THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
A visit with Giovanni Pelizzoli
You may not have ever heard of Giovanni Pelizzoli, but it’s likely you have seen his work on Ciöcc or Guerciotti frames, either one of which would be sufficient introduction of this small, graying, bespectacled framebuilder and frame painter.
Pelizzoli’s shop is located in Curno, the village on the outskirts of Bergamo in north-central Italy that has long served the finish for the final classic of the season, the Tour of Lombardy.
Pelizzoli now builds some frames under his own name, but he is primarily known as a frame painter, operating under the company name of TITAAC. He and his assistants – all of whom his children or married to them – run a tight ship, turning out racks of shiny, brightly-colored frames every day. The shop also turns out its own custom aluminum and steel frames and sells carbon creations as well.
Those older riders among us will remember Ciöcc as a once-popular brand of lugged steel racing bike here in the U.S. The name actually means “drunkard” in the Bergamasco dialect and, according to Giovanni, was the nickname his father bore. Decades ago, Pelizzoli sold the Ciöcc name, and he thus no longer uses it on his own bikes.
I visited Pelizzoli in early November with Alessandro Guerciotti, since TITAAC paints all Guerciotti frames and custom builds some of Guerciotti’s aluminum frames. The majority of Guerciotti’s business these days is as a wholesaler of bike components, but Pelizzoli plays an important role in Guerciotti bicycles.
Oria builds carbon Guerciotti frames, which Pelizzoli then paints. His shop is set up for a high volume of painting, but it appears set up for only very limited production of frames. While I was there, a custom aluminum Guerciotti was being built.
Of course, a few kilometers down the autostrada, just after my visit, my computer was stolen during at lunch at the AutoGrill. At that time I not only lost my notes but also my enthusiasm for this story, but now I’m finally returning to it.
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