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Pinarello

Cicli Pinarello S.p.A. is an Italian bicycle manufacturer based in Treviso, Italy. Founded in 1953, it supplies mostly handmade bicycles for the road, track, E-bikes(NYTRO), mountain bikes and cyclo-cross. They also produce an in-house component brand – MOST.

Giovanni Pinarello [it] was born in Catena di Villorba, Italy in 1922. He was the eighth of 12 brothers. At the age of 15, Giovanni began making bicycles at the factory of Paglianti. After a successful amateur career he turned professional in 1947, aged 25. Pinarello died on 4 September 2014.

In December 2016, Pinarello sold a majority stake for a reported €90-million (US$134-million) in equity value to investment management firm L Catterton with Alantra acting as their advisor. In June 2023, L Catteron sold their stake for an estimated US$175-million to Ivan Glasenberg, the Swiss-South African billionaire and former chief executive officer of Glencore, with Houlihan Lokey acting as the advisor for the seller.

Originally, all Pinarello frames were steel. Pinarello used Columbus tubing for most of the 1980s but with tubing by Oria in the lower models in 1989. The first non-Italian tube was Tange Prestige for the US-based Levis Cycling team headed by Michael Fatka and ridden by Andrew Hampsten, Steve Tilford, Roy Knickmann, Thurlow Rogers in the mid-1980s. As noted above, the Banesto Line introduced in 1993 exclusively utilized Oria tubing: Oria Cromovan, Oria ML34, and Oria ML25. Throughout the 1990s until 2004, Pinarello produced frames from conventional steel tubing using lugs, oversize tubing, oversize aluminium with TIG welded joints, magnesium and frames of carbon fiber and other materials.

The Pinarello Montello SLX was a landmark model for Pinarello as this was the frame with which Pinarello achieved their first major pro victories. This model frame was one of the most responsive of the mid to late 1980s as shown by wins in events such as the Vuelta a España, the Giro d'Italia and stages of the Tour de France. The Montello had a brake cable through the top tube, chrome sloping front fork and chrome on the drive side chain stay; later models had the full rear triangle chromed. The Montello SLX was in red, blue and Spumoni. Pinarellos from the mid-1980s often have the decals restored by owners as factory-applied decals were prone to flaking off. The Montello was available in 2 versions: frame from Columbus SL with SLX fork, or fabricated from Columbus full SLX double butted tubing with rifling down the inside center. The bottom bracket was investment cast with the Pinarello logo and the dropouts were by Campagnolo. Braze-ons for down-tube shifters, front derailleur and two water bottles were provided. The GPT logo (for Giovanni Pinarello, Treviso) appeared in many locations.

The Pinarello Treviso was the second-in-line model under the Montello SLX in the mid-to-late '80's. Built with Columbus SL tubing, it featured a painted fork and seat stays, with chromed chain stays. This model also featured the sloping fork crown. On the road it is easily distinguished from the Montello by the single chrome chain stay. However, some older models of the Treviso (1981) did not have the chrome chain stay.

After the Montello SLX, Pinarello departed from his standard production design with parallel seat and head tube angles and created the Gavia. This provided more saddle setback than the Montello or other Pinarello designs. Greg LeMond, the winner of the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990, promoted designs that pushed the saddle further back. The Gavia was constructed of Columbus TSX tubing. This model was available in red, blue with pearl white panels and pearl white with fluorescent splatter.

The Banesto Line was released in 1993 following Miguel Indurain's first two Tour de France (1991 and 1992) and first Giro d'Italia (1992) wins. Based upon Indurain's preference, all Banesto Line frames were constructed with Oria tubing. The Banesto Line was headlined by Indurain's Time Trial bike, debuting at the 1992 Giro with a remarkable advance in steel frames as it featured Tig welded custom aerodynamic tubing and custom aerodynamic seat post with internal shifter and brake cable routing. This TT bike represented an early example, possibly the first, of experimentation with airfoil tubing in the pro peloton. Only three of these TT framesets are known to have been constructed. Prior to the 1992 Giro, Indurain had ridden a Banesto painted TT bike with a round tubeset. The Banesto Line included the Tig welded Ciclo Cromovan Record 93, the Ciclo ML 34 Record 93 with a chromed fork and chrome rear triangle as well as the Ciclo ML 25 Veloce 93. The Banesto Line were supplied with Campagnolo components, Mavic rims, Aci Inox spokes, Vittoria tires, ITM handlebars and Indurain's preferred Selle Italia Turbo saddles. Riding his Pinarello Banesto Line bicycles, Indurain was the last cyclist to win the Tour on a steel bicycle. In 1997, the steel Banesto Line had changed from the white frames to utilize standard Pinarello blue and white color schemes along with Banesto badging on the downtube. In 1998, the Banesto Line included the new Paris aluminum frameset and updated Pinarello logo.

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