We exchanged 2 words with Michele Pedroni, one of the founders of the Emiliano brand. Pedroni, for the less attentive, was born in 1998 but suffered a setback in 2020, closing its doors. Now Pedroni Race is reborn with Michele Pedroni in command, flanked by Stefano Giussani.
HISTORY OF PEDRONI
1998-1999 – Michele Pedroni builds the first bicycles downhill with Pedroni Cube and creates the Pedroni Kjub Racing Team that runs with its products.
2013 - Movetech Srl and the Pedroni Cycles brand are born. Michele acquires a strong expertise on frames and in particular the processing of carbon. His name is known in the Gravity sector * and his bikes win many national and international titles.
2018 - The first e-MTB models are born in 2018.
2021 - Michele and Stefano Giussani founded Pedroni Race, with which we move from an artisanal reality to a more structured one with larger volumes and with the ambition to compete internationally.
VIDEO INTERVIEW
PEDRONI STAFF
In addition to Michele Pedroni and Stefano Giussani, we find Sherin Kelaart, expert in carbon technology, Gabriel Vacondio, experience in the composite sector, Roberto Sergiusti, commercial, e Marco Pirazzoli, communication on socials.
Below is the video interview (in text format) made with Michele Pedroni.
WHEN WAS PEDRONI BORN?
Pedroni was born in 1998, when I was 18, and it has been years that have seen us very busy on the competition fields of downhill leading us to improve a lot. First of all, the effectiveness of the vehicle combined with functionality and design.
HOW DO YOU REPRESENT YOURSELF ON THE MARKET?
We have gone from an artisan reality with a limited investment capacity. Now we are on another level of organization and financial structure. We were able to bring 100% of the production internally, including the carbon department: mold preparation, milling, CNC, connecting rods and much more.
Everything is produced internally and this was a very important step for our growth, for our production and above all for a discourse of flexibility. This brings us to a different level in terms of reactivity and the ability to express oneself in the design or interpretation of our ideas.
WHAT ARE YOUR AMBITIONS? DO YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF PRODUCT CRAFTSMANSHIP?
Rather than getting out of it, it is a very good structure of craftsmanship. We believe that our way of producing products in a particular way, one by one, with an obsessive care of the bike, is perceived but also takes the build quality to another level. We want to organize it in an optimal way with an optimal qualitative yield in combination with a greater production quantity.
WHAT IS A CUSTOMER'S PATH IN PURCHASING PEDRONI?
First of all, we offer 4 different assembly lines, which for a company like ours is a substantial commitment. Then there is the painting: we will push the carbon look style, our trademark, but nothing prevents a customer from fully personalizing the color. There is the possibility of coming to the company and being able to see, touch, your product while it is being created. I think this is a special thing for a demanding customer: to be able to see the birth of his bike, to be able to choose the colors, and therefore participate in this production process.
POSSIBILITY OF CUSTOMIZED GEOMETRIES?
We have left freedom in the past, today we tend to freeze a product that we believe is optimal. This is to ensure that the customer is comfortable and does not find himself doing experiments or too much confusion as has already happened in the past.
ARE YOU ALREADY LINKED TO A COMPETITIVE TEAM?
Yes, we are already maximizing our efforts to be ready with our downill project. We would very much like to be able to consolidate a partnership with a team that is already very well established in the World Cup and European Cup. We want to be able to prepare the project downhill in a very short time to be able to satisfy the team as well and make time for the 2023 season.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DIFFICULTIES FOR A BRAND LIKE YOURS, IN JOINING THE GREAT CYCLING INDUSTRY?
Surely, in these moments, there is the problem of the procurement of certain components. Our reality of not thousands of pieces helps us a little in this, since with our size we can find the components we need. But now it is a different search than in the past where the phone was picked up and what we were looking for would arrive. However, doing a lot of the production in house, on the chassis side, we have no major problems.
WHAT WILL THE 2023 MODELS BE?
We started with the Enduro project and we will prepare the project afterwards Downhill and then e-bikes. For the electric project it will have the same chassis platform as the enduro, an Italian engine and then we're trying to see how to insert the battery that would be convenient for us. In short, there is a lot of irons in the fire, and the requests are already there. There has been a good reception of the product, a lot of curiosity also about future projects, so we are very satisfied with this new start.
WHICH SALES CHANNELS WILL BE USED?
E-commerce will be active, however, we believe that a physical presence in the area is necessary so we have chosen selected points of sale, therefore with certain skills in putting the customer on a bike and often with a team behind them. The points of sale are also essential for a service talk, especially with the e-bike. There will be a network of ambassadors who will promote the product.
