December 2017:
Salute Vincenzo,
sorry, that I did not answer any time before now. I did not forget you! I will never forget you!
I am happy to answer your questions:
1)
I learned about Vincenzo and his frame building expertise from a German blog about bicycles that are made out of steel only:
http://stahlrahmen-bikes.de/ - Unfortunately, the blog is not active at the time of writing.
My wife and I are very passionate about Italy and cycling, so I was looking for a bespoked or tailor-made frame for my wife out of Italy with Columbus tubing, of course! That's how I found Vincenzo! The rest was easy - communication via email with Vincenzo was always a great pleasure!
2)
The frame is simply outstanding! The craftmanship is excellent and you can see and feel the quality of the frame build-up. Terrific and unique!
3)
Where to start.... the frame is so special!!! I mean that's what a custom made frame is all about, isn't it?
First of all, Vincenzo understood right from the start what I hade in mind for my wife Martina. He selected the perfect tubing (Life & Zona mix) and frame geometry given the rider's anatomy and driving habits.
Vincenzo added all the nice little touches that makes the frame so special!
He also did exactly the paint job with the colors that we had in mind! Great!
He also did exactly the paint job with the colors that we had in mind! Great!
4)
The bike has been assembled by me and it was a great pleasure! Again, the great quality of the build-up helped a lot and made everything easy and straightforward. Head tube was reemed perfectly as well as the bottom bracket and the cutting of the BSA threading.
I picked a SRAM 1x11 gruppo plus nice lightweight parts. Parts I wouldn't dare to use but then, my wife weighs a lot less than I do...
The entire bike tips the scale at a little over 8kg and my wife is just loving the ride! The handling is crisp and sharp, yet stable. Plus, the great mix of the tubing makes it a very comfortable ride, even without any suspension!
5)
Yes, yes, yes and yes!
I always do recommend Vincenzo as often as possible!
Vincenzo,
I hope, these answers are fine for you and please feel free to post them on your website.
I have also attached 2 pictures of the bike: one with me and one with Martina riding it.
The third picture shows you what I have done myself the last weeks: I did a frame building course at The Bicycle Academy in England and finished a fillet brazed frame with Max and Zona tubes! It was a great time and I told everybody about you and your beautiful bikes! My teachers were Jake Rusby, Robin Mather, Ted James and Tom Sturdy - check them out in the internet.
Have you ever thought about giving frame building courses? You should do it! There's so many people out there who would like to do it and no place in Italy that offers a course!
I wish you and your family Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018!
Take care my friend!
Marc
September 2017:
Dear Vincenzo,
finally! Today, Martina made the first test ride!
We tried out some different bits and parts but now, it looks perfect and Martina is absolutely happy with the bike.
It weighs only a little bit over 8kg and is a joy to ride. A great piece of work - thank you so much, Vincenzo!
Take care and all the best to you, your family & friends.
Sunny greetings from Cologne!
Martina & Marc
