The Societa Mechanica was organized by Giro d'Italia mechanic Oliviero Gallegati in the 1960s, in order to set a group of working standards. When he opened his bicycle shop in Lugo, Italy, rather than following the almost universal custom in the Italian cycle industry of naming the company after himself, he instead named it Somec, for Societa Mechanica. A very small artisanal shop, Somec makes only a few bikes a year, out of steel or aluminum.
The Somec Cavallino logo is often confused with that of Ferrari but has the horse's tail hanging down instead of held upwards, by personal agreement between the two men, according to the official story.
Somec previously made frames solely from steel and aluminum materials, but has since followed conventional technical advancements into the use of carbon fiber and titanium. As of the 2007 model year, their catalog contains seven carbon frames, one titanium frame, 5 aluminum/aluminum-carbon frames, and one steel frame.
A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangle and a paired rear triangle. This is known as the diamond frame. Frames are required to be strong, stiff and light, which they do by combining different materials and shapes.
The Cannondale Bicycle Corporation is an American division of Canadian conglomerate Dorel Industries that supplies bicycles. It is headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut with manufacturing and assembly facilities in Taiwan.
Trek Bicycle Corporation is a bicycle and cycling product manufacturer and distributor under brand names Trek, Electra Bicycle Company, Bontrager, and Diamant Bikes. The company has previously manufactured bikes under the Gary Fisher, LeMond Racing Cycles, Klein, and Villiger Bikes brand names. With its headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Trek bicycles are marketed through 1,700 independently owned bicycle shops across North America, subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, South Africa, as well as distributors in 90 countries worldwide. Most Trek bicycles are manufactured outside the United States, in countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Taiwan and China.
Colnago Ernesto & C. S.r.l. or Colnago is a manufacturer of high-end road-racing bicycles founded by Ernesto Colnago near Milano in Cambiago, Italy. Instead of following his family's farming business, Ernesto Colnago chose to work in the cycle trade, apprenticing first with Gloria Bicycles at 13, subsequently taking up road racing. After a bad crash ended his racing career, he began subcontracting for Gloria, opened his own shop in 1954, building his first frames the same year. While building frames, he remained much in demand as a racing mechanic. He was second mechanic on the Nivea team Giro d'Italia under Faliero Masi in 1955, eventually being employed as head mechanic for the Molteni team of Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx in 1963.
Independent Fabrication (IF) is a bicycle company located in Newmarket, New Hampshire, USA. IF fabricates bicycle frames from steel, titanium and carbon fiber. Independent Fabrication has twice won the Bicycling Magazine "Dream Bike of the Year" with its carbon-tubed, titanium-lugged XS road frame. Independent Fabrication was founded by and is owned by its employees. In 2005, the company took part in a CNN television program called The TurnAround. The show paired a growing business with a mentor from a more successful company. Independent Fabrication was paired with Jeff Swartz, chief executive of Timberland.
Keith Bontrager is a motorcycle racer who became a pioneer in the development of the modern mountain bike. Between 1980 and 1995, he was president of his own Bontrager Company, which continues to develop components for Trek Bicycle Corporation after Trek bought out Bontrager.
Ibis Bicycles is a mountain bike manufacturer located in northern California. It produces the popular Mojo, Ripmo, and Ripley mountain bike frames among other models. Ibis products are distributed in 33 countries.
GT Bicycles designs and manufactures BMX, mountain, and road bicycles. GT is a division of a Canadian conglomerate, Dorel Industries, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose (company), IronHorse, DYNO, and RoadMaster bicycle brands; all manufactured in Asia.
Litespeed is a U.S. bicycle manufacturer founded in 1986 in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Litespeed makes titanium and carbon fiber frame road racing bicycles and mountain bikes. Titanium bicycle frames are famed for their ride quality. Litespeed, along with triathlon specific bicycle manufacturer Quintana Roo, is a subsidiary of the American Bicycle Group.
De Rosa is the family brand of Ugo De Rosa. De Rosa's company became renowned during the late 1960s and 1970s for manufacturing road racing bicycles.
A motorcycle frame is a motorcycle's core structure. It supports the engine, provides a location for the steering and rear suspension, and supports the rider and any passenger or luggage. Also attached to the frame are the fuel tank and battery. At the front of the frame is found the steering head tube that holds the pivoting front fork, while at the rear there is a pivot point for the swingarm suspension motion. Some motorcycles include the engine as a load-bearing stressed member; while some other bikes do not use a single frame, but instead have a front and a rear subframe attached to the engine.
Dario Pegoretti was an Italian bicycle framebuilder based for many years in Caldonazzo, outside the town of Trento, in the Dolomites, Italy, and then later for a few years in Verona, Italy.
Vitus is a French bicycle manufacturer best known for its steel cycle frame tubing, and its frames built with aluminium tubes joined to aluminium lugs by bonding - a construction method the company pioneered in the late 1970s.
Clark-Kent was a bicycle frame manufacturer based in Denver, Colorado. The name Clark-Kent was a hybrid of the names of the company owners, Pat Clark and Dean Kent, and had no connection with the alter ego of Superman beyond name recognition. Nor is it related in any way with Kent Bicycles of Parsippany, New Jersey.
Santana Cycles is the world's leading manufacturer of tandem bicycles. Santana was founded in 1976 by Bill McCready, an Associate Editor at Bicycling Magazine, and is located in La Verne, California. In the 1970s "Santana virtually re-invented the tandem, which had been in decline since the second world war." In 2002, Santana was described as the largest manufacturer of "enthusiast level" tandem bicycles.
Cyfac International is a manufacturer of bicycles in La Fuye, in the Loire Valley of France. The name is an acronym that translates from French to "Handmade Bicycle Frames". "Cy" represents cycle (bicycle), "f" for fabriqué (made), "a" for "artisanal" (artisan), and the final C stands for cadres (frame). The Cyfac Postural System is a bicycle fitting system based on research at Lyon Center of Sports Medicine.
Tommaso Bikes is a bicycle manufacturing company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, United States. The bikes are designed in Italy, engineered in Colorado, and shipped direct to the consumer through Giantnerd.com.
Seven Cycles is an American bicycle designer and manufacturer based in Watertown, Massachusetts. Seven, a bespoke bicycle brand, was founded by Robert Vandermark in early 1997. Vandermark was the former head of research and development at Merlin Metalworks. Although Seven Cycles was founded to build high-end titanium and steel frames, in 1998 Seven began also building titanium-carbon frames and in 2002 began also building full carbon frames. All Seven brand bikes are handmade in their Watertown factory. Seven also manufactures custom titanium stems and mountain bike handlebars, carbon fiber road forks, aluminum handlebars, stems, and seat posts.
ALAN is an Italian bicycle manufacturer.
Stelbel is an Italian manufacturer of racing bicycles, founded in 1973 by Stelio Belletti.
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