Photos for your viewing pleasure of some lesser known brands of Italian bikes, all of which you could find in any large granfondo. Some of these, such as Denti and Olympia, have long histories.
In order: Olympia, FRW, FRM, Finotti, Dynatek, Denti, Bartoli (Michele Baroli's brand, made by ParkPre), Advanced
Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondo, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.
In order: Olympia, FRW, FRM, Finotti, Dynatek, Denti, Bartoli (Michele Baroli's brand, made by ParkPre), Advanced
Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondo, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.
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wow. thanks for sharing these. that FRM bike looks NICE!
ReplyDeleteThings always sound better in Italian. I cannot picture a bike called Denti in English ("Teeth").
ReplyDeleteI have looked at the websites of these companies and there are some very nice bike but I am curious how Italian they really are. In the world we live in, carbon frames are built to spec at only a few huge facilities in the Far East (ask Messrs. Pinarello and Colnago) and I suspect for smaller outfits it is the same story. Kuoto, for example, is an Italian brand but all its frames come from China, leaving design, finance and marketing at the home office only. Aluminum frames could still be made in Italy, along with the handful of much-beloved steel ones.
ReplyDeleteHe has a collection of 80's italian bikes...
ReplyDeletewww.raydobbins.com
Sprocketboy: I agree with your assessment of the carbon frame situation. I think the only way to tell for sure would be to see them build them in person but by-in-large i think 99% of the frames are coming from out of Italy. With the EU "transformation" rules they can label them as "Made in Italy". Ugh.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes down to carbon frames - chances are it was made in Asia.
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with that - unless posted with "Made in Italy" stickers. Then it gets a little fishy.
China and Taiwan have become the center of carbon frame production. What really needs to happen is promote that fact, not hide it.
I run a cycling B&B near a place called Marostica in Northern Italy. There is a bike builder there called Battaglin who still make all of their frames on site. Good looking bikes too.
ReplyDeleteFor the bikes check www.battaglin.it
For us check www.benemax.biz