It’s easy to get overwhelmed at the MADE bike show. It’s the biggest handmade bike show in the world, and everywhere you look, there’s something for the eyes to feast on. So I arrived early, long before the gates opened to the public, while the show was still being assembled. The industrial barge building of Portland’s Zidell Yards echoed with clanking metal, the buzz of electric drills, the beeping of a forklift backing up.
Among the early arrivals was a DeAnima dealer. His show bikes, propped on wooden display shelves, caught the morning light pouring in from the hangar’s side door.
One, a pale gravel bike carrying a bold, modular Bauhaus-like paintjob and some of the funkiest Deda handlebars I’ve seen yet.
The other, a sleek black carbon road bike, its tubes glinting with delicate golden leafing, a finish that called to mind some of Alberto Burri’s Combustioni works.
I wandered over.
“Who’s the builder?” I asked.
“Pegoretti,” came the reply.
“Gianni,” the representative clarified with a smile. “Dario’s brother. This is probably the most unknown brand tied to one of the most famous names in cycling.”
(Image credit: Pegoretti Cicli)
To most cyclists, the name Pegoretti brings to mind round-tubed steel road bikes with rim brakes and distinctive, hand-painted finishes. A pioneer of lugless TIG welded frames, Dario Pegoretti designed and built frames under several brand names before starting out on his own. His bikes were ridden by cycling legends like Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani, and Mario Cipollini among others, and admired by collectors around the world (including, famously, comedian Robin Williams).
Pegoretti bikes were renowned for their ride quality, their artistic paintwork, and the fact that the brand clung stubbornly to steel, even as carbon swept the industry. He once quipped, “Weight means nothing in a frame. What matters is quality. And only steel has that: steel will never die.”
He never released a carbon frame, and he never made a disc-brake road bike. His workshop didn’t add disc-brake options until years after his death in 2018. For Dario, the heart of the bicycle was welded steel, rim brakes and soul.
Gianni Pegoretti and DeAnima: A Different Path
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Gianni Pegoretti took a different road. Having learned his craft alongside his brother Dario, he stepped away from the family workshop in the mid-2000s and spent nearly a decade as head of bicycle production at San Patrignano, a rehabilitation community in northern Italy.
There, Gianni taught men and women recovering from addiction how to cut, weld and paint, passing on practical skills in the art of framebuilding as a tool for rebuilding one’s life.
When San Patrignano’s program relocated, Gianni decided to set out on his own. In 2014 he founded DeAnima Cicli with Antonio, one of his most talented apprentices, and longtime friend Matt Cazzaniga.
“It’s very frustrating seeing the world you live in disappear or morph into something you no longer recognise… materials have changed, everything has been shipped abroad and most people want to give up. We wanted another way,” the launch copy stated at the time.
For Gianni, that “other way” was rooted in Italy, incorporating Italian-sourced tubing, Italian craftsmanship and Italian elbow grease. DeAnima aims to keep the tradition of Italian frame building alive while “transforming it and bringing it into modern times.”
DeAnima’s catalog is unmistakably Italian in flair and finish, but its construction embraces today’s technologies. Yes, steel rim-brake road bikes are still in the mix, but as one choice among many. At MADE, the booth showed off carbon road bikes with disc brakes and thru-axles, alongside disc-only steel gravel bikes built with non-Italian drivetrain options.
Every DeAnima frame is designed, welded, laminated, bonded, and finished entirely in-house at their workshop in Pergine Valsugana, Trentino, Italy. They emphasize that all tubes are made in Italy, not outsourced from Asia, and every step — from the layup to the hand-painting — happens under their roof.
All frames feature the customer’s custom geometry and a semi- or fully custom paint job. Pricing starts around $4000 per frameset.
DeAnima show bikes
DeAnima Redondo custom carbon road bike
Material: Carbon
Drivetrain: Shimano Ultegra Di2
Seatpost, stem, handlebras: Deda
Wheels: Schmolke
Tyres: Pirelli P-Zero
Saddle: Alpitude Navene carbon saddle
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Rare: pink Pirelli P-Zero logoed tyres
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
The finish called to mind some of Alberto Burri’s Combustioni works
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Deep, deep Schmolke carbon rims
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
DeAnima Defer Gravel
Material: Steel
Fork: Deda Gera Curvy carbon gravel fork with accessory mounts
Drivetrain: Shimano GRX Di2
Wheels: Deda Gera Carbon
Tyres: Schwalbe G-One Overland
Saddle: Alpitude Navene carbon saddle
Handlebars: Deda Gera gravel handlebars
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
A bold, modular Bauhaus-like paintjob
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Some funky Deda Gera handlebars
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Some funky Deda Gera handlebars
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
