Gaulzetti Cicli

[GrantM]

the client also ends up dealing directly with someone who by definition is informed and an expert on his product.
this works well for everyone if the small bike builder is good at everything; design, sales, marketing, administration not to mention fabrication.
most suck at one if not most of these things....

You forgot "service".... I believe one of your strongest assets is your ardent understanding of good service.
Not many folks in the industry have the unique combination of aptitude, knowledge, experience and attention to details you have.
I hope it takes you far.

the inability of the italian job shops to transition from steel to aluminum to carbon ultimately spelled the death of italian bicycle manufacturing
and with it was lost alot of the innovations and attention to detail in regards to geometry....
craig

Amen sister. Keep the tradition alive!

-g

[justinf]

Hey Craig, fantastic work on this.

A couple Smoked Out entries--Jerk and Garro immediately come to mind--make me wonder what cultural influences have shaped your creative aesthetic. Music, art, craft, political figures, bad girlfriends, high schools, design schools, etc. This has been touched on a bit already in this thread but I would love to hear a specific statement as such with regard to Gaulzetti Cicli. Obviously the bikes are functionally badass. But the sense of a set of core values, shaped through many years of artistic and creative attention to the world, is also a significant attraction to me.

[critpix]

and a proprietary drop-out for aluminum race bikes.

This sounds interesting, is there anything lacking in drop-outs right now?

I haven't had my fighting chicken very long, but I can't think of anything I'd change. Seeing your brand and bikes evolve has been almost as much fun as finally getting one and riding the crap out of it. Almost.

[dashDustin]

I remember the first time I read something you wrote. "Wow...this guy's a fucking asshole." I don't know what was the worse; how annoyed I was with what you had written (more specifically, how arrogant and pompous it was) or the fact that I was annoyed in the first place.

Then one day I found myself skimming some 'Jerk Reports" and came across:

if you you can grab a thigh, stare into a riders eyes and detect a certain vacancy coupled with an intensity, see that his girlfriend is horny and undersexed and detect the half inch round divet on the side of the hip you know how things are working.

While my initial opinion hasn't changed much, that line sticks with me. It passes through my mind at least once while riding, always, and replays over and over and over while tunnel vision takes hold and bright flashes of random lights appear.

Having not ridden one of your bikes, based on what others say/ type, it's easy to see how they are certainly "your" bikes. Perhaps I'll get to ride one someday. I'm intrigued.

That said, are you content with where your business is now, or would you like to see it grow? Do you want your bikes in shops throughout the States, perched up next to Cdales?

[jerk]

I remember the first time I read something you wrote. "Wow...this guy's a fucking asshole." I don't know what was the worse; how annoyed I was with what you had written (more specifically, how arrogant and pompous it was) or the fact that I was annoyed in the first place.

Then one day I found myself skimming some 'Jerk Reports" and came across:

While my initial opinion hasn't changed much, that line sticks with me. It passes through my mind at least once while riding, always, and replays over and over and over while tunnel vision takes hold and bright flashes of random lights appear.

Having not ridden one of your bikes, based on what others say/ type, it's easy to see how they are certainly "your" bikes. Perhaps I'll get to ride one someday. I'm intrigued.

That said, are you content with where your business is now, or would you like to see it grow? Do you want your bikes in shops throughout the States, perched up next to Cdales?

ahmmm.....thank you? i think....

i am very happy with the way my bikes are distributed currently. of course the line has room to grow but a lot of the value with my brand is the contact my clients have with the fucking arrogant pompous asshole whose name is on the down tube.

[Archibald]

Archi-
This is a really big question so apologies in advance for the long winded answer. With my experience in traditional brick and mortar bicycle retail and the work I have done with my own brand, I think big changes are coming to the way in which people purchase bicycles. To a certain extent, the small frame builders are ahead of the curve when it comes to a modern distribution model. They're selling direct to the end consumer, not holding inventory and and producing based on actual orders rather than projections. The vast majority of specialty retail product sold begins life as an inquiry on the internet and the big bike suppliers have yet to find a way to successfully navigate the model. This is in no small part due to the fact that their balls are firmly squeezed in the hands of stupid, backward, stagnant retail dinosaurs who run the big bike shops. These guys in general don't like informed customers, don't understand the way modern information is permeated and have no vision for distribution of their goods and services beyond people walking into the shop and saying "i need a bike".

the guy or gal who buys a really high-end bike is never going to be a huge profit center for a large well run brick and mortar bicycle shop. They tend to be needy, opinionated, knowledgable and price conscious to a point that at best a bike shop can break even selling the expensive fancy stuff..... somehow, these same folks behave differently when dealing directly with a small builder. a small builder has a monopoly on his product. you can't go buy a gaulzetti or an anvil journeyman someplace else cheaper. the client also ends up dealing directly with someone who by definition is informed and an expert on his product.

this works well for everyone if the small bike builder is good at everything; design, sales, marketing, administration not to mention fabrication. most suck at one if not most of these things. personally, i see a huge opportunity for a real contract build house that is efficient, competent, timely and able to work with all the materials and methods of modern frame construction. the inability of the italian job shops to transition from steel to aluminum to carbon ultimately spelled the death of italian bicycle manufacturing and with it was lost alot of the innovations and attention to detail in regards to geometry. the big chinese manufacturers have open molds that are generally too cheap to overlook and the development of unique or one off really special bikes is just not in the cards for even the little bike brands anymore.

what you mention is a project someone should take on. i would support it wholeheartedly.

thanks!
craig

Dude, you're killing it & thanks for the feedback. I've been thinking about this a lot for the past year or so...

[jerk]

hey justin-
awesome question. i've got lots of weird influences that surround me. family first i guess- my old man was always the funny self-deprecating ex-navy tough guy who had lots of cool guns, motorcycles, cars and especially tools around growing up and even as a little kid always treated me as an adult, albeit that sorta stupid adult you know who isn't mentally all there and is usually fucking shit up. he always let me dick with his things even if i shouldn't have been allowed to. we didn't and don't ever, ever talk. but we spent alot of time just messing around building shit, fixing the house, the car, whatever. to this day i'll go home to see him and we'll just sit for hours not saying a word- maybe watching a hockey game, maybe building a cabinet whatever. prototypical father son relationship that made me pretty self reliant and confident in my work. my mum is just the most brillant person in the entire world. she ran hospitals and public health policy for the the army in europe, still works now directing a community health center in lynn and taught me to appreciate good literature, education, be a good fucking communist and care about the people around me.

beyond bikes and bike history- my thoughts are shaped by thinkers like adorno and benjamin- my favorite font is brusseline. i like both types of music, punk and rock and i think i draw from both a strong distinctly american penchant for adventure, self-reliance and work ethic and a european take on leisure, culture and taste being important as well. more later.

[davids]

"i like both types of music, punk and rock"

Hey -Dustin: Pompous arrogant fucking assholes don't write stuff as funny and true as this.

I'll let you in on a little secret, one most of the rest of us already figured out: Craig Gaulzetti is a real person and as much of a mensch as anyone I know. The jerk is an internet persona created by a really smart funny guy who's also a pretty good writer.

[edoz]

This has definitely been an interesting read for me. I'd never heard of you before I found VSalon, and from what I gather you do importing and some consulting work. For those of us not in the know (or is it just me) could you shed a little more light on what your background is in the bike industry? I'm just curious, cause you obviously have quite a bit of street cred around here, but I don't know why or how.

[lavi]

but I don't know why or how.

The Jerk abides.

[e-RICHIE]

so craig atmo - i've wondered, why "jerk"...
where did that screen name come from?

and ps i wanna see gaulzettis at nahbs in austin.
make the move atmo.

[dashDustin]

"[I]Craig Gaulzetti is a real person and as much of a mensch as anyone I know. The jerk is an internet persona created by a really smart funny guy who's also a pretty good writer.

I've figured this out.

Which is why I've read every post in this thread.

And I, too, would like to see something in Austin at NAHBS. We Texicans don't get to see much down here. I was surprised as hell to see 2 Spookys at Tulsa Tough.

I frequently get asked "why do you keep getting new bikes? you must be loaded."

I'm a bike mechanic, I ain't loaded. I get new bikes because nothing's inspiring me. The SL3 is the closest I've come to nirvana on a racing bike. I'd love to throw a leg over a steel Gaulzetti.

[jerk]

so craig atmo - i've wondered, why "jerk"...
where did that screen name come from?

and ps i wanna see gaulzettis at nahbs in austin.
make the move atmo.

jerk- because pompous arrogant fucking asshole is too long a screen name. it actually started as a way to keep my real life and real job in the bike industry away from an interweb persona where i could say what i really wanted...nothing more than that really.

i want to see gaulzettis at nahbs in austin too. but it isn't up to me. i am a fan and supporter of dw's project and i'll do whatever it takes to build the nahbs brand. i'd love to be there and i hope they'll have me. thanks!
c

[davids]

Not Gaulzetti Cicli, but anyways... I noticed this little blurb in the paper as I rode the train to work. Under a photo of a little girl in a light blue velour sweatsuit, riding a purple bike:

Handing Out Rides

Mayor Thomas Menino and officials from Boston Bikes helped distribute 30 bicycles and helmets to children at the Alice Taylor housing development on Thursday afternoon. The donation by the International Bicycle Center is part of the Roll It Forward effort to distribute 1,000 bikes to low-income families.

This isn't the first time the jerk's store has swooped into the 'hood and handed out bikes. They did something similar at a local elementary school this spring.

[Jason Musgrave]

Craig--if you could gift a corsa to one person [for feedback or otherwise] who would it be?

Also tell us about your tubeset. Specs--and is it proprietary or commercially available to other builders?

[jerk]

Craig--if you could gift a corsa to one person [for feedback or otherwise] who would it be?

i already did. it's blue and pink and small. don't think i'll be doing that again anytime soon. that gift did give me really good feedback into how the corsa performs in a really small size under a strong, but not super powerful rider. the athlete in question was coming off of titanium and small gauge steel race bikes and production carbon wsd style shit. she can talk about the bike in detail if she wants, but she likes it.

Also tell us about your tubeset. Specs--and is it proprietary or commercially available to other builders?

i designed it but part of the deal was letting dedacciai offer it in their catalogue- so yeah- it's available to any and everyone. they call it "fire xl" or something like that.

thanks!
craig

[Christian Fox]

Hi Craig: I really liked euro aluminum bikes, too. I always loved the various Carreras of the era and the Cofidis MBKs (no idea if they were good bikes, I just thought they were cool). Are there any bikes in particular from Alu's golden era that you really liked or provided inspiration for your line? thanks

[jerk]

Hi Craig: I really liked euro aluminum bikes, too. I always loved the various Carreras of the era and the Cofidis MBKs (no idea if they were good bikes, I just thought they were cool). Are there any bikes in particular from Alu's golden era that you really liked or provided inspiration for your line? thanks

dood-
bikes from that era are my muses. those cofidis mbk's were geat- they were built by cyfac out of colombus altec2+ which made for awesome bikes- the cyfac jean delatour bikes and the carrera's were nice as well. of coure, the telekom pinarello paris was about as tough a bike as you could get- stiff, pink, mean and not light. team scs speak for themselves but i always preferred those pearl white gan merckx alu teams in terms of merckxs...it was almost like in the mid nineties- responsiveness, handling and stiffness trumped weight and any other concern. this is your bike, this is your bike on drugs kind of thing. high hermatocrits and the resulting 450 watt averages demanded certain things in design i guess.

jerk

[jerk]

This has definitely been an interesting read for me. I'd never heard of you before I found VSalon, and from what I gather you do importing and some consulting work. For those of us not in the know (or is it just me) could you shed a little more light on what your background is in the bike industry? I'm just curious, cause you obviously have quite a bit of street cred around here, but I don't know why or how.

hey eric-
sorry i missed this question the first time around. when i moved back to the states following my time in europe, i hung up the bike for what i assumed was for good. i went to college and later moved to boston to pursue grad school. i needed a job and walked into international bicycle centers. i do not own the store, but it does own me. i'm more or less an operations/sales manager and its been a totally exciting, wonderful job. as i said in my smoked out intro- i am the industry. i know how to run and manage a successful bike shop and how to turn around a struggling one with enormous potential. i am prouder of what i have achieved here at ibc than any thing else i have ever done in my life. i think people need projects and this bike shop has been my project for the last 12 years or so. naturally, i started playing with the torches up on the third floor and built a few lugged frames over the years- do a lot of frame repair in trade for alchohol or favors and have put together a bunch of carbon frames for pals and for myself over the years too.
my new life plan is to devote as much attention to my bike line as i previously did to ibc. this is my newest project and i am really, really happy with the product. i have a on month, one year and five year plan in place to really have this thing blow up.
thanks for the question!
craig

[jimcav]

Craig,
you mentioned the dogma as a worthy carbon bike. I recently sold my prince carbon, and am currently enjoying a TIME worldstar. Circumstances are forcing me to sell that, but there will come a time when i will get back into carbon. I'd very much like to read about what your carbon design utilizes in terms of the ability to really change the way stresses are felt or transmitted. The dogma I understand to be even more asymmetric and tuned than the prince was, although i have not ridden a dogma, i have ridden a vxrs, worldstar, prince, crumpton and crumpton sl; so would really like to hear how the carbon is used or what is possibly unique in the design
thanks
jim