In 2013 I visited the Eurobike trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, which housed all the latest offerings in the world of cycling technology in eleven buildings. There was plenty of carbon and electronic drivetrains and so forth but I was enticed by the offerings on display by Italian framebuilders who were still following a traditional path. The Tommasini display, where I spoke with founder Irio Tommasiniβs daughter Barbara, displayed a number of beautiful steel frames. There might have been a couple with carbon forks and TIG welding rather than lugs but the emphasis was on quality.
Later that year I noticed that my mechanic in Dusseldorf was building up a pair ot Tommasinis, one road and one track, for a customer and again I was struck by how beautiful they were. He was keen to get a vintage track bike I owned for his collection and we worked out a deal that I would trade that to him for a new Tommasini frame. But he told me I would have to go to Tuscany and get measured for it, which I was happy to do as part of a planned excursion to spectate at the Tour de Romandie in 2014.
Arriving in Grosseto, I was met by Barbara and we began our chat with an espresso before meeting her father. At the time he would have been 81 but was still very focused and I was able to interview him, with Barbara translating, about his career as a framebuilder and trends in cycling. Afterwards we went over to a piece of equipment for bike fitting and he measured me up for the new frame. Then I toured the workshop and met two of the then-five employees, and details as to paint scheme, fittings and so on were worked out with Barbara. All of this became the subject of one of my favourite pieces I wrote for Pezcyclingnews and can be found here: https://pezcyclingnews.com/features/best-of-pez14-tommasini-made-in-tuscany/
In 2023 the company was sold to a Milanese entrepreneur but the family retained a connection to it but my understanding is that Irio Tommasini was spending his time at the family olive farm. Meeting him in 2014 I was certain that it had been some years since he had made a frame with his own hands but his supervision of the shop and family involvement ensured that only bicycles of a very high standard would continue to bear his name.
With Irio Tommasiniβs passing on October 7th this year at the age of 91, another name has been added to the list of iconic Italian framebuilders who are gone from that generation. Ugo de Rosa died in 2023, aged 89, although Ernesto Colnago is still with us at 92. (Canadians will be gratified to know that Giuseppe Marinoni is planning to go for the One Hour Record when he reaches the next UCI age category, which appears to be 90+ as he is 87 now).
The Tommasini brand did keep up with the times and the current offerings include gravel bikes as well as road ones in steel, stainless steel and titanium, along with a pair of mountain bikes. They are all produced by hand at the workshop in Grosseto to the same high build and finish quality. What sets them apart from the bicycles we see heavily marketed around the world is that they are not being ridden by World Tour teams, nor are they tested in wind tunnels or made in giant factories in Taiwan or China from constantly changing designs worked up in Europe or the United States. They are examples of the finest craftsmanship and customization you can get in a bicycle and are thus characterized less by engineering than by experience and artisanship.
When he measured me a decade ago, Irio Tommasini pointed out I was neither slim nor flexible. He would perhaps be gratified to know that I have in fact lost weight since then and even done yoga to improve that stiffness. But something that has not changed is that each time I ride the Tommasini Tecno I still marvel at its beauty and ride quality, worthy of his signature that is on the top tube, a bit of Tuscan cycling magic.
The post Irio Tommasini: An Appreciation appeared first on PezCycling News.
