Giro Mondo

Every year at the EICMA Milano show, the brothers Pegoretti come up with a showstopper. This year it's the Pegoretti Phileas, named for Phileas Fogg, the protagonist of Jules Verne's Around The World In 80 Days. Made of Columbus steel, the TIG-elded frame sports wooden rims and mudguards, a special Fizik Aliante saddle, FSA carbon fibre cranks and Campagnolo's new flat bar shifters.

Lug art lives!

not content with turning everyone on their ears with the Phileas, the Pegorettis have revamped their classic Luigino steel jewel with new, special lugs.

No Bull From FRM

Italian high-end component and bicycle maker FRM (named for founder Franco Ricci Mignani) isn't that well known off the boot, but the company's interesting, comprehensive range has a lot to offer. For 2005, FRM has an attractive new full carbon fibre ride called Brama. With a reported weight of 1,050g without fork, integrated 1 1/8in headset and a curvy rear triangle, FRM's Brama is available in five sloping sizes and custom sizing.

Brake light

Detail of FRM Brama rear triangle. The new new CL2TI brake is FRM's own take on the lightweight brake notion; CNC'ed from a solid block of 7075 aluminium, the stoppers are mounted on a single bolt and have TI hardware for a reported weight of 200g/pair.

PuMP up the volume

Another Italian component maker that offers interesting components is PMP, based near Bergamo. New for 2005 is their Micro Road 2 compact crankset and bottom bracket. One of the first proponents of the ever more popular compact crankset, PMP's new pedaler has cold forged and CNC'ed crank arms, mounted on external bearing bottom bracket (a la Shimano D/A 10) that offer a Q-Factor of 147mm.

The Cubes Live

The famous "cubetti" design of the vaunted Mapei squad no longer dominates the pro peloton, but Dr.Aldo Sassi's Mapei Sports Center in Castellanza, Italy is stil going strong. Sassi, who still coaches top riders like Cadel Evans, has launched an new initiative at EICMA Milano called WPT (Web Personal Trainer) that offers a unique approach to cycling training via the internet. More info at www.mapeisport.it.

Any colour you like...

... as long as it's (Gios) blue. Like Henry Ford, Alberto Gios prefers the monochromatic approach to colors and for the Torino, Italy firm, Gios Blue is "the winning blue". For 2005, top model for Gios is the Carbon Ultra model built with a Deda carbon fibre tubeset & Mizuno full carbin fork. Gios claims an average weight of 1040g for a Carbon Ultra frame without fork.

There may be something in what you say...

Bergamo firm DY&VY claims that their Xtreme Performance Cyber Cycle Shoes increase performance because they are contoured to your body to prevent lower limb fatigue and enhance muscular efficiency. "Don't wear out the smaller muscles but push the stronger ones to the limit." Oookaaaay...

Paola Power

Although she had a disappointing comeback this year, when Cyclingnews caught up with double Olympic MTB champion Paola Pezzo at her sponsor Specialized stand at EICMA Milano, Pezzo was surrounded with well-wishers and fans seeking pix and autographs. "Yeah I'm pretty disappointed how everything worked out," explained a chagrined Pezzo. "After my appendicitis in April, I probably came back too fast... I was competitive at the European Championships in August, but then I did too much in the lead-up to the Olympics. But I still want to compete and hope to race again next year."

Pezzo is looking forward to her upcoming trip to Interbike in Las Vegas, where she'll be at Dirt Demo and the three day trade show for Specialized.

Cool for kids

Here's a cool Pinarello kids' bike. The Kui is a mini-model for aspiring young road racers who hope to grow up to be Alessandro Petacchi.

Orange Aria

One of the most striking bikes at this year's EICMA Milano show was this Opera Leonardo FP. Another high end bike brand from Pinarello, Opera Leonardo is a carbon fibre model, here with a white carbon and orange paint scheme.