Sarto is located in a small town just a short train ride from Venice. It is here, in Pianiga, where the three brothers Sarto established their bicycle company in 1960. It is also here, in this same small town, that Enrico Sarto has not only continued Sarto Bikes but has taken the family tradition, turned it on its ear, modernized it and put it on the map as one of the world leaders in handmade carbon bicycles.
And what is Enrico Sarto’s secret? Well, biscuits and coffee, of course.
Every day, Enrico gets up, makes some coffee and gets himself a plate of biscuits - a couple for himself and one for his dog. Every single morning, he pours himself some coffee and eats biscuits.
His daughter has tried to get him on a healthier breakfast plan, but Enrico will have nothing to do with breaking his breakfast regimen.
This is where his love of traditions appears to end.
He's in the bike industry, after all, and he knows that sticking to tradition is tantamount to a slow death. To survive, you have to keep moving, keep innovating, and keep looking to the future.
And the future is just where Sarto thrives.
Enrico can't stop staring at this phone as he gives us a tour of the Sarto factory. It turns out he has recently installed solar panels on the roof, and he can't contain his excitement as today's bright Italian sunlight will allow him to run all his beloved machinery all day and all night if he so desires.
This year, Enrico started to produce Sarto's new flagship whip, the Raso. It represents everything excellent about this family-run business: innovation, turn-on-a-dime agility and a willingness to seek out new ideas, unburdened by the pressure to move units to feed a mass market this year and spring something new the next. Sarto makes custom bikes, and that gives the company a unique edge: anything goes at any time, like when Enrico discovered Tri-Composite technology, an innovation developed in the automotive industry that turns out to be a real boon for bike frames, enhancing comfort and upping resilience in the event of a knock or crash. In the time it would take most brands to organize their next Zoom, Enrico had not only tested TC but prototyped it and added it to the Sarto range. Now that's iteration.
From room to room, Enrico's eyes light up like a teenager's as he points out the people executing the process he has put into place to be able to build the bikes in his namesake right there in Pianiga, the place his father handed down to him.
Made in Italy is not a sticker or a marketing tool to Enrico Sarto. Made in Italy is a point of pride and a driving factor beating at the heart of Sarto Bikes.
During our trip, there was plenty of talk about vertical compliance, torsional stiffness and the intricacies of carbon layups and the like, but the proof is in the pudding. We just got ours, and we recommend you do the same.
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