Beautiful Bicycle: Ryan’s Pinarello Treviso, Our Kind of Italian Red

Vintage lovers, take note: while we love a well-aged Barolo or Chianti as much as the next guy or gal, our favorite Italian red just might be this classic Pinarello Treviso–the trusty steed of Contender owner Ryan Littlefield. 

Past as Prologue: Pinarello, the Treviso, and Ryan’s History With This Bike

A quick flip through the pages of cycling history: born near Treviso, Italy in 1922, Pinarello founder Giovanni “Nani” Pinarello was a road racer in the 1940s and early 1950s before starting his eponymous framebuilding business–a humble operation at the start that would eventually grow to become the iconic brand that we know and love today, with ultra high-end bikes like the Dogma. 

In the 1980s, as a tribute to the town where Pinarello is based, the company developed a road racing frame known as the Treviso. During this time, the company experimented with different grades and suppliers of steel tubing for its frame; as Pinarello’s middle of the road build for the Treviso, this late 80s to early 90s model featured ML25 chromoly steel tubing from Oria, which Pinarello marketed as a race-ready but slightly more affordable alternative–ideal for amateur racers or club riders. Affordable positioning aside, the Oria tubing was in fact used on some of Pinarello's race bikes for the pro peloton during this time, including Miguel Indurain's winning bike in the 1995 Tour de France. Another feature we love: like the top of a wine bottle, this frame features an engraving–“GP,” for Giovanni Pinarello–on the fork crown, which was a hallmark of Pinarello’s higher end steel frames during this era.  In its day, this bike would have sold for $500 to 700 USD for the frameset, and $1,200 to $1,800 USD for a complete build. 

A few years back, when this bike rolled through Contender’s doors as part of a customer trade-in, the bike quickly caught Ryan’s eye, becoming the focal point of his own custom build. 

An Electrified, Short Ride Dream Machine: Ryan’s Custom Build 

Beyond hoofing it between Contender’s three shop floors, a mainstay of Ryan’s daily routine is quick trips to Coffee Garden, along with shuttling to and from Contender’s warehouse. With these short trips in mind, Ryan set about customizing the Treviso to match his needs. While the final build is admittedly a hodgepodge, key features are as follows, back to front: 

• Rear Wheel: a sneaky cool feature of this bike? Ryan set it up as an e-bike, helping to speed up his quick rips around the ‘hood. The bright red, outsized hub on the rear wheel is actually a Copenhagen Wheel, which was developed in 2009 by MIT Senseable City Lab,  in partnership with the city of Copenhagen (hence the name) and later commercialized by a startup called Superpedestrian. While the hub might look like a Solo picnic plate, hidden inside are several e-bike technologies, which detect your pedaling input white adding proportional power. The net is a natural feeling boost—up to 20 mph–which pairs quite nicely with a morning or afternoon espresso, as it turns out. Fun fact: while production and sales of the Copenhagen Wheel are now discontinued, there is a group of loyalists that continue to update the firmware on a regular basis. 

• Drivetrain: along with the Copenhagen Wheel, powering this Treviso is a 1 x 10-speed drivetrain, featuring a SRAM NX derailleur and shifter, along with SRAM Apex cranks. 

• Saddle: Prologo X Zero, propped up by an Easton carbon seatpost. 

• Cockpit: another eye-catching feature of this setup, the cockpit is decidedly urban, with fixie-style Easton EC70 carbon handlebars, a Quill stem, and cherry red, waffle-patterned grips from Oury, which serve to complement the frame. Meanwhile, the super rare Campy mountain bike levers are another nice touch. And although our research suggests that Pinarello designed the Treviso as a road racing frame, the cantilever style brakes suggest a cyclocross intent with this particular model, given the known capability of cantilevers for greater mud clearance. 

• Wheels & Tires: on the the front end, Ryan has a Shimano WH-R540 wheel and Vittoria Corsa 28c tire. On the back end, you'll find the aforementioned Copenhagen Wheel, while the tire is a Vittoria Corsa Control 28c. 

For our SLC friends–keep your eyes peeled next time you’re in the shop or exploring 9th and 9th, and there’s a good chance you’ll spot this bad boy. Selfies? Staring? We accept. Test ride? Ha. You’ll have to try your luck with Ryan on that one. 

Learn More

Have a vintage bike you’d like Contender to customize? Or interested in a Pinarello, albeit in a more modern setup? We’d love to help out. Swing by the shop, drop us a line, or give us a call at (801) 364-0344.