Dario Pegoretti, the custom-made-bicycle businesses's own Master Chef is due to exhibit in person in the UK for the first time at the Bespoked show in Bristol next Spring.
The Italian iconoclast is represented in the UK by Mosquito Bikes in London and they've shown his graphically distinctive frames at the annual Cycle Show for a number of years but this will be the first time the man himself has set foot on these shores. It could be an interesting meeting with several of the UK's stalwart and rather more understated makers like Brian Rourke, Chas Roberts, Mercian and Robin Mather who among others are already booked to champion the art and craft of custom frame building at Bespoked.
March 23rd-25th 2012 will be the second running of the niche 'Custom & Boutique' show which is already moving to a larger venue nearby in Bristol to accommodate a likely doubling of exhibitor numbers and visitor numbers. According to the Bespoked organiser Phil Taylor, "It looks like it's going to be a good show."
On top of the the prize winners Donhou, Feather and Demon from this past year's show in June, all 40 other exhibitors that showed have all re-booked and in addition at this coming edition of Bespoked will be Reynolds Tubes, Columbus, Cinelli, Campagnolo represented by its UK distributor Chicken Cyclekit and Brooks saddles, as well as American builder Darren Crisp who has collaborated with Pegoretti on North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show prize-winning titanium frames.
'D'Acciaio' trailer for a film about Dario Pegorreti by Ben Ingham
23rd - 25th March 2012
Brunel's Old Station, Bristol
Bespoked 2012 exhibitor list so far
14 Bike Co
18 Bikes Ltd
Axel Imports - Guru
Bicycles By Design - Landscape & Swallow
Bike Science
Brian Rourke
Brooks England
Burls Bicycles
Chicken CycleKit
ColourBolt
Company of Cyclists (Cyclorama)
Condor Cycles
Cotic
Crisp Titanium
Demon Frameworks
Donhou Bicycles
Downland Cycles Ltd
Dynamo Works
Enigma
Feather Cycles
Flat Frame Systems
Foffa Bikes
Freshtripe
Gruppo SRL - Columbus, Cinelli
Hammoon Cycles
(iL) Soigneur
Just Riding Along
Kajak Custom
Lee Cooper
Leonardi Racing
Mercian Cycles
Milk Bikes
Milltag
Mozz Cycling ltd (swrve)
Paper Bicycle
Paulus Quiros
Pegoretti
Peter's Bike
Pinstripe Push Irons
Qoroz
Qubic Bikes
Quoc Pham Ltd
Racer Rosa Bicycles
Reynolds
RodfordVelo - Really Useful Bikes
Roberts Cycles
Robin Mather Cycles
Rock n Road - Waterford, Gunnar
Sideways Cycles - Independent Fabrication, White Industries
Simple Cycles
Steve Major
Swallow
Synergy Action
Ted James Design
The Bicycle Academy
Tokyo Fixed - Cherubim
Urban Hunter X Bagaboo Bags
Velobici
VeloBrands LLP - Cyfac
Villiers - Velo
Viner Bikes
Bespoked: a look back at 2011
Bespoked Bristol 2011 from D2 productions on Vimeo.
A steam-powered road bike is an exciting idea.
'I was so lucky that I was doing the speed limit' (!) http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17d598vj0qo
That's a shame. He seemed like a decent guy and he had a good no-fuss website. Bought a few things from him over the years and he was contactable...
It's mentioned in benefit #2 in the article...
Pneu ballon and hookless rims are back, I still have some 27" Birmalux rims in the shed somewhere.
Well yes, but it is the holidays
I have the gross misfortune to live on her "patch". The state of roads policing (and the actual roads) and consequent danger everytime one gets on...
Thank you for that excellent forensic analysis, I couldn't figure out where I'd gone wrong! Must drink more coffee and put on glasses before trying...
Strangely, I've ridden all of those roads/routes you describe (and a lot more in Noerthern England) entirely without a gizmo of any kind, other...
Effective little things. Even have them on my Good Bike, my least reflectored. Still working through packs of them I got very cheap at Tesco.