Maiorossé Cycles: Artisanal Steel - Gravel, Road & More: 2022 Philly Bike Expo

Welcome to the next video of our coverage from the 2022 Philly Bike Expo! Read more about the expo here – https://phillybikeexpo.com

Maiorossé Cycles

“Founded in an art studio and inspired by traditional methods, creativity is the spirit of Maiorossé Cycles. Our studio is located in historic Buffalo, NY in a Second Empire architect’s dream house from 1900 which is home to “The Daring Trust” art salon and “Bottega Mai” bicycle culture collective. Emotions Are The Frontier.” – https://www.maiorossecycles.com

Maiorossé Cycles Feature Video

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In this video, JOM Of the Gravel Cyclist crew is joined by founder of Maiorossé Cycles, Daniel, for a detailed look at his range of artisanal bikes.

Continued from Above:

“We create custom steel bicycles by hand while honoring handcrafted frame building traditions. All our frames are handcrafted with meticulous care. Every frame is made from high quality fine steel from Columbus (Italy) or Kaisei (Japan). Each build is bespoke, one of a kind, sized to fit your body and needs, and your personality.”

Model: MC-001 Pacifica, 2021

Type: Sophisticycle/Road
Tubing: Columbus SL tube set / Cinelli vintage lug set

“Materials are a large inspiration on this build. Campagnolo components, Columbus MAX fork, Gipiemme dropouts, and vintage Cinelli lugs with the famous Cinelli “spoiler” bottom bracket from New Old Stock.”

“The seatstay joint was a split decision at the frame jig…I was at a fork in the road; either to miter the seat stays for brazing to the Cinelli fastback seat tube lug, or…to leave the Cinelli fastback seat tube lug proud and braze the stays on a seat tube sleeve.”

“It ended up being an interesting move, which I value for much more than aesthetic reasons. The result is an ever present reminder of the possibilities inherent in life and to keep yourself open philosophically.”

“We chose top of the line components including a special in-house handmade wheelset on Ambrosio Nemesis tubular rims, Sapim CX-Ray aero spokes, brass spoke nipples, and Campagnolo Record Hubs. The tires are Challenge silk casing Strada 1000 TPI tubulars with cream sidewalls.”

Model: MC-002 Mourning Dove

Type: Gravel/All-Road
Tubing: Columbus Spirit for Lugs and Kaisei / Steel lugs hand carved to resemble a Colnago C59 carbon frame lug set.

“An all steel gravel bike with bird and pine motifs inspired by our years spent in Japan. It features rim brakes with Hunt wheels on Challenge 700x36c tubeless clinchers and Campagnolo drivetrain (Ekar/Centaur).”

“Originally envisioned as all Columbus Spirit for Lugs, we included a 0.4mm wall thickness top tube and Rene Herse 0.7mm chain stays. Because the latter is curved and designed for a 10 degree spread on the BB and the BB is 7 degrees, this meant some special chain stay bending was called for to match the dropouts…suffice to say it turned out very elegant and was a fine match for the S-bend Zona seat stays…Rim brakes. Of course. We went with the Velo Orange Grand Cru to fit over the Challenge Strada Bianca TLR 36c on HUNT Race Aero Wide alloy wheelset. On top of that, the lug set is hand carved to match a Colnago C59, how elegant is that?”

“The brake calipers – being the Velo Orange Grand Cru calipers – prove that you can have gravel and rim brake on the same bicycle! We built it with millimeters of excess reach left with 700c rims. On top of that, these have to be the proudest, most stout calipers on earth. Tech notes: the fork is designed with 380mm distance axle to crown, with spacing up to 38c tires.”

Model: MC-003 Ciclamino

Type: Competitive Racer/Road
Tubing: Columbus SL

“This one is different. Sometimes we rely too much on traditions, and the other half of the time we rely too much on technology, trends. I wanted to build a bicycle that looks handmade, which takes the best traditions from vintage frames, but which also looks and feels incredibly quick and responsive.”

“The starting point was Columbus SL tube set with a 1” top tube, even if I had to “force” the seat lug to accept it with a custom stepped top tube lug. Then by lengthening the head tube, the frame stands much prouder and looks larger than the 52cm size it actually is. A threaded 1″ steerer with studio-made fillet brazed steel quill stem completes the look.”

“Raising the bottom bracket and flattening the chain stays jumps across vintage and goes straight into antique territory, which also benefits the lengthening of the seat stays for elegance. Horizontal Silva dropouts tie it together nicely, but I was sure to leave breathing room in the rear triangle so that the wheel/frame gaps in the front and rear more or less match. I was weary of seeing rear wheels jammed up against seat tubes, if you know what I mean?”

“Carbon bikes have shown us the outcome of function over form, and off-road styles have shown us the advancements that can occur through the application of innovation and engineering. With the MC-003 Ciclamino here I wanted to make something cool and original that was handmade and looked like only a file and hacksaw had touched it. I looked into my rudimentary studio and imagined a frame maker of the 1940’s asking himself what can he do differently to define his next build while the torch works its alchemy.”