Oh dear. Yet another bicycle that makes us weak in the knees here at Cycle Chic. And goodness me, another Italian make. This affair has got to stop. Meet the much too fine bicycles from Orco Cicli, out of Milano. Above is the Preta Donna, that cheeky vixen.
From Orco Cicli's website:
We don’t make bikes in series, we make them by hand one at a time: the measurements, the colour, the accessories and components can all be changed. What remains the same, is the geometry of the frames, the passion and care with which they are made and our trademark discreetly placed on the stem and on the rear case that holds the bike’s worksheet: you can remove it and use the case as a cigarette paper or business card holder.
How cool is that?! A little case holding the bike's worksheet but that can be used to hold rolling paper or business cards!
Anyway, back to business. If The Preta Donna is a cheeky vixen, then god knows what the Nilde Donna gets up to after dark. I shudder excitedly just thinking about it.
The boys are just as precocious, it would appear. The Amadeo Uomo, for example. Thank goodnes Orco Cicli only have five base models to choose from otherwise I'd go quite mad.
Oh, and lovely bicycle bell. Well, I thought it was a bell, but it's a gear shifter thingy.
Here's a film about the three chaps who started the company. It's in Italian, which is lovely to listen to even if you don't parlo.
Orco Cicli are based in Milano.
www.orcociclia.com
Their bicycles start at €1300.
Read the Cycle Chic post about their hand-painted bicycles here.
you dont parli :)
ReplyDeleteWhat bell? All I see is a shifter for the three speed rear hub.... Val
ReplyDeletethats not a bell you bell end
ReplyDeleteto be precise its a 2 dollar sturmey archer gear shifter
ReplyDeleteHey, anonymous, that's not entirely correct.
ReplyDeleteIt's a 2-dollar Sturmey Archer gear shifter with a badge on it.
I must say, even if I didn't want to ride a mountainbike I'd never eschew the technological advances of the last fifty years and use rod-activated rim-brakes when there are so many more stylish and efficient options.
It's true though that the sturmey-archer hubs of old were so over-designed that they could last 50 years or more, and that steel-frames did not, like alu-frames of today, develop flex and elasticity after a few years of use.
It's nice, of course, that someone is upholding old craftmanship, but not so nice if they're also holding on to outmoded trappings of times gone by.
The bikes do look nice, though.
I know it's old, old tech but, there is something beautiful about those old lever and rod brakes.
ReplyDeleteThose frames look exactly like Abici's "donna" frames.
ReplyDeleteI guess you can't get too much so very chic Italian brand to fill designer store windows...
And now that I think of it, those are the exact same frames on Bellacio's bikes, from 28 march. How genuine. How traditional.
ReplyDeleteThis is embarassing.
I found other bikes of Orco Cicli here
ReplyDeletehttp://orcocicli.blogspot.com/
and i think are different from Abici or Bellacio: the geometry of frames are different!
Those bikes aren't made to be ridden after dark... or do you want to clip on a beautiful, stylish black palstic LED blinkeything on it?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful though. Rod brakes do look fabulous, but I'm not quite sure why you'd go for them with a lighter-looking build and racey riding position (handlebars) like the men's model has.
Well, maybe not racey. It might just be the angle of that pic.
ReplyDeleteHey, look at that !
ReplyDeleteFrom 350 to 650€, the same bikes from the original manufacturer, Taurus. Fitted with lights and racks.
http://www.cicliservadei.it/webstore/taurus/taurus.asp
http://www.taurusbiciclette.it/bici/taurus04.htm
I am not sure the Taurus its the same bikes. The mudguards, the rims, and the crank are different, and pheraps the frame is not the same..
ReplyDeletehaha... i uploaded the wrong photo. it should have been a bell. thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that I don't understand a word in the vdo... but kind of think he was saying,
ReplyDelete"Look at those jerk riding mountain bike around town.. how impractical.. our bike will make you look cuter.."