it's some kind of parallel universe atmo.
i fell under the nagasawa spell in the late 1970s -
arrange disorder: Search results for heluvit
it's some kind of parallel universe atmo.
i fell under the nagasawa spell in the late 1970s -
arrange disorder: Search results for heluvit
Dario thank you so much for doing this! any stories you can share with us about making frames for the pros? you needn't name names- but what did you learn from this?
Dario does not tell but what have you learned from that great professional Roberto (am), a professional Yes .... but to eat at will ....
is it possible buy a new marcelo without the fork?
Hi Gaulzetti-issimo ,
How is the life in Boston? I have to find time for a visit you, and staying a long time for a dome drinks, meet James and Maurya, go fishing in the Riccardo lake and ........maybe I'm dreaming too?
Back on topic, the first time I had to do with a pro team was in 1978/9 i don't remember well, was the team scic-bottecchia with Saronni, Baronchelli, Paolini and others, from that moment during the years I worked , before with my father-in-law and after alone , for many teams, I must say ,in honesty , that many times it was not a very interesting work.
We had a piece of paper with written the basic measures of the frame and it was just to build a frame with the respect of the geometry that was required, we , as contractors, hadn't a direct relationship with the rider and we don't know the measures of its body .
For me , that at that moment I was very interested in the relationship between measures of the body-measures of frame , have no fundamental data like the body measures made the thing a little frustrating.
There was an interesting aspect in materials , as we had always available new materials and new solutions to try.
The things have changed a bit in the late 80, at that moment I began to have the opportunity to meet the riders, to relate the body measurements with measurements of the chassis, listen the requests, discuss piossibilities and try and check if the solutions were positive .
I must say that in the early 90 I was lucky to meet excell as I had many variants, variants for tybes diameter or shape or thicknesses, in those years I believe that 90% of the frames I built for the pro in this years used excell tubes .
For the truth, I must also say that over the years I noticed that not all pro, contrary to what is believed, have the sensitivity required to be able to give good feedback to the builders , I also know pro who had any interest in the bike they were using.
ciao
d
this is very interesting atmo. is it safe to assume from the above that, by and large, the racers are athletes but not always the best lab rats for design choices? i realize that, athlete or not, the bicycle should fit. but regarding other parameters such as frame drop, or chain stay length, or alignment, or material, or pipe size (these are all examples...), maybe the bicycle maker should listen to a different voice?
ciao dario,
i have many memories of visiting your shop. two of them relate to building frames for pro riders. one was looking through the box (which sat simply on the floor and was collecting a lot of dust) of old build sheets for pro frames and the names of the riders on the build sheets, so many famous names. and i remember a story you told of how many frames you made in just one year for a famous italian racer. he kept asking for new frames, with many changes just mm different. if my memory is correct, i think you said you made something like 21 frames (or was it 12?) just for him in one year. did i get the number right? i just remember it was a crazy number and that he seemed to be looking for something that wasn't there.
take care, james
Last edited by climb01742; 11-25-2011 at 10:04 AM.
Ciao Dario,
Did you ever consider building with titanium?
I guess during the early 90's - when you were building for the pro's - we first started to see titanium bikes become popular in the peloton.
Other builders in Italy, such as Doriano De Rosa, started producing titanium frames around this time - and continue to do so. Did you have any interest in using it?
Ciao,
Paul
Ciao Riccardo,
I believe that we must listen to all, the hard part for us is to recognize the sensibility of who we're talking about, recognize if what gives to us in terms of feedback is good or bad or find the good part and loose the bad part , and sometimes is not easy.
an anecdote, I remember a pro that i knew very well because we race in the same time as amateurs .
I don't remember exactly the year but I was a mechanic at the gis gelati, during a Giro d'italia, in the morning at the exit from the hotel he recognized his bike only by the lastname on the top tube and the race number under the top tube and he was a good and strong rider but he confess that he haven't interest instrument of his job .
d
Last edited by Round; 11-25-2011 at 10:29 AM.
Hi Dario
Are you coming to Bristol, UK next year? I would like to try and get there and meet you.
also, yes, the luigino that fits is a forever bike:)
my mom wanted to take one of me today:
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