In our never ending quest to find unique and exciting bikes in the nooks and crannies and far recesses of the cycling market, we discovered DeAnima Cicli (or was it they found us ? 😉 )
What’s special about the Italian brand, is that they design and manufacture all of their frames in Italy. In an industry overwrought with outsourcing to far away lands, and the heritage and DNA of iconic brands being stretched to the maximum, it’s refreshing to see a product crafted with it’s cultural homogeneity intact.
DeAnima makes just two custom models at this time – the Carbon Unblended and a traditional steel bike called the Strada Unblended. Here’s their ditty.
We believe that in a moment when all of the big brands are essentially offering the same thing, that we want to offer something different than what is on the market. Our choice has come about partly by the desire to recuperate some of the traditional working methods and to keep alive the tradition of Italian frame building, but at the same time to transform it and bring it into modern times. It is for this reason that we have selected carbon as the new frontier and steel as the traditional. We produce – for the moment – just 2 models.
One, road and track, made using traditional lugged steel. We use Deda tubing with the other elements being selected to the required design. Classic geometry with a level top tube. The second, our road frame in carbon, is made to measure and the joints are wrapped. This technique allows us to personalise the geometry of the frame to the riders physical dimensions. All the tubes used to make the frame are made from our designs and are all manufactured in Italy. For this frame we have chosen to use geometry with a lightly slopping top tube.
For both the steel and the carbon, while having a standard geometry chart, we prefer to make made to measure frames for our customers. This approach, not the norm, does not make a great difference to the delivery time and does not make any difference to the final price. We aim to deliver all frames in 6 weeks from date of order.
Production Process
Our frames made from carbon fibre and use wrapped joints. The use of carbon fibre is not something you learn overnight, we started using carbon fibre at the beginning of 2000 when carbon fibre made its entry into the world of cycling.
Everything is born with design of the tubes and the mould construction. Very important is how the layers of carbon fibre are layered up in the moulds, the layup has a big effect on the rigidity of the structure. Making a frame starts by mitering the tubes to the required design, inserting them into the frame jig and bonding the joints. Once the frame has been been cooked in the oven the frame is removed from the jig and the joints are then wrapped. The frame is then bagged, the air removed, and put in the oven to be cooked. Once removed from the oven we then lightly sandpaper the wrapped joints to flatten the joints and a coat of resin is applied. The frame is then sandpapered all over, checked for alignment and finishing before being painted. The paint can be chosen from our standard designs or we are able to to customised designs if required.
Before the advent of sloping frames the standard was to have a made to measure frame. Behind the philosophy of the sloping frame is the standardisation of the the frame sizes which allows you to go from a traditional production method to a semi-industrial. To have a range with just 3 or 4 sizes instead of at least 10 brings a sizeable cost reduction. At this point we need to ask ourselves a question – It is necessary to have a made to measure frame? We think that for the most part the answer is yes. Yes because we are all different, in our anthropometric measurements, in the way we pedal and use the bicycle. Yes because its in the tradition of frame building.
Graphics & Color
All the frames are spray painted by hand, we do not use any type of transfers. The frames are first sanded down to the raw frame material and then a primer is applied. The actual chosen frame designs are applied using stencils that are cut from vector files, the paint is then sprayed onto the stencil and then removed leaving the desired design. For each colour there is a stencil, meaning that for most designs we do multiple stencils are required and layered. It is a very labour intensive way of spaying frames and can take many hours to complete just one frame.
Colors and Designs will be posted on here very soon. But we can work with any colour that is in the widely available RAL color chart.
Carbon Unblended
The road frame in carbon fibre is assembled and then wrapped. This way of building allows us to personalise the geometry based on the client. All the tubes are made using our designs and all produced in Italy. In this case we have chosen a geometry using a slightly sloping top tube. Custom tubeset, headset bearings are 1 1/2” lower and 1 1/8” upper, seat tube diameter is 31.7, band on 35mm front deraileur. Option of 3T fork.
Construction: Frame sections use Toray 7000 carbon fibre formed using custom aluminum molds, vacuum bagging and internal bladders. The frame is made using a 1 piece rear seat stay, 1 piece chain stay and bottom bracket, 1 piece down tube and head tube. Cut and mitered to each order and then hand wrapped and hand finished.
Joining method: Hand wrapped carbon fibre and oven cured.
Finishing: 100% paint finish using custom stencils and hand sprayed using aerograph.
Sizes: 48 to 62cm.
Weight: 850g
Strada Unblended No.2
The road version of our lugged frame, simple and clean. Available in both standard sizes and made to measure. Finished using the DeAnima retro finish including stainless steel head badge.Photos coming soon.
Its the most classic way to build a bicycle frame and its the the Italian tradition. Until the middle of the 80’s it was the standard. You join a set of tubes with lugs, braze it all together using brass and finish it by filing. We use Dedacciai tubing and LongShen lugs. Classic geometry made to measure. Main triangle diameters 28.6, 28.6, 31.7, lugs by Long Shen, flat fork crown, seat post diameter 27.2, braze on front deraileur.
Pista Unblended No.3
For those that want a modern day classic but without the gears. Available in both standard sizes and made to measure. Finished using the DeAnima retro finish including stainless steel head badge.
Its the most classic way to build a bicycle frame and its the the Italian tradition. Until the middle of the 80’s it was the standard. You join a set of tubes with lugs, braze it all together using brass and finish it by filing. We use Dedacciai tubing and LongShen lugs. Classic geometry made to measure. Main triangle diameters 28.6, 28.6, 31.7, lugs by Long Shen, flat fork crown, seat post diameter 27.2.
http://www.deanima.it/eng/index.php
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