pegoretti

Fatti con le mani    means made by hand.

This is what makes Pegoretti unique.

Too often shops say they are 'proud' to stock some product or other, proud of what? But in this case I think it is the right word because at Mosquito we are 'proud' of the fact that we not only stock but are the UK representatives for Pegoretti frames and that Dario has allowed us to be in this position.

We love  these frames. We love the way they ride, the way they climb and reward every ounce of power you can summon and then drop off the top of the climb and guide you down the descent, the way they spring into action when you jump out of the saddle sprinting for the road signs with your mates and the beautiful comfortable ride they provide through a long day in the saddle.

Most of all we love the way Dario does his own thing and is gloriously opinionated. He knows weight isn't everything and that ultimately power transfer and comfort are what matter most to his customers. He is innovative (check out the Reponsorium) but not for the sake of it and never to follow fashion. If you buy a Pegoretti you are buying into Dario's knowledge, his artistry and a great Italian framebuilding tradition. If you are after the latest ultra-lightweight, compact frame from the most exotic material look elsewhere, but if you are after the bike of a lifetime look no further.

Cycling Weekly reviewed a Pegoretti Duende in April 2009. Here is what they had to say:-

"Steel is the new carbon and nobody does it better than Dario Pegoretti, who has been hand-building frames in northern Italy since 1987. Pegoretti calls steel 'our' material and he has certainly made it his own over the last two decades. The first Italian builder to uselugless TIG welding, a Pegoretti frame is the result of years of developing and refining a traditional art.
Some of the most obvious refinements that Pegoretti has made to modernise his bikes include increasing the tube diameters. Although Pegoretti swears by round tubing - Columbus Niobium Spirit in this case - insisting a round profile offers the best compromise between lateral strength and resistance to torsion, the diameter of the Duende's down tube is a wide 38mm. Its top tube and seat tube measure 31.8mm.
Pegorettis are available as custom builds, but they also come in stock sizes - the price is the same for each. We had a 56cm Duende, which has a 56.5cm top tube.
With steel, it's all about ride quality and the Pegoretti delivers a ride of undisputed quality, and is much stiffer than you'd expect. It stops short of being unforgiving, but unless you're a heavyweight sprinter you don't need a firmer ride than this.
The finish is stunning. The paint is lustrous and thick and the graphics traditional yet eye-catching - this particular scheme was designed especially for Mosquito Bikes. 'Beautiful' is the word most people have used to describe it. We're not arguing." 

Dario Pegoretti credits Luigi Milani for teaching him the science and the art of building bicycles. From there, Dario moved to his own workshop, where he continued to build frames. Pegoretti was amongst the first of the European framebuilders to embrace lugless TIG welding to build premium bicycles. In addition Dario worked with leading edge manufacturers, such as Excell and Dedacciai, in the development of new materials and tube sets. He earned a strong following among professional riders, and built bikes for a number of  elite teams. A few years back Dario moved to a new workshop where he builds a small number of fine frames, by hand, each year. In this age of mass produced products Dario Pegoretti occupies a unique position as a true individual.

Since 2005 Dario has been building all his steel frames (apart from the Responsorium which uses Columbus XCR stainless steel) exclusively out of Columbus Niobium Spirit tubing insisting that Columbus take the extra step to heat treat the tubes for him. While the stock version of the tubes has very good elongation qualities and thereby provides a nice bit of shock damping, heat treating them gives them a considerable increase in responsiveness under a load, making a Pegoretti feel like it's gliding on a poor road surface to an extent unmatched by other tubesets.