You've been building bikes for a long time and have seen many changes and innovations. Some good and some bad. What are you excited about for the future of custom bike building? Also what makes you scared, concerned or worried about the future of custom bike building?

That’s a beautiful question, in my opinion, because it’s something I think about often. Over the last twenty years, bicycles have changed tremendously. Today's racing bikes look like futurist machines. And in a way, that’s also beautiful, because it has brought many innovations to the world of cycling.

For example, mechanically speaking, I’ve come to appreciate disc brakes in recent years. At first I didn’t think their engineering was complete when they came out, they were too fragile. But over time we’ve seen that they truly work well — they offer better functionality and greater safety. And of course, all of this has changed the bicycle.

As for frames, I really like today’s design. Modern bicycles have a very futuristic aesthetic. However, what I like less is that all this future-oriented design has taken away some of the craftsmanship. Today we create a design and a project, but we also need the help of design studios and engineers. In the past, we were much more craftsmen, artisans. I used to spend all my energy perfecting my craft when I began working with steel. The only factor was my skill, my craftsmanship. Today we are much more engineers. That has changed.

Honestly, I’ve adapted to this way of working. But for someone like me, who was born building steel frames, it wasn’t easy at the beginning. It was a very strong change. That said, I do like today’s bicycles. I enjoy the research into materials. Finding new materials and trying to create something new is always more difficult, but it’s also a beautiful challenge. It pushes me to improve and to keep searching for something better.

We may have reached a point where bicycles have achieved the maximum of what can be done. Changes to the future of the racing bicycle, I’m not sure whether it will only be changes to the design or whether it will bring real technical solutions. What worries me is if in the future if that changes are only to the design, and we are not able to create technical improvements.

When we all chose to work with carbon, it was a revolutionary material — exceptional, with incredible qualities. That was a major innovation in the bicycle world. Today there are many types of carbon, even new-generation carbon that is excellent. But it’s still carbon.

Until there is a truly new innovative material, bicycles may change in design alone, but not in product quality or technical material improvements. And when bicycles change only for design, there’s a risk of creating something that only pleases the eye, not something that improves quality.

What concerns me is the possibility that craftsmanship could disappear — that frames could become so extreme in design, that we handmade frame builders could no longer build a truly custom frame. That the big bike manufacturers popularize a shape, a design that can only be achieved with machines. We might be forced into standard sizes with little room for choice. Perhaps there will still be the possibility to build a unique product, to use the best carbon, to make something handmade. But maybe the era of the fully custom-built bicycle for the client could end.

A client may still come to Formigli because they wants high-quality materials. That can be done. But we have to see whether today’s and tomorrow’s design trends will restrict the production of a truly custom frame. That could concern me.

For other things, I’m not worried. Over the years, we’ve always adapted to what the market asked for. When aluminum came out, we made beautiful aluminum frames. Today with carbon, we started making traditional carbon frames like the FGR, which we still produce and sell. When aerodynamic frames became necessary, we created the RF, then the ONE, then the ZERO. The ZERO is very innovative.

What concerns me is seeing bicycles like some— they are design solutions that, in my opinion, don’t make sense. Companies today try to create curiosity without bringing real innovation. That worries me — that customers might get used to products made popular because of the way they look, that don’t really have substance. And then you’re forced to follow that direction, because everyone does it and customers expect it.

But I believe it will take many years before that happens, because fortunately people still see bicycles as bicycles, not motorcycles. For example, there are still many people who want traditional rim brakes because they don’t like disc brakes. What worries me is that the future of bicycles could become too extreme — so extreme that it leaves no room for personal ideas. A car always has an engine you can work on mechanically. A bicycle, in the end, risks becoming only design.

I believe the bicycle industry is currently in a stationary moment. Everyone is trying to bring something new, but no one is truly bringing something new. There is a lack of real ideas. It’s a transitional period. Now instead of changing the frame, we are changing the rider’s position, to achieve results. Because we’ve reached a point where the frame can’t change much more — so the only thing left to change is the rider.

It’s possible that in a few years we might return to building simpler bicycles. That could happen — and for me, that would be better. Bicycles today are very complex, very futuristic. They look like airplanes. Maybe in a few years people won’t want bicycles that look like gliders or aircraft. Maybe they’ll want something simpler again. And the future could bring that return to simplicity. That’s why in my future plans, I’m thinking about creating a new frame model very close to the FGR — with simpler lines, but newly engineered. I would like to make a frame similar to the FGR, with slightly smaller tubes, but with full internal cable integration. A traditional-looking frame with modern functionality. Today, strangely enough, a frame that returns to tradition makes more of an impact than one that looks futuristic — because all frames now look futuristic. There’s a lot of design, but not much substance.

The ZERO is in fact faster than its predecessor, The ONE. A few years ago when I designed the ZERO, I was still able to make design changes that brought real results. The ZERO turned out very well. I consider it one of the best frames available — not because I made it, but because it was designed with a very technical and high-performance system. But I believe that without innovative materials in the future, improvements I could make to the next carbon frameset will be very small. We’ve reached a point where we can improve by half a second, not by a full second.

If I compare it to Formula One, we’re at the limit. That’s why I believe it will take time before we see something truly new again. That’s my view.

Thank you Brett for writing in, and enjoying a virtual espresso and chat with me, come visit me in Florence. My new showroom is just being designed, and we hope to begin renovations in the next month to open the showroom late summer/fall.

Saluti,

Renzo Formigli