A�The name Ancillotti Bikes may not immediately ring bells in your head but you may be surprised to know they are multiple World Championship winning bikes. Admittedly Ancillotti are a small companyA�focusing on custom hand built bikesA�but as they point out, no Formula 1 car or Moto GP bike comes out of a mass produced factory so why should high end downhill bikes? We have a look at one of the most unique bikes and companys in the World.
Downhill247.com was fortunate to interview Tomaso Ancillotii and get the inside info on the company and their bikes.
Tomaso, first of all, tell us a little bit about the company:
The company is very small, it’s only my Father and I, we build the frames from aA� garage out our house. We do everything there, thats were we have the welding jigs. For the CNC pieces we design them on the computer and then have them manufactured off site. We also make the rear shocks on site as well. Our brand has come along way, in the 1960’s through to the 1980’s my father made motorcross bikes that were very popular here in Italy. When he started to build the DH frames he had all the background from the motorcross bikes. He holds a patent from the motor bikes for the pull shock system. He was the first company in the world to make this style of suspension on motorcross bikes.
How doesA�the pull style shock system differ from the standard push style suspension?
(Using the bike swingarm in front of him to demonstrate) He shows how the swingarm pulls the linkage allowing the wheel to move in a straight direction. With the push style suspension the wheel moves at angles. Tomaso believes this is why the pull styleA�suspension system is a superiorA�design, all Ancillotti bikes use this system.A�The current DH frame style has been in use since 1999, each year the frame evolves, as required improvements are made for example theA�angle of the pull shock has been slightly altered.
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How much do the bikes weigh, they look quite bulky?
The build up on Rhys’s bike is about 17 kgs, the weight is all in the centre of the bike so it is easy to ride and feels lighter than it is. Also the main pivot is on the line of the chain so you don’t have any ‘bobbing’.
Tomaso goes on to explain how they can custom tune the bikes to individual requirements and rider preference:
The rear shock hasA�external compression and a rebound adjustment, internally it can be ordered with different tunes depending on the rider and their style. The bike itself is available with the choice of 3 different linkages. These will alter the geometry, we can adjust head angle, bottom bracket height, etc. There is also a choice ofA�3A�linkage plates to adjust the compression of the rear shock. All the bikes are custom made for the individual rider so the basic geometry andA�size of the frame itself can also be customised when it is made to suit different riders.
I ask Tomaso what his technical background is:
I do the mechanical side of the business but the background has come from my Father, all the expertise I have gotten from him, next year will be our 20th year making downhill bikes.
Being a small Italian company I asked how it came about they sponsored Rhys Willemse,A�a rider from Australia, considering there isn’t even an Australian distributor for their bikes:
We haven’t always just sponsored Italian riders, we started in 1992, in 1993 we won the Womens World Championships’, in 2001 Fionn Griffiths won the silver at World Championships’, in 2009 we sponsored Brook MacDonald and Wyn Masters. We haveA�aA�place here in Italy near the factory where there is mountain with a lift so the guys can stay there and ride for training. This gives them a base for Europe, that year (2009) we won the Junior World Championships with Brook. Downhill is a big family, the guys all talk, so after BrookA�we had George Brannigan (New Zealand Junior) and Rhys. It was all step by step. Last year was unlucky for Rhys because he had an injury, this year he decided not to race but then in the middle of the season he wanted to come over for some races so he asked me to help him out. I was really happy to help him out.
Due to the fact theA�bikes areA�custom made do customers buy them from bike shops or straight from you?
In Italy we sell direct to customers.
If someone in Australia wanted one could they get one?
Yeh if they wanted to buy it from Italy they could, we don’t have an importer in Australia. They could get in touch via our website (www.ancillotti.com). We also work with the suspension, to give it a good feel and tune. When we started making the bikes we worked on the rear suspension for good feel but with our background we can also work on forks to give a good feel for them as well. So we offer custom tuning on forks for customers.
A quick word is all Rhys needed to describe what he thinks of the bikes “Yeah the bike is awesome, it works amazingly, light and completely bomb proof”. What more could you need from a bike?
There you go, one of the most dedicated manufacturers in the mountain bike scene. Head to their website to see the complete range of bikes. Thanks to Tomaso Ancillotti for the interview.
Great article. Its great to see companies like Ancillotti getting behind our talented Aussie and kiwi riders. Congrats also to Rhys for a great but short season OS. This kid deserves a full time rider next year. Hopefully Ancillotti can get the support to do a full season next year of world cups.
I’m the happy owner of a Ancillotti downhill bike, a 2009 dhp model, and it works really awesome. For every single problem had, like to tune or change parts, I always had a verry proffessional and complete service, and for that I’m really glad. About the bike it goes crazy, the pull shock system works perfectly and allows to move faster and faster. From the day I buyed my Ancillotti dhp bike, i had a continue progress, and still nowdays I’m learning more and more about the way I could ride the bike. It’s a question of a great feeling, and most of the times it forgives me from huge errors, like telling me, well dude you can do better but I can forgive even more errors :)).
It works great on all the trails, and the most impressive is the stability that has on rockgardens and that feeling that gives you on every single bump. From my opinion, Ancillotti is one of the best bikes on the market, and for the way it rides, could easy compete with any other big bike names. cheers!
Hi,
How much is this bike?how can I order and pay?
TQ