On August 23, 2018, after a long day at the office, Dario Pegoretti smoked his last of many cigarettes for the day. He brought himself to his feet, shut off the lights, locked the door of his Verona workshop, then began walking towards the entrance of the industrial park where the legendary, custom steel frames bearing his name are born.
As he reached the front of the complex, in the shade of a large tree planted in the courtyard, Dario collapsed. By the time the ambulance arrived, Dario was already gone. He was 62 years old. What followed his death was a multi-month struggle for power, control, but most of all, for understanding.
For Cristina Würdig, now co-CEO and long time friend of Dario, those months were challenging.
“Emotionally, I cannot imagine a tougher time than that one. Because, it really broke our hearts,” she said. “So the business side was the simple part actually. The thought of losing the job some months before was ridiculous compared to what I was feeling.”
For years, Dario’s employees toiled in the shadow of the charismatic man. None more so than Pietro “Pero” Pietricola, Dario’s friend and employee of over two decades. Pietro is and has been the heart of the Officina Dario Pegoretti. It has been his skill, his eye, his insatiable demand for perfection that has helped drive the quality and artistry of Pegoretti frames.
Now, with Dario gone, Pietro and his team are fighting to redefine themselves and their company, while they mourn the profound loss of their friend and founder.
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- Grease pencil markings cover a frame jig at the Officina Dario Pegoretti workshop in Verona, Italy. After the sudden death of the company’s namesake in August of 2018, Pietro Pietricola’s team of master steel frame bicycle builders now fight to survive, to mourn, and to redefine themselves and the Pegoretti brand.
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- As Gianmaria Citron, apprentice frame builder, cuts steel, I watch the sparks fly all over the room.
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- When it comes to creating a paint scheme for a frame, Pietro and Andrea will use anything from a pencil, to custom blended paint. Nothing is off limits.
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- Andrea Meggiorini paints a frame in the Ciavete style. Ciavete is a curse word in the dialect of Veneto. It is also the signature paint scheme at Officina Dario Pegoretti. Cristina Würdig described it to me as “Ciavete essentially means ‘do whatever the fuck you want.'” The style has no set pattern. It is an improvisation done by both Andrea, and Pietro. The results speak for themselves.
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- The living room, referred to as “The Pit”. The Pit is where Dario spent the majority of his time. In many ways, it is the heart of the workshop. Here we can see Dario’s yellow/green chair. No one at the company can bring themselves to sit in it since Dario passed away.
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- Cristina Würdig, a veteran of the bicycle business, a professional manager, and close personal friend of Dario’s for decades. With Dario’s passing, she has suddenly found herself as co-CEO, along with Pietro, of Officina Dario Pegoretti; just months after she swore to Dario she would quit the bicycle business.
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- The cigarette butts from Dario’s last day of smoking. After his death, Cristina couldn’t bear to throw them away. A friend of the workshop built a case, and the ashtray sits in The Pit to this day.
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- Every day, Cristina smokes a cigarette after lunch, with a cup of coffee.
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- Jack lives in the shop. He is their mascot. He is 13 years old, and very near the end of his life. Pietro and Dario found him on a trip to Croatia when he was just a puppy. Pietro laughs telling the story of he and Dario trying to drive Jack across the Croatian border. The end result is that Jack now has two passports.
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- Andrea Meggiorini, 24, the youngest employee at the workshop, and apprentice painter. Before working for Dario and Pietro, Andrea had no experience as a painter. As it happened, he turned out to be brilliant at it. His desire now? “I want to be the best painter in the world.” He seems to be well on his way.
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- Pietro “Pero” Pietricola is the living heart of Officina Dario Pegoretti. He is, and has been, the master craftsman behind Pegoretti frames for many years. An employee and friend of Dario’s for over two decades the full responsibility of the company, the quality of the frames, and the employees now rests on his shoulders. Now that he is out from under the shade of the big tree that was Dario, it is now Pietro’s time in the sun.
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- An old photo of Dario and Pietro. They enjoyed a close friendship and working relationship for over twenty years. They met, I discovered, in a bar when Dario stopped in by chance to ask for directions. That stop would change both of their lives forever.
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- Pietro and Andrea spend a morning together, painting. It was my sense that this is enjoyable, peaceful time for Pietro. Cristina is in the office. Gianmaria’s side of the shop is silent for the time being. Pietro and Andrea make steady progress.
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- Brass sticks sit in an antioxidant waiting for Gianmaria’s torch to put them to use.
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- Gianmaria Citron affixes some cable guides and water bottle cage screws to a frame before it is given to Pietro for TIG welding.
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- Cristina finding a few minutes to work uninterruppted.
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- The downtube of one of Dario’s older designs. The frame lives on a stand just as one enters the Officina Dario Pegoretti.
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- Some of the tools of the trade on Gianmaria’s workbench. I found the workshop to have a mix of “old fashioned” tools, and new technology. A hand file that is 40 years old is used as readily as a brand new sandblasting booth.
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- Pietro and Jack are engaged here in their daily routine of Jack walking very slowly to and from the “bathroom.”
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- Fresh steel tubes from Columbus. From these raw materials, Pietro and his boys make art.
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- Gianmaria Citron, apprentice frame builder, sands down a freshly cut steel tube.
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- Andrea Meggiorini, apprentice painter, sprays a frame in his paint box. “Andrea, he is the puppy,” smirks Cristina Würdig. At 24, Andrea is the youngest of the bunch.
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- Here, apprentice frame builder Gianmaria Citron welds a fresh steel frame.
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- Cristina Würdig takes an early morning delivery.
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- Gianmaria told me, regarding Pietro, “I think he’s unique. I mean, maybe there is few guys in the world that are able to do everything like Pietro. But not at his level.”
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- Left: Andrea Meggiorini, spends his morning sanding paint off a fork in order to create an entirely new kind of paint scheme for a frame destined for NAHBS, the North American Hand Built Bike Show. It will the company’s first frame debut since Dario’s passing. Centre: Pietro readies a frame for shipping. He spends a portion of each day at the shipping bench. His hands are always the last to touch a frame before it leaves the workshop. Right: In a quiet moment, Gianmaria Citron changes his clothes and prepares to leave the workshop.
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- Pietro TIG welds a frame. His skill here is dazzling. When finished, the welds around the joints of a Pegoretti frame look like perfectly symmetrical scales on the belly of a snake.
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- Pietro “Pero” Pietricola is, and has been the master of the shop. Pietro is the only person in the company who can build an entire frame by himself and he can do it to the absolute highest standard. With Dario’s passing, Pietro is now co-CEO of the company that he has helped to build.
Please excuse the interruption…
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