Nearly 10 years ago, Niccolò Bonanno began building track bikes in his adopted home of Berlin, Germany. In the years since, he's switched focus to performance road, gravel, and randonneuring framesets, while growing his custom fabrication operation, Cicli Bonanno, into one of Europe's most notable. With an annual output of around 70 bikes, Bonnano and his small team seem to have found a balance between growth and consistency.
I first met Bonanno three years ago during a visit to Germany, where I attended the inaugural Dresden edition of the Bespoked bike show. I recall being struck by not only his bikes, which blend traditional styling with modern detailing, but also the amount of success he appeared to have found as a very small business.
Seventy custom bikes per year is, by most standards, a lot for a team of three people to handle, particularly with two of the three working part-time. But Bonnano is a disciplined worker, in part due to his upbringing in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.
He's also a committed cyclist, which I learned right away as our initial interactions took place right after he dismounted his bike at the Dresden show, following a 118-mile (189 km) ride from his home in Berlin.
Aside from regular rides around east-central Germany and elsewhere in Europe when he can, Bonanno also founded and organizes the MoGaSt event each year, which climbs three iconic Italian passes made famous by the Giro d'Italia in a single day – the Mortirolo, Gavia, and Stelvio.
That's over 16,000 ft (4,800 m) of climbing within 106 miles (170 km). Such pursuits inform Bonanno's bicycle design and vice versa, marking an experiential and iterative approach centered around a particular kind of cycling lifestyle.
On the eve of this year's edition of Bespoked Dresden, I dusted off an image set made roughly 11 months ago inside Bonanno's Kreuzberg workshop to accompany a recent wide-ranging interview with the builder.
The following conversation covers many topics, including Niccolò's background, inspirations, aspirations, and a detailed look at the various bicycle models that comprise his brand.
Josh Weinberg: Let's start with a couple of big-picture questions. First, what led you to fabricate bicycles for a living?
Niccolò Bonanno: I’ve always had a deep connection to the world of two wheels. My mother was a motorcycle designer, and my father, a passionate road cyclist, would take me along on his mountain climbs. At the time, I wasn’t exactly thrilled being 13 or 14 years old but over the years, my appreciation for cycling grew.
A key turning point came in 2008 after a scooter accident in Milan. That experience led me to urban cycling, particularly fixed-gear bikes, which were booming around 2010. That world opened the door to craftsmanship, community, and a deeper understanding of the bike as an object of purpose and beauty.
JW: Where did you learn to make bikes?
NB: I wish I could say I followed the traditional Italian path, learning under a Maestro in a bottega, but that didn’t happen. There are two reasons. First, when I moved to Berlin, it was difficult to find a master willing or able to take on an apprentice.
Second, the timing mattered: during the 2000s and early 2010s, the cycling industry was focused on aluminum and carbon, and many traditional steel builders had already stepped away.
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