Ciao
I'm Dario and my friend Riccardo asked me to be here. Ask me anything.
D
Wow, This is pretty cool. Welcome to Smoked Out, Dario.
Could you tell us the story of how you got started in framebuilding?
Eric Doswell, aka Edoz
Summoner of Crickets
http://edozbicycles.wordpress.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/edozbicycles/
In Before the Lock
Hello Dario,
I wanted to say good-bye in english (with the help of Uncle "Bing Translator").
A greeting to all your friends and fans of Dario bike around the world.
I am presenting to the group, my name is Roberto, i live in Verona, the city of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Arena", I think Dario is a fantastic framebuilder and also a special person.
I forgot: I have a Marcelo and a Big Leg Emma (I love this frame) and ... is not yet finished here.
Dario,
Benvenuto
One of the few things that are on my very short list of things to do before I die is to get good and drunk with a famous Italian bicycle builder.
Would you be so kind?
-Josh
Josh Simonds
www.nixfrixshun.com
www.facebook.com/NFSspeedshop
www.bicycle-coach.com
Vsalon Fromage De Tête
Welcome Mr Dario and big up to e-RICCARDO for smoking you out.
All the best
Paul
Hello to everybody! My name is Nicola and i Live in Rome. I own two bikes made by Dario, which i've already presented in the v salon gallery, a Responsorium and a Luigino.....no need to say i love both of them! Let me say a great thank you to Richard for his wonderful Idea to invite Dario to show the world what a fortune is for us italian to have a man like him with us!
note - i wrote these words (below) in 2005 and am pasting them in their entirety here atmo -
=====
atmo dario is one of the few originals, despite the fact that - as has been noted - we're all the sum of our experiences. in the bicycle industry, going back at least to the early 70s, dario is a one-hander; the number of folks that have made the impact on the trade that dario has can be counted on one hand. atmo, dario has earned his stripes.
here's a text i emailed dario last year in the midst of the tubing project we were collaborating on. note: i had met dario several years prior when he came to visit chester. whoa. so, there already was some history between us before the project began. but in the middle of it i pinched myself because i realized that i was working with an icon. i wrote this:
hey dario-issimo...
i just wanted to add a note of thanks to all these emails,
and the phone calls too. the thought of us being "pals"
fills me with good feelings.
i first heard your name in the early 90s. i believe it was
either from storino or tim maloney (maloney is an old, old
pal of mine from new jersey). regardless, whoever of the
two mentioned your name informed me that in italy, which
was then still the bastion of all great framebuillding ideas,
this man "dario" was the next in line to all the famous tailors
who made the great bicycles through the eras.
since i consider myself an armchair student of these "great
men", i watched throught the decade and into this century
as you have proven true what my pal (which one, i forget!)
predicted would happen.
i watched all the frames that georgio imported, first as giordanas,
and later as pegorettis, and knew that mister dario truly is the
best of all builders. i often wish i had other skills and more of
a curiousity about what is there in addition to steel. i believe
it takes a craftsman with no self-imposed bounderies to really
know what the limits are. i have stayed safely within the cocoon
of steel, and you have tried and succeeded with so many other
material combinations.
as you know from some of our exchanges and the posts i make
online, i am not too impressed from within our industry; i haven't
had much inspiration comefrom bicycles since the 70s, despite
still trying to forge ahead. but you, dario, are one of the true
geniuses of the craft, and i admire you like you cannot believe.
it is my pleasure to call you a friend, and an honor to be making
some of these decisions with you regarding the future of quality
steel tubing.
i want to thank you for all your dedication, for being the one
at the vanguard, and for being the leader of an industry that
should always have italian roots. the bicycle is a beautiful
object, and often the americans can complicate its beauty.
it's because of geniuses like you that the beauty remains.
as we say here, "you are the man!"
ciao, bro'.
e-RICHIE©™®
i s'pose my only point in posting this is to support any notions that dario's body of work stands on its own, despite the jazz, and the clapton, and the basquiet, and all the other influences some of you see in it. he has taken all of his racing, and his art, and his life experiences, and created something from scratch. that should be respected atmo.
Ciao Eric,
Thanks for your question, I have started accidentally, when I finished the high school in Trento I chose to continue with a school that was in Verona.
The real reason was not the school but in Verona lived a beautiful girl that I liked a lot, I race as an amateur and the father of this girl, who was Gino Milani , was coach of an amateur team. Milani asked me if I wanted to race for this team and I said yes. I had no interest in the framebuilding but I had little interest in the money because I was always without money. Milani, one day asked me if I wanted to work in the workshop to help a bit and I said yes.
After a year I was completely involved in the workshop.
After two years I have stopped to' race .
After three years I stopped going to school
But I still buid frames .
D
The real reason was not the school but in Verona lived a beautiful girl that I liked a lot
OK Dario
Tell us about the beautiful girl
Franco
ciao dario,
this is james.
i hope you're well and happy.
today i rode my marcelo that you painted in the pink elvis motif. i just wanted to thank you for building such a wonderful bike. every time i ride it, it makes me very happy.
i hope someday that maurya and i can return to italy and see you again.
we often talk about how much we enjoyed spending time with you.
take care, my friend,
james
I don't have anything pertinent to add/ask but would just like to say that despite all the years you have spent making steel frames, yours are always the freshest and most modern of designs.
I want a Pegoretti in my life.
Honestly I must confess that the first time I read Riccardo words I was surprised, excited and happy. I think it is one of the most beautiful articles written about my work and my person. I was surprised because it came from the United States and by a colleague.
I think it would be impossible in Italy .
Thanks Riccardo
D
With your permission I'd like to ask some harder questions.
Do great race bikes also make great training bikes?
Josh Simonds
www.nixfrixshun.com
www.facebook.com/NFSspeedshop
www.bicycle-coach.com
Vsalon Fromage De Tête
Dario, just let me be another person to say: I love you work!
Obviously a lot of people know you for your beautiful artwork, the use of typography, etc. Do you ever feel frustrated a lot of people don't know about your technical innovations?
Can you tell us a little bit about your work with Columbus?
I read somewhere you like southwestern food, so if you ever make it out here breakfast burritos, wine and other great food is on me!
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