A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Shimano, Inc., originally Shimano Iron Works (島野鐵工所) and later Shimano Industries, Inc. (島野工業株式会社), is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company for cycling components, fishing tackles and rowing equipment, who also produced golf supplies until 2005 and snowboarding gear until 2008. Named after founder Shozaburo Shimano and headquartered in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, the company has 32 consolidated and 11 unconsolidated subsidiaries, with the primary manufacturing plants based in Kunshan (China), Malaysia and Singapore.
Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. The components are organised as groupsets (gruppi), and are a near-complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts. Campagnolo's flagship components are the Super Record, Record, and Chorus groupsets with all three representing their recent shift to 12-speed drivetrains. Super Record and Record are the top groupsets, followed by Chorus, Potenza, Centaur and Veloce. Campagnolo also produces aluminum and carbon wheels, as well as other components.
Cinelli is an Italian bicycle manufacturing company based in Milan, producing mostly road bicycles and components; production is estimated to consist of 80 per cent components and 20 per cent bicycles.
Guerciotti are an Italian company that produce cyclocross, road, time trial, track and mountain bikes. Their top racing bikes "exemplify the Italian racing bicycle paradigm".
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.
Fulcrum Wheels srl is a wholly owned company of Campagnolo that produces road bicycle and mountain bike wheelsets compatible with Campagnolo, Shimano and Sram drivetrains. The subsidiary brand was created so that Campagnolo could manufacture wheels compatible with products from rival drivetrain manufacturers, such as Shimano, without "pollution" of the brand.
Enrico Franzoi is an Italian professional cyclo-cross and road bicycle racer, who currently rides for Italian amateur team ASD Salese. Franzoi was previously a member of UCI ProTeams Lampre–Caffita and Liquigas. Franzoi has won the Italian Cyclo-cross Championships on four occasions – in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009.
Marzocchi is an Italian manufacturer founded in 1949 by brothers Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi. The company profile doesn't include hydraulic industrial pumps anymore but only suspension components for motorcycles and bicycles. The Marzocchi Pompe is still in the hands of the Marzocchi Family and produces gear pumps and motors in Bologna. In 2008 the company was acquired by American automotive parts manufacturer Tenneco. Until 2007, Marzocchi manufactured the mountain bike suspension forks in Italy. In order to remain competitive, Marzocchi, like RockShox before it, moved the production of the forks to Taiwan. In the 4th quarter of 2015, Fox Factory acquired certain assets of Marzocchi's mountain bike product lines.
Ducati Energia SpA is an Italian company based in Bologna, part of the Ducati group, which produces electrical and electronic components.
Kuota is an Italian bicycle brand, owned by Kuota International Co. Ltd, founded in 2001. Their bicycles are distributed in Belgium, Denmark, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines.
Sugino is a Japanese manufacturer of road and track bicycle components, founded in Nara, Japan, in 1910. It made a variety of cycling components, including cranksets and chainrings. After flagging in popularity due to Shimano's increased dominance of the Japanese bicycle component industry in the 1990s, the company has recently become more prominent, due to the rising popularity of fixed-gear bicycles and the cachet associated with the "Sugino 75" track racing equipment.
Centurion was a brand of bicycles created in 1969 by Mitchell (Mitch) M. Weiner and Junya (Cozy) Yamakoshi, who co-founded Western States Import Co. (WSI) in Canoga Park, California to design, specify, distribute and market the bicycles. The bikes themselves were manufactured initially in Japan by companies including H. Teams Company of Kobe and later in Taiwan by companies including Merida. The Centurion brand was consolidated with WSI's mountain bike brand DiamondBack in 1990. WSI ceased operations in 2000.
Abici is an Italian bicycle manufacturer founded by entrepreneurs Giuseppe Marcheselli, Stefano Stelleti and Cristiano Gozzi in 2006. The company produces classic style bikes, handmade and tested in Italy. Abici has showrooms in Milan and Viadana.
Iride Bicycles is a brand of bicycles manufactured at the Gemmati Velocipedi factory, near the city of Venice, in the town of Cintello di Teglio Veneto in northern Italy. It was established in 1919. The trademark was originated by Umberto Gemmati and continues to be produced by his grandson Carlo Gemmati. The word iride is Italian for iris and is pronounced like the root of the word iridescent.
Torpado is an Italian bicycle manufacturing company that was founded in 1895 in Padua, Italy.
Gianni Motta–Linea M.D. Italia was an American professional cycling team that competed in the 1984 Giro d'Italia, becoming the first American registered team to compete in the race. The concept of the team was first formed by John Eustice, a rider, and Robin Morton who became the team's manager. The team was sponsored by Gianni Motta's bicycle brand, which was just starting to be distributed in the United States, and also sponsored by Italian furniture maker Linea MD.
