OUR LEGACY
The Italian region of Veneto has been home to memorable moments in cycling.
As a land with a rich cycling heritage, the Veneto region is also where Giovanni Battaglin, one of the greatest cyclists of all time, was born and raised.
Giovanni Battaglin made history by winning the Giro d’talia and the Vuelta a Espana in the same year, the only Italian cyclist capable of achieving such a feat.
He turned professional in 1973, debuting in his first Giro d’Italia among champions as Merckx, Gimondi, Fuente, and taking an impressive 3rd place. During his long career, he won 84 races. He took part to 10 Tours of Italy, 5 Tour de France and 8 World Championships.
In 1981, he achieved the top of his cycling career by winning the Vuelta and the Giro D’Italia. The eponymous bike brand was born right after his most important result. Everything started in a little workshop in Marostica, with the help of Giovanni’s most trusted mechanic. In winter 1981 they showed the world their first prototypes, which beared the name of their creator’s most prestigious victories, namely the “Giro” and the “Vuelta”.
The two models received excited responses and positive feedback when they were presented at all the most important cycling exhibitions.The company’s partners included some of the most important Italian and international brands who shared Giovanni’s vision and decided to give him their total support. Soon after many athletes started to use Battaglin’s bicycles, but the real consecration came in 1987, when Stephen Roche won the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the World Championship riding a Battaglin bike.
From there, the company’s partners grew to include some of the most important Italian and international brands, who shared Giovanni’s vision and decided to give him their total support.
Soon after many riders began riding Battaglin’s bicycles, but the real consecration came in 1987, when Stephen Roche won the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the World Championship riding a Battaglin bike.
Business grew quickly, and Battaglin became one of the most important Italian manufacturers in the field.
The company started experimenting with new and lighter materials: first aluminum, then carbon.
Then, in 2014, a new collection was born.
With the major brands outsourcing the production of carbon frames in South East Asia, Giovanni decided to go against the tide.
He wanted to go back to brazing steel frames, just like he used to do in the late 80s and 90s before aluminium and carbon became the de facto standard for bicycle production.
That’s how the Officina Battaglin brand was born, a collection of road frames handcrafted in Italy under Giovanni’s supervision and using the original process, machinery and craftsmen.
With the Officina Battaglin steel frames, Giovanni Battaglin is reviving his legacy, being the only Italian steel maker to have significant experience with steel in the peloton.
Interview to Giovanni Battaglin
I love cycling. It’s pure passion for me. I’ve dedicated all my life to this sport, which has given me so much. In 1981, after achieving the Giro-Vuelta double, I founded my own bicycle brand. We started out as three people, two mechanics and me. Even if in the following years the business grew, I’ve always taken part personally in the development of new products.I’ve always been fascinated by the mechanics of the road bicycle. As a bicycle producer, I’ve tried to transfer the feelings and the dynamics of professional racing to my eponymous products.I could say that I came up with my first invention in 1978, when I was still riding as a professional. At the time, we used to ride 6-speed bicycles. The evening before a stage race that included a very hard ascent in the course, I tried to find a solution that would enable me to climb faster and easier. I needed a lower gear, so I designed and built an extra chainset. The following day, I dropped my chain on it, and I won the stage. It was the first time a triple chainset was used. Then, every major brand in the industry copied and started producing it. There’s another anecdote that describes well why I got into making road bicycles in the first place. It was 1982, I was riding for the Team Carrera and I was managing the bicycle production at Battaglin Cicli as well. The Battaglins were the bicycles supplied to the team.
I love cycling. It’s pure passion for me.
I’ve dedicated all my life to this sport, which has given me so much.
In 1981, after achieving the Giro-Vuelta double, I founded my own bicycle brand. We started out as three people, two mechanics and me. Even if in the following years the business grew, I’ve always taken part personally in the development of new products.I’ve always been fascinated by the mechanics of the road bicycle.
As a bicycle producer, I’ve tried to transfer the feelings and the dynamics of professional racing to my eponymous products.I could say that I came up with my first invention in 1978, when I was still riding as a professional.
At the time, we used to ride 6-speed bicycles. The evening before a stage race that included a very hard ascent in the course, I tried to find a solution that would enable me to climb faster and easier.
I needed a lower gear, so I designed and built an extra chainset. The following day, I dropped my chain on it, and I won the stage.
It was the first time a triple chainset was used. Then, every major brand in the industry copied and started producing it.
There’s another anecdote that describes well why I got into making road bicycles in the first place.
It was 1982, I was riding for the Team Carrera and I was managing the bicycle production at Battaglin Cicli as well. The Battaglins were the bicycles supplied to the team.
We started exploring what was possible to do with new materials, and we created one of the first-ever carbon frames, the Pirana. Thanks to our collaboration with FIR, we also made carbon wheels and tested the bike in the wind tunnel. Roberto Visentini was supposed to ride the Pirana at the Giro d’Italia’s time trial. It was so revolutionary and fast that the judges of the Giro banned it! Their verdict was that it would have given too much advantage to our rider, outperforming any other bike in the peloton. In the end, the Pirana never saw the starting line. However, many magazines worldwide talked about it, underscoring our attitude towards innovation.
We started exploring what was possible to do with new materials, and we created one of the first-ever carbon frames, the Pirana.
Thanks to our collaboration with FIR, we also made carbon wheels and tested the bike in the wind tunnel.
Roberto Visentini was supposed to ride the Pirana at the Giro d’Italia’s time trial. It was so revolutionary and fast that the judges of the Giro banned it!
Their verdict was that it would have given too much advantage to our rider, outperforming any other bike in the peloton.
In the end, the Pirana never saw the starting line. However, many magazines worldwide talked about it, underscoring our attitude towards innovation.
THE VALUE OF MANUAL SKILLS
With the 2019 collection, Officina Battaglin unveils the latest innovations in the field, combined with the finest craftsmanship, the best materials and Italian-made finishes. Our artisans play a fundamental part in the process of frame construction.
It’s the attitude towards sophisticated details that mark the difference between a mass-produced frame and a handcrafted one, built from scratch for you.
TECHNOLOGY
Design, materials and the most trusted equipment are all crucial to manufacturing a high end frame, but the true added value lies in our expert craftsmen’s ability. Their expertise has been growing and renewing every day for the past 30 years.
All Officina Battaglin frames are strictly made in Italy. They are no-compromise “ Made in Italy “ products in terms of design, materials and finishing options. This ensures each of them complies to the highest originality and excellence standards.
A handmade Italian frame and a mass product are so different, but details are a key differentiating factor, such as Battaglin’s time-honored approach to artisan framebuiding, relying on proven old-world craftsmanship combined with the latest in materials.
Customized painting, perhaps the most spectacular step makes each individual’s frame an expression of his or her feelings and emotions. Moreover, our custom paint service allows you to choose from a wealth of tailored details for your Officina Battaglin model and pick your favorite color from a rich palette.
2019 COLLECTION Power+, Power+ Disc, San Luca, Marosticana, Portofino
There’s a story worth knowing behind every frame we make.
The geometry, the finishes or the paint job can tell you so much about what to expect from the Officina Battaglin workshop. But each frame’s most distinctive features come from a Grand-Tour rider’s real experience riding steel bikes.
Giovanni Battaglin tested everything in the pro peloton, in all road conditions. He knows what affects the ride quality and how to achieve the desired result when designing his eponymous frames.
That’s something you’ll feel when you ride one of the Officina Battaglin steel bikes.
Officina Battaglin’s 2019 collection comprises the Power+, Power+ Disc, San Luca, Marosticana and Portofino framesets, which extol the virtues of a handcrafted steel road bike for the discerning enthusiast.
The Power+ is built from the latest Columbus Spirit HSS triple butted tubeset. Steel may have abdicated as the material of choice for the majority of cyclists, but Columbus has never stopped being the first contributor to innovation in its field.
Featuring oversized tube profiles, the Spirit HSS are the first step towards a lightweight steel frame which lends itself to racy aesthetics.
Fillet-brazed construction
The Power+ is built using fillet-brazed construction.
Fillet-brazing is art. It’s the most sophisticated way to build a steel bicycle frame. After carefully mitering the ends of the tubes on a precision machine to make sure the fit is perfect, the frame builder melts a filler metal in the gap between the two pieces at a temperature below steel’s melting point. Getting sculpted joints as those you can see in photos requires a lot of hard work and years of practice.
To save grams on the frameset without compromising stiffness, the Power+ features a carbon monocoque fork. The fork is one of the most important parts of the bike for control, so it’s crucial to ensure strength and lateral rigidity.
The Power+ Disc has everything you’re looking for when you choose to ride a handmade modern steel bike.
It’s the disc version of the Officina Battaglin Power+, a frame that has created happy cyclists all over the world, with a new blue paint job that sets it apart from its predecessor.
The Power+ Disc is designed to blend the traditional Italian craftsmanship with the latest technology, providing a smooth ride and great stopping power in any road condition.
To avoid power loss, eliminate disc-brake vibrations and improve the bike’s handling, the Power+ Disc features 142×12 mm thru-axles front and rear.
With disc brakes and more tire clearance, the rear triangle needs to be longer. The rear thru-axle increase stiffness to the rear ends, making the bike prompter in sudden accelerations.
Top features
SAN LUCA
“One day, together with a friend of mine, we went to see a cycling race near San Luca, the small village where we lived.
As we followed the race, which was taking place on a challenging climb, we said to each other ‘well, we can ride just as fast as these riders!’
That winter we enrolled in a team, the Velo Junior Nove, which would be my first team ever.
And after 3 years, we both turned pro”
From watching a cycling race in San Luca – a small village in Northern Italy – to the top step of a Grand-Tour’s podium.
That’s the real story of how Giovanni Battaglin, the legendary cyclist capable of winning tow Grand-Tours in 46 days, started his career.
He didn’t stop to San Luca, and he didn’t stop to his victories as a pro in the 80s.
After 50 years of watching that race, Giovanni Battaglin is still riding fast with a new addition to his eponymous collection.
The San Luca is an artisanal steel frame with a clean and essential modern look.
It’s built to deliver what you would expect from a steel road frame blending the Italian frame building tradition with modernity: a comfortable ride that doesn’t make you feel beaten up after a long day in the saddle while allowing you to push harder when you want to.
Thanks to a 40-year collaboration, Columbus customized the Spirit tubeset to Giovanni’s specifications. The result was triple-butted Omnicrom tubing that offers significant advantages in terms of weight and strength.
The San Luca junctions are TIG welded by experienced Italian frame builders.
This specific welding technique creates strong bonds between the steel tubes, ensuring the perfect balance between steel’s comfort and the reactivity of the frame.
The carbon monocoque fork adds strength and rigidity to the steering, providing reliable and predictable handling that will inspire you to pedal fast in any condition.
Custom size experience
Like every frame at Officina Battaglin, the San Luca is made to order after Giovanni Battaglin’s thorough examination of your body measurements.
His consultancy and custom frame design brings you the fitting expertise of a Grand-Tour winner that you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
Marosticana is the classic Officina Battaglin steel frame which comes with a chrome-plated finish. It bears the name of the road that crosses the verdant plains at the base of the Venetian foothills and runs through the medieval town of Marostica, where the adventure of Giovanni Battaglin both as a professional rider and an entrepreneur began.
Marosticana is a lugged frameset with a classic look, enhance by the chrome-plated finish. It’s meant to be built either with vintage or modern components , so if won’t be hard to be fully satisfied with the final result.
Lugged construction represents the Italian framebuilding tradition.
Italians craftsmen were the masters of this technique.Most important of all, framesets built with lugs are the most comfortable ones.
A chrome –plating finish will increase the Marosticana’s durability.
The secret of such an Elixir of Life lies in large chrome tanks, where experienced workers will dip the frameset during the chrome-plating process.
PORTOFINO
He’s holding a brass rod in one hand, and he’s just fired up the braze torch in the other.
He’s moving them carefully around the joint of the frame he’s building.
If you’re familiar with this process, you might think that a classic lugged frame is taking shape.
You’ll be amazed to see that object being built from steel tubing and cast lugs looks radically different from what you’d expect.
Giovanni Battaglin, the man behind his eponymous brand Officina Battaglin, wanted to modernize the overall look of a lugged bike built with the traditional Italian techniques.
That’s how the Portofino project was started: the creation of a lugged steel frame bringing all the modern features you would expect from a road bike. It bears the name of an Italian village known all over the world for its breathtaking scenery.
As a bicycle manufacturer in the field since 1981, Giovanni Battaglin has thousands of lugged frames under his belt.
But to create something that didn’t exist, he had to start from scratch.
The engineering process took place at the Battaglin headquarter, over the course of almost two years.
1. DEVELOPING CUSTOM SPECS FOR COLUMBUS SPIRIT HSS TUBING
The steel bicycle frame is a bunch of tubes joined together, and the tube set play a significant part in defining the shape of the frame: the first impression you’ll get of a road bike will always come from the tubing silhouette.
With its thin walls and oversize profiles, the triple-butted Columbus Spirit HSS were Giovanni’s first choice.
We chose the standard version of the top tube and of the big, fat down tube that accommodates wider graphics, making for a contemporary look.
However, to exploit the full potential of this design, we asked Columbus to produce our own specifications for the seat tube, the rear stays and the tapered head tube.
The 1”⅛ 1”¼ head tube is CNC-machined, to maintain the tubing’s properties
2. NEW LUG SHAPES
If you like the kind of springy feel that only a steel frame can give, then you should include a lugged frame into your wish list.
But how exactly do lugs make your days in the saddle so enjoyable?
Lugs are small steel sleeves that surround the tubes at the joints. When brazing, the builder melts a brass rod into the tiny space between the tube and the lugs.
Brass has a lower melting point than steel, so it creates strong bonds without overheating steel (excessive heat can be very dangerous for the integrity of lightweight and thin-walled tubing like the Columbus Spirit HSS).
The lugs also increase the joint area, allowing stresses to distribute over a wider surface and therefore damping vibrations better. That’s why the old lugged steel racing bikes are still the most comfortable bikes ever built.
From the beginning, the purpose of the Portofino project was changing the status quo of lugged construction so you can benefit from a level of comfort you’ve never experienced on a contemporary racing bike.
To achieve that, we needed to create lugs in specific shapes and diameters that could accommodate the oversize tubing. It was especially challenging with the head tube, and we’re proud to say that the Portofino features the first-ever set of lugs designed for a tapered steering.
3. SHAPING A STATE-OF-THE-ART PROPRIETARY CARBON FORK
Since the arrival of modern steel tubing, the combination with a carbon fork has proved to be an effective way to save weight and add stiffness.
The Portofino will work only with our proprietary carbon fork, designed with a specific offset to match the head tube lug.
Do you remember that there was a time when racing bikes could be built in almost twenty different sizes?
A time when just a few millimeters could make all the difference in improving the pedaling efficiency and the comfort of the cyclist.
It was the age of classic geometries with a horizontal top tube. The frame builder had to know exactly how to transfer the cyclist’s body proportions to the frame.
With the Portofino, we’re offering 1-centimeter size increments to build a frame that will fit you perfectly.
However, what really makes the Portofino’s sizing process unique is Giovanni’s experience in the field with all-time champions.
He’s the only Grand-Tour winner managing a bicycle brand in person, and that’s something you’ll feel when you ride a Portofino bike built from scratch for you, after discussing with him how the geometry influences the ride feel.
The BSA bottom bracket is the best solution we could choose for the Portofino.
The BSA thread has stood the test of time, showing to be the most efficient standard among all the different options available these days.
Here are the 4 advantages of using a BSA-threaded shell:
The large slot under the bottom bracket shell has two functions:
A lightweight carbon plate closes the cavity, keeping everything in place.
No finish is as mesmerizing as the cromovelato. For a frame named after one of the most beautiful Italian destinations, we chose the most stunning Italian combination of polishing, chrome-plating and painting.
Engraving is the most distinctive way to adorn a steel frame with tasteful details. However, if not done properly, it can also lead to damaging the tubing. That’s why we rely on the advice of our pantographer, who has decades of experience in etching bicycle parts.
OFFICINA BATTAGLIN LAUNCHES NEW MAN OF STEEL VIDEO SERIES
Officina Battaglin has launched the first episode of its new video series called The Man of Steel.
In The Man of Steel, Giovanni Battaglin takes you inside the workshop where he builds his eponymous steel frames and bikes.
Over the course of 9 videos, he unveils the “secret formula” he’s been using to make some of the most successful and iconic steel bikes in the late 80s and 90s – like Stephen Roche’s Triple Crown bike.
Passionate cyclists will be able to have a closer look at the special machinery for custom bikes, and listen to some of the stories from Giovanni’s racing career.
“It’s a huge effort for a small company like us to commit to producing high-quality video content like this. It’s very time-consuming”, said Alex Battaglin, Officina Battaglin’s brand manager and Giovanni’s son.
“But we wanted our customers to see how their steel frames are made. We’re proud of the final result, and we can’t wait to launch the complete series.”
Since Giovanni Battaglin only speaks Italian, all of the episodes will feature English voice-over. This way an international audience will be able to listen and understand even the most technical explanations.
The series will be released in April, and the first episode is available on the home page of Officina Battgalin’s website.
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