A visitor's photos from a Pinarello factory tour in 2009. His comments:
"While no frame fabrication was being performed, there were still some items of interest. Inside the Pinarello factory there is quite a bit to see including stacks of raw CF frames, a computer-aided design station, assembly areas, specialized fatigue-testing equipment used to test randomly selected frames and components, and a high-tech painting and decaling areas. You can also still see experienced craftsman using custom jigs to check quality and tolerances on each CF frame prior to painting."
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 1,300 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.
Times have changed. I saw Signor Pinarello at his original shop in Treviso in 1984. He took me on a tour of his humble factory where they made frames. A very gracious man and a fond memory!
ReplyDeleteI was able attend a branding forum in Taipei last year where Fausto Pinarello gave a talk on various aspects of the operation. He had a lot to say about "Nani" and related to the audience his experiences as a child with his father coaxing him to ride. He left a great impression. Great photos of that time too. Times have changed very much and frame manufacture continues to evolve apace.
ReplyDeleteI'd get misty for the good old days when Pina was a humble company but it's difficult when they forget their customers. I paid over $5K for a Dogma frame with blistering paint and a bad seat post and neither Gita nor Pinarello will even respond. Nice bike but they are drunk with arrogance.
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