CuRed

Anyone know any background on Casati?
What, when, how, etc.
Seems they make a great bicycle, but there's very little info on the company.

Ex Pres 

Several BFrs have the Casati Goldline model. (80's). There is (was) some brief history on the company website, but it doesn't say much about the bikes they've built. I've owned a 2002 Challenge and currently have a 2003 Dardo.

I see the company website is down. I hope that doesn't mean they've gone poof.

CuRed

I was just on the site last night.
I did manage to find a short video on youtube and a blog where someone went to the shop.
I would have no problem ordering a bicycle, but it seems strange that very little is out there about Pietro or his son Gianni Casati.
Beautiful bicycles, I guess they let their product do the talking.

TheOtherGuy

They are nice. Here's one of mine:

Drillium Dude 

^ Beautiful!!!

You don't want to see mine after viewing that steed...trust me.

DD

gomango

Just a pic of my Gold Line S that my son raced in a local "country" race.

He added water bottles, different pedals, and a cell phone.

Came in fourth in his age group or maybe better if you can believe his story.

We built the frameset for that event and pulled it down to the frameset the next day.

Sitting on a hook waiting for another day atm.

These are gorgeous framesets, and ride very well.

gomango

I've seen pics of yours, and I think it has huge potential.

cbresciani

Wow! Those are some nice framesets, love the color.

gomango

This is as close as you can get to perfection btw.

Just incredible!

gomango

Thanks cbresciani!

I rescued mine from a garage sale.

It was chained to a tree with the same motorcycle chain he used to lock the bike up on his commutes.

I'd say it deserved a little more love than it was receiving.

We had ours built at one point with a Super Record gruppo and it wasn't perfect, but still looked nice overall.

I wish I knew more about the history of the brand to help the op though......

Drillium Dude 

Grady: oh, I agree the potential is there, but until I source the period-correct decals I'm in a holding pattern. Failing that, perhaps I should simply turn the frame upside down and leave it out in the sun for the next year or so!

For the OP: I have found a little history for you. The following info comes from two advertising supplements included with Velonews and Inside Triathlon, from 1996 and 1997:

- Gian Luigi Casati began working for his father Pietro in the shop when he was ten. At the time of writing (1996) Gian Luigi had spent 53 years working in the shop, so it appears he began around 1943. Unfortunately, it does not state when his papa began his torching career. However, in the 1997 article (which would've been Gian Luigi's 54th year) it's stated the company was 75 years old; my admittedly questionable math skills puts the genesis around 1925 or so.

- As of 1996, Casati was producing around 1250 frames per year, 90% of which were custom fitted to clients. The frames were available from sizes 49cm to 70cm, even offered in half-sizes.

- Conceived a completely internal cable routing system in 1995 - even the seat binder bolt, similar to the old Legnano design, but much more refined.

- In 1997 his sons Massimo and Luca were being groomed to continue the business. It's my guess they are probably running the show today.

- Casati acknowledges there is no way they could afford to sponsor a major professional team, however, he did sponsor Gianni Bugno back in his amateur days due to a "strong sense of municipal pride". Bugno hailed from the Monza area.

- His shop team numbered exactly 7, including himself, in 1996. Amazingly enough, the customer turnaround time was stated as four to six weeks for a U.S. delivery, start to finish.

- Gian Luigi's personal credo seems to have been "form follows function". Even in the heyday of fades and graphics, he preferred single color paint schemes to accentuate the details in the workmanship of the metal underneath.

I hope this helps!

DD

CuRed

Thanks!
Here's a bit more I found from someone who visited the shop.
I think Casati just moved up on my list.
thanks again.

TheOtherGuy

Gary Fountain

I have always thought Casati bikes were interesting but I knew very little about them - until now. Thanks to Drillium Dude and CuRed I have learnt a lot more about Casati bikes and my respect for this brand has grown immeasurably. Thanks so much.

Thanks The Other Guy, gomango and Drillium Dude for giving access to images of your beautiful Casati's.

w98seeng

I'm a bit late to the conversation, but no problem in resurrecting it.

There is a Casati Challenge for sale for $400 and since I have never heard of Casati,
I did some research on the web. I only found some info on newer Challenge framesets
and they say they are worth in the $1500 - $2000 area, is this true?

I have no idea what year this frame is, but the seller says it's never been built or used.

Is $400 the right price for this frameset or is it worth more?

Thanks,
Ian