Photography by Derek Yarra

Bikes of the Bunch: Pegoretti Marcelo

by CyclingTips

In the latest edition of Bikes of the Bunch we feature a steel-framed Pegoretti Marcelo, owned by a cyclist in the US and bought through the Californian bike shop Above Category.

We asked the owner of the bike to tell us a bit about why he chose it, why he decided on the build he did and how it rides.

“

A few years ago I saw Chad (the owner of Above Category) riding a baby blue Pegoretti Marcelo with the “why not” paint scheme. It was one of the best looking bikes I’d ever seen. Since then I’ve always wanted one of Dario Pegoretti’s bikes. It doesn’t hurt that he’s built many Tour de France-winning frames — I wasn’t really worried about how it would perform at all. Dario also seems like a great guy but also a character and it was pretty cool knowing he built my bike.

The ordering process was very simple — I fit a 58cm Pegoretti very well so I did not need to get the bike custom built. While I originally wanted the “why not” paint scheme in blue when I saw this “Baci” scheme I changed my mind. Even though it’s a stock paint scheme I’ve never seen another on the road and it’s very unique and different from the norm.

While the frame was stock I had a great time working with Above Category on selecting the build kit. Based on my budget we found a way to get the most bang for my buck.

It had to be Campagnolo and for racing and fast climbing I have not been on a better wheel than the Campagnolo Bora. I’ve tried Lightweights and other high performance wheels and while the Bora may not be the lightest they feel the fastest.

We saved money by going Record instead of Super Record, used inexpensive but solid bottle cages, aluminium bar and stem and used a Chorus cassette and chain. So, I spent the bulk on the most important part; the wheels. When these bearings wear out I’ll switch them out to CeramicSpeed Bearing units and then the group will be even better than Super Record.

The specs are:

Pegoretti Marcelo steel frame

Enve 1.0 fork

Campagnolo Record group

Zipp SC bar and stem

Thomson post

Fizik Kurve saddle and super light bar tape

Campagnolo Bora Ultra wheels

Continental Grand Prix 4000 tubulars in 22mm

King stainless bottle cages

50×34 rings, 12×27 cassette

Speedplay Titanium Zero pedals

The bike weighs 17 pounds (7.7kg) fully built. I feel that this is pretty light for a 58cm steel frame. But I don’t really care what the weight is — this bike feels like it’s climbing as fast as lighter carbon bikes I’ve had in the past. Dario knows what he’s doing for sure.

The ride is amazing. This is a great all-day, all-round bike. I think it’s the best-feeling bike in a sprint as well. Descending is great and very sure and it feels fast on the climbs. Maybe on steeper and longer climbs I may be a bit faster on my sub-15-pound (sub-6.8kg) bike, but it doesn’t feel like it. Plus, every time I look at this bike I want to head out for a ride. I can’t say that about a lot of other bikes I’ve had.

A portrait of Dario Pegoretti by Veeral Patel.

We spoke with Above Category owner Chad Norwall who had some interesting insight into framebuilder Dario Pegoretti.

“

For paint, Dario does one scheme called Ciavete. He’ll paint any of his frames in this except for lugged frames which he has two [paint schemes for]. The only input the customer can have for this is the base colour and he doesn’t even like doing that.

Right now frames are taking about six months to get to us. This has come down dramatically. When Dario had cancer (Lymphoma) he fell well behind as you can imagine. At this time he got even more popular and it took him a few years to catch back up.

: Image: Veeral Patel

Tags: bikes of the bunch, Dario Pegoretti

Jon Thornton

I would love to try one of these. One day.
http://subcontinentalcyclist.wordpress.com/ Ankush Agarwal

It is a very unusual paint scheme but I too like it. Pegorettis man…
Choco

Yeah nah, I can’t get past the ‘toddler’ paint scheme, same go’s for just about all his other paint schemes. Each to their own I guess…
tobyshingleton

The fact that so many are put off by the paint makes me love my Pegoretti even more!
krashdavage

You could powder coat a Pegoretti turd brown and I’d still ride it. My Marcelo is the best thing I’ve ever ridden and the paint has nothing to do with it
jackseph

was this (lovely) bike (or this model) not featured in Ride a few issues ago?
Alex

I just feel these master builders are over glorified. A bit of tig welding… Not a big deal. In reality bikes are actually very simple structures that are not under that much stress or exposed to severe environments.
- Wakatel Lu’um
  
  Dario was TIG welding road bikes for pro’s before they were popular…most others came after. You’re not paying for a just “a bit of tig welding”, you are getting his design in frame geometry, colour and a piece of art not made in Asia…
- CC
  
  Alex - soo much to learn about life. You just belittled anyone that loves and takes pride in what they do. I honestly hope you find something to excel in, and don’t succumb to mediocre. Good luck :)
  - Alex
    
    Your completely wrong. I used the term over glorified. I was not attacking the frame builder - well done to him for building his business.
    
    It is just that the value in famous hand built steel bikes is based on methodology and romance. Some also seem to think (see above) that the DNA of the builder also justifies its desirability.
    
    The reality is that steel bikes are actually very easy to fabricate, and differences in ride quality between builders is impossible if the tubes are the same! A lot of the stuff you read is just utter nonsense!
    
    And please consider in future not attack others as you did to me - it is just not nice, and there is a place for that behaviour - it’s called cyclingnews.
    - Sean Doyle
      
      I do agree that the romanticism can be a bit much but the truth is a frame built properly for one self is a joy to ride. Sure anyone with a bit of metal working skill could put a frame together but it takes a few years of experience to make it just right for the rider.
      Not all tubes are the same. Not all riders are the same and not all builders are the same. Its funny how the big companies are touting this size tuned frame stiffness blah blah, something the custom builders have been doing for a few decades.
      Alex, have you tried building a steel frame at all?
      - Alexander
        
        I have not tried, no. But I have spent many years in industry, sometimes managing welding and fabrication work. Welding starts to get complex when you work in different environments and with different materials. Especially pressure welds have great risk and require great skill.
        
        I grew up around bikes and at that time everyone had steel bikes. So I understood, and still do agree, with the points you make. However we just never thought those bikes were ‘magical’. And when aluminium and carbon came along we moved to those bikes - because they were better.
        
        The problem with steel bikes is that Columbus, Reynolds etcetera never invested in high quality exotic steels. I also think it is a shame that Columbus failed in their venture to supply carbon build kits to local bike builders.
        
        My advice to anyone thinking of a steel custom bike would be to go with titanium instead.
        
        Sean Doyle
        
        I think the ‘magic’ and romanticism was a construct of the magazines. Trying to woo readers with tales of craftsman in dimly lit workshops producing thoroughbred steeds with soul. It’s a freakin object it doesn’t have soul and frame building is a bloody hard but rewarding way to make a living.
        
        Steel still does have it’s place in the cycling world. There is no way I would tour on a carbon or aluminium frame and. Titanium I would consider but cost is an issue though. As can be seen here you can build a steel frame and put a fairly normal finish kit on it and still have a bike of competitive weight.
        
        I would agree that steel development has slowed. In recent years they have introduced stainless steel tubes and increased the performance of their high end steels but when you compare to what carbon has gone through in the last 5 to 10 years it is not much change and actual building methods haven’t changed in 30 years. Though the brazing alloys and flux chemistry’s have evolved to be pretty easy to use.
        
        I believe there is a fair jump in development that steel could go through that would make it more competitive in weight with Ti. If you look at what Mark DiNucci has just done with the help of Specialized where he went through and optimised every frame component using CAD and material science. Working with Reynolds, refining shape and developing better heat treatment for a more refined grain structure. While the style of the frame he built is very traditional it is possibly the most high tech steel frame done at this point. That is arguable though if you look at guys like FIrefly are doing with their stainless frames.
        
        As you’re well aware that alloy steel comes in a crazy variety of recipes and you have to use the right one for bike frames. It has to be tough, strong with a reasonable stiffness and a certain amount of elongation. The steel they use at the moment is about as good as steel can get for the end use.
        
        Don’t get me wrong as aluminium , carbon and Titanium all have great attributes and some of the best frames I’ve ridden have been in these materials but at the end of the day the custom built ELOS frame I had built for me has been the best frame I have ever ridden. A real extension of me and such a refined ride. No magic, just good sensible fabrication.
        
        Alex
        
        Excuse my ignorance, but what is ELOS? Can you post a link?
        
        I am sceptical of steel (for high performance). Don’t take me wrong - the right alloy could be better than Ti, but I don’t see the industry turning over enough of such a product for the cost to get down. Hope I am wrong. I wasn’t aware of the Specialized thing - what I don’t get is that the science existed 30 years ago but seems that few in the bike industry was interested.
        
        For me, a carbon Dogma is the best I have ridden. So stiff but so smooth, and luckily the stock size fits me perfectly. But I have never tried Ti.
        
        Sean Doyle
        
        ELOS is a Columbus tubeset. They took the std. EL set and upped the tube diameters shortened the butts and made a spectacular tubeset. There was a slightly lighter tubeset available but they hard very thin walls for the time. It was basically the first step above standard tube diameters. So 31.7 DT and 28.6 TT and seat tube. It’s probably the standard size wise now and the next step up with 35 DT being the usual OS these days.
        
        The best thing about steel is that frames can be built using normal hand tools. Aluminium needs TIG welding and post weld heat treatment. Ti needs back purging, and full gas shielding ( I know you know that) and needs tube cutters etc. to fabricate. Steel frames can be made with a hacksaw, some files, an oxy/acet (or oxy/LPG) torch and a good bench vise. So this appeals to a lot of custom builders. You don’t even need a jig to get a quality and straight frame.
        
        There was a science 30 years ago but the material science and chemistry for brazing wasn’t what it is these days. What DiNucci has shown though in his exercise is that there is still a whole lot of development left in what is possible with steel. The very best steel alloy used now is surpassing the strength of Ti, so it is possible to get Ti weights with steel. The only caveat with that is steel now jumps out of the easily worked with hand tools to be ridiculously hard and taking longer to manipulate. So hence for some builders it is actually more expensive to make a stainless steel frame that it is to make Ti.
        
        For an out and out race bike it’s hard to beat carbon as you won’t ever get any of the metal bikes down to the weights carbon can get to.Not that light weight guarantees ultimate performance but because racing sells bikes in the western world carbon will always be the first choice of pros and it’s an easy way for companies to market. I would actually like to see the minimum bike weight come up to 7.0kg so that other materials could be used and to just make it more interesting.
        
        Why are you skeptical? The reason big bike companies moved away from steel was they were after an easier and cheaper way of making bikes en masse. While steel is easy to manipulate, brazing tubes is slower than tig welding, tools wear out quicker than cutting Al. Aluminium became fashion as the big companies pushed because steel couldn’t compete in a TIG market. Though steel did eventually respond with tube sets that worked well for TIG, by then Ti had definitely made a name and carbon came to the fore. Now it cost bugger all to make a carbon frame. The big companies like it for the most part they can make a bloody good frame. It now makes it hard to justify metal frames for mass market production. That’s another reason why a lot of custom builders work with metal as it offers a point of difference.
        
        Shit I’m rambling on……….
        
        As a matter of taste I don’t like the Dogma at all. It may ride great and have a smooth ride but to me it’s one of the ugliest bikes ever created. Hunch back of Notre Dame. Along with the new Look, the Hyena of France. I much prefer simple smooth lines and minimum of detail. The fact you can achieve similar ride qualities with round steel tubes is all the better for me.
        
        That’s one of the great things we have at the moment though. Choice. We can all choose what we want, what really floats our boat and I’d never look down my nose at someone else’s choice. It’s pretty hard to buy a bad bike these days and teh amount that people agonise over the choice is hilarious. Just buy teh one taht expands your pants and go ride the hell out of it.
        
        Alex
        
        Thanks.
        
        I truly concur about the Look. However IMO it is that ugly that it is offensive, so the ‘each to their own’ argument goes out the window. In the end, others have to look at your bike when you are on top of it…
        
        Sean Doyle
        
        No worries. Yes the Look is that ugly.
        
        I don’t care what anyone else thinks about my bike and I’m not really worried about what other people ride either. If I do see a bike that I think is really nice I’ll comment but I try to never say anything if I think it looks shite. I made an exception above about the Dogma to explain my preference for aesthetics.
    - http://the10speedcognition.tumblr.com Thomas Hassler
      
      ” and differences in ride quality between builders is impossible if the tubes are the same!”
      
      - this is a very uncultivated statement about bike manufacturing. Anyone who ever bought a steel bike with columbus tubing (or other tubing standards) can tell you, including myself, that a bike built by Richard Sachs, Waterford, Rosko, Serrota, Rock Lobster, etc. or any other frame builder will most definitely ride differently. You are ignorant to frame building, and bike manufacturing in general (whether it be carbon or metal) if you believe this ATMO. Ride a Pegoretti and then ride a De Rosa or a Hampsten and tell me they are the same ride.
    - 5OUL5
      
      your vs you’re?
Ssanchez

Those dropouts
Wakatel Lu’um

Nice bike but interesting as Dario Pegoretti strictly says do not use an inline seat post with his bikes…
fignon’s barber

A Canyon Ult CF SLX followed the next day by a Pego! It’s too much. Every time I see a Pegoretti, my head just keeps saying “you only live once…go for it”. My next bike.
http://the10speedcognition.tumblr.com Thomas Hassler

These are the best bikes I have ever ridden. My love #3 out performs every carbon bike I have ever owned. Truely a master at work. This bike is Bananas!
SuperDom

It’s so great to see a beautiful custom paint job (rather than the ubiquitous black carbon styling you see everywhere). This is ART.
echidna_sg

when did Chris king start making inexpensive anything?? I think only campag record/SR cages are more expensive?
- Mark
  
  If you’re referring to the bottle cages, they’re made by King, not Chris King. See http://www.kingcage.com/