For a change, I decided to take a ride out on my S&S coupled Richard Sachs travel bike which is my "go to" events ride when I have to use the train. In Italy you can only bring a bike on board on certain trains so with my Sachs in a small case I can take any train plus the fast and comfortable EuroStar trains.I stopped by the Ca' Vendri (http://www.villacavendri.it/) to take some photographs and then headed off for a visit to the Grandis shop (a complex more than a bike shop). While I was speaking with Lorenza, granddaughter of founder Silvano Grandis, Ezio, son of the founder, sought me out to talk to my about the Richard Sachs.
I've met Ezio several times and I know that although he now sells probably 98% carbon bikes he is very passionate about steel, and building in steel. So, he grabs me and says, in Italian, " This bike....there is no sense in even it discussing it with 99% of the people...they wouldn't understand...it's from another world." He spent 20 minutes with me discussing the superb workmanship, the lugwork, how the the fork was constructed, the amount of hours of labor that it takes to make, and on and on. He hadn't heard of Richard Sachs and was shocked to learn that the wait list for a Richard Sachs is 6 years (http://www.richardsachs.com/). Ezio Grandis knows what he is talking about as you can see based on his own work:
His eyes got bigger when I told him about the North American Handmade Bike Show (www.handmadebicycleshow.com/2008/), he had no idea that there was that level of interest in such things anymore. Then he rolls my Richard Sachs into another part of Grandis it to show his brother, Mario Grandis, who is painting a frame. Everything comes to a stop and more oooohs and ahhhs.
As I've said in earlier blogs, Italians riders have moved to carbon frames at light speed. At the moment there isn't much interest in steel. You might be asking yourself, "What about Dario Pegoretti?". Dario hails from Verona and he's told me that 80%+ of his frame output goes to the USA and very little to Italy. In fact, although Dario now builds in nearby Trento, I've only seen three Pegoretti's in 3 years.
Posts
Thanks for the wonderful insight.
ReplyDeleteQuality craftsmanship never goes out of fashion!
Need advice on when I bring my S and S Merlin to your area.
ReplyDeleteHi: My wife is thinking of attending a conference at Lago di Garda in mid-July 2008. I would like to accompany her, am not interested in the conference, but would love to do some road cycling in the area. (I too have an S and S coupled bike for my trips : I live in California,
where I suffer from the "too many bikes" disease...I keep buying or building them. To simplify airline travel, I have a Merlin with S and S couplings, which has been to France twice and to South Africa).
Can you advise me on where to find maps and route descriptions of rides you would recommend, and also how to meet up with some local bike clubs to join them on rides. I am 62, so don't chase down the young guns, but I do about 7000 miles per year, live in mountains so do lots of climbing, and have done several rides like Letape du Tour in France.
please send me a note at veronaman AT the google mail service domain name
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete