rs
vsONE
Two pro-only aero bikes, two very different bets.
The Colnago Y1Rs is the WorldTour exotic with a halo price. The Factor ONE is a clinical rethink of race geometry at two-thirds the cost.
Y1Rs
- WorldTour pedigree — Pogačar's race bike, with a stack of 2025 Grand Tour wins to its name.
- Genuine aero performance — 0.0786 CdA bike-only in Cyclingnews's tunnel, just behind the Factor and S5.
- More agile than any prior Colnago — half-degree steeper HTA and 2.5 mm less trail vs. the V4Rs gives it a darting front end.
- Costs $3,200+ more than the equivalent Factor ONE Dura-Ace build, with worse stock components.
- Dura-Ace build ships without a power meter and on lower-tier Vision SC45 wheels.
ONE
- Fastest UCI-legal frame tested — 0.0747 CdA bike-only, two watts ahead of the next best at 40 km/h.
- Progressive 76° seat tube and ~20 mm extra reach builds in the forward race position pros already use.
- Power meter standard on SRAM builds and threaded T47A BB plus Mini UDH for serviceability.
- Stock Black Inc 62 wheels were criticized for crosswind handling on a 23 mm internal rim.
- Uncompromisingly stiff — "chattery" on rough tarmac and tiring on long days, per multiple reviewers.
Editor’s analysis
These bikes share a category and almost nothing else — one is a Tour de France trophy, the other is the next ten years of race geometry shipping early.
On paper the Colnago Y1Rs and Factor ONE look like the same fight: deep-section aero superbikes, integrated bayonet-style cockpits, WorldTour pedigree, both tested in the same wind tunnels and landing within fractions of a CdA point of each other. Cyclingnews put the ONE at a 0.0747 CdA bike-only — the lowest in the test — with the Y1Rs just behind at 0.0786. With a rider, the two are essentially tied for the fastest UCI-legal road bike on the planet.
The Colnago Y1Rs is what you buy for the badge. It's Pogačar's bike, it wins races, and it costs $17,100 in Dura-Ace Di2 trim before you upgrade the stock wheels to the Enve SES 4.5s the team actually rides. Reviewers are nearly unanimous that the Y1Rs is exotic but not consumer-friendly: Vision SC45 stock wheels at this price, no power meter on the Dura-Ace build, a Di2 wire taped down because the chainstay grommet is missing, and a headset that one tester needed a torch to loosen. The bayonet fork also draws criticism — Will Jones at Cyclingnews described an "unnerving proto-speed wobble" under hard braking and a front end that feels under-reinforced for full-gas sprints.
The Factor ONE is the opposite proposition: a $13,899 Dura-Ace build that ships with power-meter-equipped SRAM options, a threaded T47A bottom bracket, a Mini UDH hanger, and the most-talked-about geometry rework in years. Factor pushed the seat tube to 76°, stretched reach roughly 20 mm over the segment, and dropped the BB to 75–77 mm to keep the rider centered over the cranks. Reviewers describe the front end as "rock solid," the cornering as "light on turn-in then gaining weight through the apex," and a high-speed sensation that Bicycling called "unlocking a cheat code" above 30 mph.
Put another way: the Colnago is a race bike that asks you to adapt to it. The Factor is a race bike built around the position pros are already riding. The Y1Rs wins on heritage, paint, and the Pogačar effect. The ONE wins on engineering integrity and value — "value" being a relative word at $14k.
Where the builds differ.
Comparing our editor's-pick builds side-by-side. Winners highlighted row-by-row — lower price and weight, and the better-spec component, each mark a point.
Build variants & pricing
The Y1Rs sits in a tiny $850 band ($16,250–$17,100), all flagship drivetrains. The Factor ONE spans $11,999–$14,499 and includes Force/Ultegra one-down builds the Colnago doesn't offer.
Prices are current US MSRP. The Y1Rs has no sub-flagship build — if a Force AXS or Ultegra Di2 is in your budget, the ONE is the only option of these two. The Factor's Red AXS and Force AXS builds include a power meter; Colnago's Dura-Ace build does not.
How they fit, how they steer.
Y1Rs in size M and Factor ONE in size 54 are the fit-picked frames for a 5'8" rider. The Factor sits 2 mm taller in stack but stretches 18 mm longer in reach, with a 2° steeper seat tube and 3 mm shorter chainstays — a much more forward, race-position-first cockpit.
Which size should I buy?
Size recommendations based on stack, reach, and effective top tube. The Y1Rs only comes in four sizes (XS–L); the Factor ONE adds a 47 cm extra-small and a 58 cm at the top.
→These are starting points. Flexibility, riding style, and preferred position all shift the answer — if you’re between sizes, a professional fit beats a chart.
What the magazines said.
Published reviews from trusted cycling outlets. Click through for the full write-up.
Which one should you buy?
If you want the badge Pogačar wins on, get the Y1Rs. If you want the most engineered, best-equipped aero bike at this price, get the Factor ONE.
Y1Rs
If owning the bike Tadej Pogačar races matters more than the spec sheet, the Y1Rs delivers — striking looks, real aero numbers, and a heritage Italian brand. You'll accept stock Vision wheels, no power meter on the Dura-Ace build, and a few "WorldTour mechanic recommended" maintenance quirks.
ONE
If you've already slid your saddle forward, run shorter cranks, and want a frame designed around that position, the ONE is the most thought-through aero bike at this price. Power meter on SRAM, T47A threaded BB, Mini UDH, and the lowest CdA in the segment.
Questions buyers actually ask.
Short answers to the things we get emailed about most often.
01Which is faster in the wind tunnel?
The Factor ONE, by a hair. In Cyclingnews's controlled wind-tunnel testing at 40 km/h, the Factor ONE recorded a 0.0747 CdA bike-only (61.51 watts), the Colnago Y1Rs 0.0786 (64.66 watts) — about a 3-watt frame-only gap.
With a rider on board, the gap collapses to within the measurement error of the tunnel. Both are essentially tied for the fastest UCI-legal road bike currently sold. In real-world terms, you will not feel a 3-watt difference; component choice (wheels, helmet, skinsuit, position) will swamp it.
02How much do they actually cost in equivalent trim?
Colnago Y1Rs Dura-Ace Di2: $17,100. Stock build ships with Vision SC45 wheels and no power meter — to match the team spec you'll add Enve SES 4.5s and a power meter, comfortably pushing total cost above $20,000.
Factor ONE Dura-Ace Di2: $13,899 with Black Inc SIXTY TWO wheels. The SRAM Red AXS build at $14,199 includes a power meter as standard. The Y1Rs is roughly $3,200 more in like-for-like trim and considerably more once you upgrade to comparable wheels.
03Is the Colnago really worth the price premium?
From a pure spec-and-engineering standpoint, no. Reviewers are near-unanimous that the Factor ONE delivers better components, better geometry, and arguably better aero performance for thousands less.
The Y1Rs's value is in the badge, the Pogačar association, and the Italian-superbike experience. If those matter to you — and to some buyers they genuinely do — the price is the price. If they don't, the ONE is the rational choice every time.
04What's the geometry difference between them?
Massive. At fit-picked sizes (Y1Rs M, Factor ONE 54), the Factor has 18 mm more reach, 2° steeper seat tube (76° vs 74°), and 3 mm shorter chainstays. The stack is nearly identical (542 vs 540 mm).
The Factor is built around the modern "saddle-forward, shorter-crank, longer-reach" pro position. The Colnago uses more conventional race geometry, recently sharpened from the V4Rs by half a degree of head-tube angle and 2.5 mm less trail. If you already ride your saddle slammed forward, the Factor will feel like home; the Colnago will feel like you need to push the saddle back.
05How do they handle and corner?
The Factor ONE is praised for a "progressive front-end feel" — light on turn-in but gaining stability as you commit to the corner. Reviewers call it "rock solid" in sprints and "planted" on descents.
The Y1Rs is the most agile Colnago to date, with a darting front end on swooping descents. But on twisty, blind corners and under hard braking, multiple reviewers flagged the bayonet fork as a weak point — Cyclingnews described an "unnerving proto-speed wobble" and a general lack of composed togetherness compared to a Pinarello Dogma F or the S5. It's a breakaway bike, not a sprinter's bike.
06What's the maximum tire clearance?
Colnago Y1Rs: 32 mm officially. Reviewers note the bike runs better with the clearance maxed out, since road feel can be "jittery" on narrower rubber.
Factor ONE: 34 mm officially. Most reviewers tested with 28–30 mm tires and found the ride still firm, though manageable. Neither is a gravel bike, but the Factor gives you 2 mm more headroom for cobbled classics or rough tarmac.
07How serviceable are they at home?
The Factor ONE uses sensible standards where possible: a threaded T47A bottom bracket, a Mini UDH rear-derailleur hanger (standard UDH plus a 4.5 mm spacer), and 45 mm headset bearings sourced from any major brand. Bicycling specifically called out that, despite the radical look, "things are surprisingly normal" under the surface.
The Y1Rs is harder to live with. The seatpost requires precise cutting to length to avoid carbon-on-carbon creak. The Di2 chainstay exit lacks a grommet (one tester used electrical tape). One reviewer's headset set screw was so over-tightened with Loctite that Colnago recommended applying a torch to free it — a maintenance procedure that says everything about who this bike is built for.
08Do they come with power meters?
Factor ONE: yes on the SRAM Red AXS ($14,199) and SRAM Force AXS ($12,199) builds — both ship with a SRAM AXS power meter crankset standard. The Shimano builds do not include one.
Colnago Y1Rs: no power meter on the Dura-Ace Di2 or Campagnolo Super Record builds. For a bike at this price point, multiple reviewers called the omission "unforgivable." Plan to add a Quarq, 4iiii, or pedal-based unit if you race with power.
Similar bikes
If your priorities don’t map cleanly onto either of these, one of these adjacent bikes probably fits better.
S5
The Cervelo S5 is the direct aero rival to both — incredibly stiff at the bottom bracket (Velo called the Y1Rs's BB "a noodle" next to it) and tied with the Factor at the very top of wind-tunnel rankings. Better-built than the Colnago, and substantially cheaper than either.
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Dogma F
If composed handling on technical descents is the priority, the Pinarello Dogma F is the Italian superbike that earns the trust the Y1Rs sometimes doesn't. Less aggressive aero than the Factor, but a more polished overall ride.
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Aeroad
The Canyon Aeroad delivers comparable aero performance for roughly half the cost — direct-to-consumer, no dealer network, but the right call if you already know your fit and won't pay a five-figure premium for a logo.
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