RBA: How long have you been in the Italian frame business?
Bill: When I opened my bike shop in 1974 my first line of bikes was Maserati, built for Alfieri Maserati by the Fiorelli and Olmo shops. Around 1979 I brought in my first shipment of Pogliaghi frames directly from Italy, and from there I was really hooked. By the way, I was in Milan that year and visited Pogliaghi. I asked him if he would accept an order from me. He laughed and showed me a clipboard of orders more than four years old. I thanked the great man and moved on.
But one would have to date the real beginning of my Italian frame business to 1981. The Italian trade commission had an exposition in Los Angeles for Italians looking to export their bicycle products to the U.S. Having heard about it late, I arrived at about the last hour of the last day of the show. There, in a remote booth, was ex-pro Marcello Faggin and his daughter Christina with three terrific-looking bikes all snazzed up with pantographed (engraved and painted) parts. None of the visitors to the show were paying any attention to them. We became friends on the spot. Moreover, Marcello trusted me to take the full-Campy bikes he had in his booth and send him payment later. I managed to cram them in the back of my VW Scirocco and with that meeting the game was afoot. Within a year we were selling a thousand Faggin frames a year.

Two years later, seeking a super high-end frame to go along with the more economic Faggin frames, I went to the Milan show. There I met Antonio Mondonico who is still, in my opinion, the finest Italian builder of the last 25 years. Again, we became instant friends and to this day we are the distributor for Mondonico.

RBA: Is there something unique to Italian products that have drawn you to them?
Bill: Yes. The best Italian products are the result of a complex web of artisan tradition and close working relationships between riders, coaches, builders and raw material suppliers. When Columbus designed a kit that would allow frame builders to build a steel frame with a carbon monostay, the then-manager of Columbus, Claudio Marra, journeyed to the Mondonico shop and personally demonstrated the system to Antonio and Mauro Mondonico.

Michaelangelo didn’t just wake up one day and paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He served an apprenticeship under Ghirlandaio who was in turn taught and influenced by other masters who can be traced back to the beginning of the Renaissance. The same can be said of Italian frame builders. Antonio grew up in his father’s frame shop. He also worked for Colnago, Gianni Motta and with Guerciotti. Mondonico, Masi, Colnago and the others personally worked as team mechanics, learning directly the needs of the riders. Cycling knowledge is like pollen in the air, making Northern Italy fertile with genius. So today, even with the demand for a quantity of Italian products reduced, there is no other incubator that rivals Northern Italy.

RBA: How would you describe the evolution of frame building in Italy in the last 20 years?
Bill: It’s been driven hard by the needs of the professional riders. When I started, Italian frames were built of Columbus SL, made of Cyclex steel. This steel was the state of the art at the time, but required a lot of extra material to prevent frame breakage. By our current standards, the frames had to be heavy. Then, around 1990, Columbus developed the first alloy specifically designed for bike frames, Nivachrome. Man, what a change! The bikes became lighter and took on a new, resilient feeling.

But, when Gotti won the Giro in 1997 (I think I got this right) on an aluminum frame, the Italians went into shock, recovered and largely dropped steel and turned to aluminum. Now, with carbon frames still lighter, carbon rules. This has killed most Italian frame-building shops.

RBA: What are the attributes of steel frames that most people might not understand?
Bill: An intelligently designed steel frame gives a lively feel that makes riding a pleasure. Given that gap between the mid-1990s when steel was last king and today, almost no one understands how nice a bike can feel. Sure, a carbon frame can be light, but the transfer of information from the ground to the rider is just not the same. The stretch and give of a steel frame, especially when built with some nice cross-three hand-built wheels, is mostly a lost joy for today’s riders. Pity.

RBA: What is the impact of currency fluctuations with Italian imports?
Bill: The devaluation of the dollar has been like a Neutron bomb going off in the Italian cycling industry. The buildings are still standing, but lots of the people inside are dead. Back in the mid 1980s, the Milan show was a series of giant buildings filled with booths not only of the giants like Bianchi, but also jillions of booths of small shops, each with its unique and wonderful creations. They are largely gone, victims of both pricing and technology changes. We have been able to maintain relationships with frame builders with the old skills, but we have been forced to discontinue importing many Italian-made products, such as saddles, bars and stems, that can no longer compete in the world market.

RBA: Are there different “signature” building techniques between the big name frame makers? What about regional differences?
Bill: Each builder has his way of joining tubes and coming up with making a bike that ends up delivering the ride he envisions as optimal. In Italy, the basic regional difference was between Lombard builders, centered around Milan, and Veneto builders. Those of Veneto (like Faggin) tended to be more production oriented, always looking to produce bikes for a reasonable price. The Lombards, in general, are the greats, builders famous for building frames that still take our breath away. A list of those who immediately come to mind is a roster of the masters: Cinelli, Mondonico, Masi, Colnago, Pogliaghi, De Rosa.

RBA: It seems like there is a growing trend of “made in Italy” that actually comes from Taiwan—what is it about Italy that seems to make this possible? What is it about Italy that still carries such vaunted images of tradition unlike any other country?
Bill: There are those in Italy who buy products in Asia and label them “Made in Italy”. This is not only happening in the cycle industry. High fashion is being torn apart by couturiers who have goods made in Africa or Eastern Europe and label them Italian production. I don’t know if the solution is something like the Swiss have come up with. I think the Swiss government owns the trademark for “Made is Switzerland” and “Swiss Made”. Therefore, they can control the use of these appellations.  In such a chaotic and freewheeling country as Italy, I don’t see that happening. I think there has been some clarity emerging and the Italians understand that they can’t foul their nest. I’m seeing some items with “Italian Design” labels now. I think the situation is better than it was a couple of years ago.