Dario Pegoretti, one of the most beloved and consequential bicycle frame builders, died unexpectedly on Thursday from a heart condition, according to the Italian website Cyclinside. He had previously survived a fight against lymphoma, in 2007, and had fully recovered.

Pegoretti, 62, was considered one of the great modern frame builders, even though his materials of choice were distinctly traditional. His frames are treasured by enthusiasts and collectors for both their exquisite ride quality and distinctive style.

While his craftsmanship was exceptional, Pegoretti was arguably as well known for his paint, including the wild ciavete (child’s graffiti) schemes inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Pegoretti took inspiration from other artists, too: You can see Mark Rothko’s influence in the NK Stucco scheme.

Music was another of Pegoretti’s great joys. His shop almost always played jazz, and his (discontinued) Great Googoolee Moogoolee model is named after a Frank Zappa lyric. The stainless-steel Responsorium references a 2001 album by Argentine bandoneón artist Dino Saluzzi.

Pegoretti was universally respected and admired. In a 2015 Bicycling profile, Richard Sachs, himself the admired dean of American frame builders, said, “[Pegoretti] has forgotten more than any of us here will ever know.”

More Images Pegoretti in his shop in Caldonazzo, Italy. Max & Douglas

Pegoretti apprenticed with master builder Luigi Milani, where he started sweeping the floors. Before he struck out with his own brand, Pegoretti built a reputation as a legendary “frame builder of trust” in the 1990s, designing and building frames for top pro racers like Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani, Mario Cipollini, and others.

His frames were painted and decaled in sponsor-correct graphics, although Pegoretti himself refused to ever confirm the names that were attached to his legend. “Everybody says Dario built a frame for this or that guy,” Pegoretti told CyclingWeekly in a 2011 interview. “I don’t think it is very important.”

“Pegoretti has forgotten more than any of us here will ever know.”

Pegoretti’s full creativity and genius could only truly be appreciated when he started building under his own name, in a small shop in Caldonazzo, a town in the Dolomites. Although Pegoretti built mostly in steel, he quickly attracted attention for his technical mastery, taking TIG welding—an unloved method of joining tubes—from the world of cheap mass-market bikes and adapting it to performance-steel road machines.

One design, the Big Leg Emma, was a jaw-dropping creation of oversize steel, with 22mm-diameter chainstays to stand up to high-watt sprints. On the downtube, slender and elongated hexagons betrayed a secret: laser-cut grooves on the horizontal axis that hid internal gussets for further stiffness.

That was just one example of Pegoretti’s creativity and skill. American cyclists came to know him when Giorgio Andretta, founder of importer Gita Sporting Goods, began selling Pegoretti’s frames in the US. America soon became one of his biggest markets.

To Pegoretti, cycling was a relationship: between the builder and frame, between builder and buyer, and between rider and bike. While Pegoretti’s frames became something of a fetish among art buyers, many of his creations are ridden, hard, every day. And maybe, if you are lucky enough to have one, that’s the best tribute.

See some of our favorite examples of Pegoretti’s work:

More Images Courtesy of Gita

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