Visit to Giovanni Pelizzoli

My thanks to Blake for sending in this story regarding the visit he just made to Giovanni Pelizzoli's workshop. You may wish to read this piece about Pelizzoli's career first. Blake writes:

"After perusing their website and finding some spare time I decided to make the journey to the Pelizzoli Factory in Curno, Bergamo. A staff member Alessandro, provided me with a map I was on my merry way. I took the train to Ponte san Pietro, which is a smallish town with one way streets and a nice river running through the centre.I decided to walk to the factory and after 45 minutes I found the area in which the factory should be located. The only notification of the factory's location are a couple of small signs on the gate. Unfortunately I was distracted by a tractor plowing a field and subsequently walked straight past. To be honest, the tractor was pretty interesting.

Inside the factory you are greeted with the ephemeral smell of paint fumes, steel and espresso. My tour guide Alessandro showed me around the various areas of the factory. The frame building area is strictly for Giovanni Pelizzoli. All the available space is taken up by bikes frames waiting to be painted or waiting for assembly. There were bike frames hanging from the wall in all directions. Creating a hanging timeline of different materials, paint schemes and styles.

Hiding at the back of the factory was an original Cinelli Laser Crono. Giovanni painted many of these frames back in the day and they are currently looking for a fork to complete the build.
Somehow I think they would have I have noticed if I stuffed a frame underneath my jumper so I took a pass (besides, my legs were tired)

Dotted around the workshop are frames that make you stop and take a second, third and forth look. Frames made from Gilco tubing are my favourite and there were a few gems covered in dust. Littering the walls are large photos of famous cycles and their bikes creating another timeline of bike frame design and styling.

Every operation is performed by hand. The fillets on the alluminium Leggenda track frame take forever to refine and the little detail on the dropouts of the Corsa GP road frame are crafted with a file. All the painting is done in house with aplomb and even the masks and decals are cut in house. Many bike companies come to Pelizzoli to get their top end frames painted by hand.

Giovanni is over eighty years old and is producing frames with same intensity and passion since he started. For me the amazing part is the he been producing frames for over 60 years and I am only 25 years old. Giovanni made a point that a bike frame has not changed in principle for many years, the only thing that has changed are the materials and construction methods. Yet he still loves sparking up the oxy torch and brazing a frame together.

I would like to thank the team at Pelizzoli for putting up with a giddy foreigner for a few hours and I look forward to purchasing a piece of history in the near future. I decided to walk to the factory and after 45 minutes I found the area in which the factory should be located. The only notification of the factory's location are a couple of small signs on the gate. Unfortunately I was distracted by a tractor plowing a field and subsequently walked straight past. To be honest, the tractor was pretty interesting.

Inside the factory you are greeted with the empheral smell of paint fumes, steel and espresso. My tour guide Alessandro showed me around the various areas of the factory. The frame building area is strictly for Giovanni Pelizzoli. All the available space is taken up by bikes frames waiting to be painted or waiting for assembly. There were bike frames hanging from the wall in all directions. Creating a hanging timeline of different materials, paint schemes and styles. Hiding at the back of the factory was an original Cinelli Laser Crono. Giovanni painted many of these frames back in the day and they are currently looking for a fork to complete the build. Somehow I think they would have I have noticed if I stuffed a frame underneath my jumper so I took a pass (Besides, my legs were tired) Dotted around the workshop are frames that make you stop and take a second, third and forth look. Frames made from Gilco tubing are my favourite and there were a few gems covered in dust. Littering the walls are large photos of famous cycles and their bikes creating another timeline of bike frame design and styling.

Every operation is performed by hand. The fillets on the alluminium Leggenda track frame take forever to refine and the little detail on the dropouts of the Corsa GP road frame are crafted with a file. All the painting is done in house with aplomb and even the masks and decals are cut in house. Many bike companies come to Pelizzoli to get their top end frames painted by hand.

Giovanni is over eighty years old and is producing frames with same intensity and passion since he started. For me the amazing part is the he been producing frames for over 60 years and I am only 25 years old. Giovanni made a point that a bike frame has not changed in principle for many years, the only thing that has changed are the materials and construction methods. Yet he still loves sparking up the oxy torch and brazing a frame together.

I would like to thank the team at Pelizzoli for putting up with a giddy foreigner for a few hours and I look forward to purchasing a piece of history in the near future."

The Pelizzoli webiste is www.pelizzoliworld.com, it contains a blog and some interesting photos.

Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,700 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also an Italian weather widget along the right side and a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.

CORRECTION re: Ciöcc, Pelizzoli World, etc.

UPDATE: I have been informed that Ciöcc, under the current ownership, is not bankrupt. More details to follow in a subsequent blog entry. The frames on the Ciöcc website are still available.

Two items came to my attention recently. The first, a note from a reader reporting that Ciöcc was bankrupt. The second, the new "Pelizzoli World" website and frame building under the name of Pelizzoli. The tie-in is this: Giovanni Pelizzoli was the founder and framebuilder of Ciöcc frames.

Ciöcc is a well known brand in Italian frame building, a name that came about as it was the nicknames of both Giovanni's grandfather and father, and that he decided to use it as the name for his frames.

I asked Pelizzoli to clarify the Ciöcc status and if the implication was that he would not be building any Ciöcc frames in the future. The reply:

"The Ciöcc brand is not within our competence, we sold it a long time ago. You are right about bankruptcy about the last owners. Unfortunately bad business for them, maybe for wrong choices of the past.

We are not happy, Ciöcc is our creation, it is sad to see what has happened.....maybe one day Ciöcc could come back to its first home.

We hope."

Pelizzoli is located at Via Enrico Fermi 24035 Curno (BG) Italy.

History from Pelizzoli website:
"My name is Giovanni Pelizzoli, I was born in Curno on the 01/03/1942 and I began my adventure in the world of cycling at the age of 12; thanks to the passion passed on by my father who was a bicycle mechanic. At the age of 14 I competed in my first bike race, obtaining a good result, which encouraged me in continuing on for the next 3 years.

When I interrupted my racing career I became manager of the junior team and, at the same time, I helped my father fixing bikes. It was in that moment that my dream of building a bicycle from the frame up started growing.

My dream pushed me forward and I started working for an artisan from Bergamo where I learned how to weld and build a frame. Afterwards, once the skills were acquired, I could move on and work with other respected frame builders.

In 1969 I created the brand CIÖCC and built my first frames. The brand was finally sold in 1980.

I worked as a mechanic for the pro team G.S. ZONCA, where Gianni Motta was racing, while producing my CIÖCC bicycles. Great results were achieved in the amateur racing too. In 1977 I won the world cup with Claudio Corti racing one of my bikes. Claudio also won a Giro d’Italia for amateurs and many other races.
A frame that during the years gave me countless victories in the amateurs, the SAN CRISTOBAL, was built In honour of the world title conquered by Claudio.

During the 70’s and 80’s also the polish national team, and some polish racing teams, competed on my bikes. Those collaborations lead to a second place at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, a second place at the Warsaw-Prague-Berlin and victories in many other amateur competitions. All the bicycles used were branded CIÖCC and signed Giovanni Pellizzoli. Signature that guaranteed the brand CIÖCC back then; and the brand PELLIZZOLI today.

In 1993 the company F.LLI MASCIAGHI, owner of the brand Fausto Coppi, put me in charge of the design and manufacturing of both their top line racing frames and of the ones for the pros of Team Polti. The pro team included Gianni Bugno, winner of the Flamish Tour, Mauro Giannetti, Mirko Celestino, Richard Virenque, winner of the pois jersey at the TOUR DE FRANCE, Davide Rebellin and Ivan Gotti, winner of Giro d’Italia.

From 1995 a new team joined the Coppi family; G.S MG. With this new team Gianni Bugno won an Italian championship; racing on the first aluminium frame I built specifically for him. With the same aluminium frame Pascal Richard, Max Sciandri and Ralf Sorensen dominated the first Olympics open to professionals with a 1° 2° and 3° place respectively. In the same team, great results were also achieved by Michele Bartoli, Gilberto Simoni and Paolo Bettini.

With Coppi bikes we manufactured frames also for pro women. Special mentions go to Fabiana Luperini, winner of 5 Giro d’Italia and 3 Tour de France, and the street world champions Alessandra Cappellotto and Staruschaia.
In 2005, the team G.S. Alessia, competed with Coppi bikes too and won a Giro d’Italia with Paolo Savoldelli.

Beside all these successes on the streets, my competence was growing also on track frames. Many track champions like Merlon, Martinello, Villa, Risi and Beusc used my frames. Many frames were also built for the Italian Cycling Federation.

Titanium and Carbon frames were recently introduced in our line and the new factory T.I.T.A.AC. founded.

In recent years, due to the high demand, I got back personally,and with great enthusiasm, into the production of steel frames; making sure that welding and plating are perfect in every little detail.
Since 1983 my bikes are branded PELLIZOLI; a brand, and a signature, that stands for quality."

The website, www.pelizzoliworld.com, also contains a blog and some interesting photos.



UPDATE: I have been informed that Ciöcc, under the current ownership, is not bankrupt. More details to follow in a subsequent blog entry. The frames on the Ciöcc website are still available.


Click on photos to enlarge.

Follow on Twitter: ITALIANCYCJOURN

Share your story. Write a story about your cycling trip, or an aspect of your trip, in Italy. Or, it can be about a granfondo experience, a special encounter, your favorite ride, etc. The period for story submissions for prizes will be January 1-February 15, 2011. Prizes will be awarded on a random basis, stories will not be judged on which is the "best" one. Nevertheless, it should be a good story for the enjoyment of all readers. Photos accompanying the story are most welcome. If you have any questions email me at veronaman@gmail.com. See photos of prizes here. Prize donated by:
CycleItalia, specializing in cycling tours in Italy
BicycleGifts.com, the premiere site for gifts and merchandise for cyclists
Enzo’s ButtonHole Chamois Cream,chamois cream for the ultimate protection
FreeBirdVelo, Italian themed T-shirts
Strada Hand Built Wheels, custom wheel building
Velo-Retro, all things retro for cycling
La Gazzetta della Bici, massage oils for cyclists
Albabici, high-end Italian cycling products distributor