The new Pegoretti Elio is an “unashamedly pure road racing bike,” according to the brand founded by Dario Pegoretti. It is named after the son of Leonardo Dalla Mura, a welder, painter and photographer who has been working with Pegoretti for six years, and represents an evolution for the Italian bottega. Made from custom-spec stainless-steel Columbus XCr, the Elio is described as a “reinterpretation of Italian road bike design with modern appointments and elegance at its core”: it is the first Pegoretti with internal routing, it is UDH compatible, electronic groupset only, and has clearance for 32mm tyres.
Dario Pegoretti, who died in 2018, built for top riders including Miguel Indurain and Marco Pantini in the 1980s and 1990s, when pros rode custom frames made by their chosen framebuilder underneath the paint of their bike sponsors, but he continued to innovate into the 21st century under his own name and pioneered TIG welding and oversized tubing so that metal frames could compete with the stiffness of the new material, carbon-fibre.
Pegoretti’s master framebuilder Pietro Pietricola, who worked alongside Dario, emphasises that as ever, despite the modern tech the Elio is still a 100 per cent handmade bicycle: "When you use your hands to work steel, you feel a sense of balance in every meaning of the word… from the first turn of the cranks riders will sense its depth and poise.”
Although both custom and standard geometries are available, Pegoretti points out that the Elio has a slightly lowered centre of gravity compared to other models; it is designed for confident cornering with a faster and a more balanced ride feel. Pegoretti is renowned for pioneering oversized tubing and the Elio’s down tube is the largest yet at 42mm in diameter. The top tube tapers from 35mm to 31.7mm where it meets the seat tube, and the head tube is a wide 56mm in order to accommodate internal routing.
The Elio uses a straight-bladed, aero optimised fork and there are of course multiple cockpit solutions, such as a Chris King headset and ENVE bar/stem pairing, or any stem with a 25mm internal diameter and the customer’s choice of internal routing-compliant bar.
As for the paint, in our view the first choice ought to be Pegoretti’s signature ‘Ciavete’. Originally Dario Pegoretti’s speciality, this is achieved through improvising and hand-painting in a freeform, often abstract style, meaning each Ciavete is a unique composition, inspired by the moment and completed in one immersive, uninterrupted session. Or for the more conservative there are conventional solid colours and geometric designs.
Pricing starts at €5,500 for the ‘chassis’, which comprises the Elio disc frame, fork and a single colour paint scheme. Head to Pegoretti's website for all the details.
