Old time perfectionist

[wc1934]

I love stories like this:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=9446&status=True

[Minstrie]

Me, too. I have a new hero.

Minstrie

[rwsaunders]

I saw that a while ago...my kind of mechanic/artist.

[GRAVELBIKE]

Love the water bottle.

[sean]

Love this:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/features/balduzzi/derosa05.jpg

[FlashUNC]

I'll probably be the contrarian, but I thought the story was absurd.
Its the kind of fetishism of anything Italian-related in cycling that irks me.

[fourflys]

I loved this:
"Balduzzi-ism No.356: he likes lots of spacers under the stem, rarely does a bike leave the shop with less than 1.5cm (and 3mm above it)"

someone who realizes most normal people don't need a slammed stem...

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/features/balduzzi/spacer.jpg

[rcnute]

Italians are apparently picky customers.

[oldpotatoe]

I'll probably be the contrarian, but I thought the story was absurd.
Its the kind of fetishism of anything Italian-related in cycling that irks me.

Always 10%..

I rather liked it. VERY Italian. 'This is how I do it, how I've always done it and if ya don't like it, tough patates'.

Don't think the spaghetti under the BB shell, crossing cables, would work with 11s tho..too much drag.

[novaturient]

Poor guy. Must be rough to have standards that are so much higher than your customers! (Though it sounds like raising the prices for his wrenching might be in order if that is what people come to him for...)

One question: what is going on in that handle bar tape pic? It looks like he has the whole bar wrapped in packing tape. I tend to my bars with some extra cork in key locations under the final wrap, so maybe that is what he is doing, but I don't get the plastic tape.

[bigflax925]

Very cool story and great pics to illustrate. This is a guy I would patronize.

[jr59]

I always thought, that's the way service was suppose to be. :confused:

Isn't that what service is!

[Der_Kruscher]

I enjoyed the article and would love to visit the shop should I ever be in Italy but Pez's insistence on referring to Mr. Balduzzi as an "artist" is a little annoying. It sounds like he's a great, detail-oriented mechanic but that's not the same thing as an artist which is becoming something of an overused phrase. Maybe that's OT or maybe not but it did catch my eye. Anyway, thanks to the OP for posting - I don't look at Pez too much anymore so I often miss this stuff.

[FlashUNC]

Always 10%..

I rather liked it. VERY Italian. 'This is how I do it, how I've always done it and if ya don't like it, tough patates'.

Don't think the spaghetti under the BB shell, crossing cables, would work with 11s tho..too much drag.


I don't begrudge the guy what he considers his exacting standards, but the thesis and tone of the whole thing just struck me as tromping over the same tired old cliches about the sport.

Only a shop mechanic and owner in the foothills of the Italy, slaving away for days to even build every bike to unheard of levels of perfection, could ever accomplish something like this. Meanwhile, I can think of some U.S. shops -- and I'd certainly include yours in that group -- that come with a really great reputation for customer service and their work that you could likely stack up with any other shop across the globe.

To me, the more interesting story is how this guy survives doing things like rebuffing clients who want to buy aluminum frames, or want something that deviates from his vision. That struggle to pursue his trade in a bike market that seems to be increasingly ephemeral with the "next big thing" would make a much better read than how he spends a half hour searching for the right bolt to mount the front brake.

[sc53]

I enjoyed the article and would love to visit the shop should I ever be in Italy but Pez's insistence on referring to Mr. Balduzzi as an "artist" is a little annoying. It sounds like he's a great, detail-oriented mechanic but that's not the same thing as an artist which is becoming something of an overused phrase. Maybe that's OT or maybe not but it did catch my eye. Anyway, thanks to the OP for posting - I don't look at Pez too much anymore so I often miss this stuff.
At least he didn't call him a "hero!" Talk about an overused word.