Company
C4 was founded in February 1986 to create and produce with carbon fibres the designs of Marco Bonfanti, founder and driving force of the company.
The first pieces created were fork frames for racing. These were created by using a unique system for pressing carbon structures, named NJC, No Joint Construction, which enables the creation of hollow pressed structures without joints.
The C4 frames made their debut in cycling competitions in May 1987, when the Bianchi racing team took part in the time lap of the Giro d’Italia (Cycling Tour of Italy) equipped with fork frames designed and produced by C4.
These frames were a world preview for some characteristic components, such as the entire carbon monocoque construction without joints, the frame without saddle pipe, the adjustable seat pin all dimensions with three unique frame sizes, and the carbon monocoque front fork. The first spoke wheels in the world designed by C4 made a stunning display at the Bike Fair of Milan in October ’87, on a bike presented by a famous Italian manufacturer in collaboration with a car firm.
The 1992 Cologne Fair saw an innovative frame consisting of front carbon monocoque quadrilateral and rear aluminium pipes directly glued during pressing. C4 has used this technique for all gluing on frames since 1989.
In 1992, C4 realized the first carbon fibre flippers in the world, revolutionizing the apnoea diving community with its exceptional performance.
1992 was the year of the first world record in apnoea at constant weight of the C4 flippers set by Umberto Pelizzari.
Since then, following further development, these flippers have been so important for records in apnoea at constant weight that it equips male and female record holders in this sport.
At the 1993 Milan Fair, C4 presented a new bike, model 47.61, which is the first high performance racing bike to cover all cyclist sizes from 47 to 61, by using a specific design for the whole bike. In 1994, C4 sponsored a leading team of professional racers, Polti including Gianni Bugno and Ivan Gotti. Following this experience the CLASS frame was created and presented at the 1996 Cologne Fair, being the first to overcome the actual kilogram weight for a frame.
The main target of Marco Bonfanti, owner and designer of C4, is to create high performance products, which explains the success of his diving FALCON flippers, introduced in 1998. Owing to a rich experience gained in record-breaking along with the carbon fibres, they now come in different sizes from those that have been standard over many years, increasing efficiency by over 20% compared to the previous carbon models: this result has been confirmed by new incredible world records.
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