Interview with Tomaso Ancillotti
The Ancillotti family have been involved in bike design and manufacture for four generations. Firstly with motorbikes and then mountain bikes, and they haven’t looked back since. At the recent World Cup in Fort William we caught up with one half of the father and son team behind Ancillotti bikes, Mr Tomaso Ancillotti, who was over with two members of the Italian Ancillotti race team.
'Tomaso Ancillotti'
J: Tell us a little bit about yourself, how did you get into making mountain bikes ?
T: My Father worked as a motorbike designer, and what really got us interested in mtb, was when we saw a Downhill race in 1992. We saw what we could do for these bikes to make them better. There was not enough suspension so we sat down and developed a bike with more suspension than anything else available at the time. It was really my own interest in mountain biking which made me convince my father to start making mountain bikes. The bike’s reputation has been built on word of mouth by people who like the quality. We don’t advertise ourselves through magazines - we depend on the quality of the design and the product to sell themselves.
J: Do you race competitively yourself ?
T: Not really any more. I raced my first Downhill race in 1993 and I raced in the World Championships in 1994. I came 26th at the 1998 World Cup at Nevergal. I don’t race like that any more, though I’m still a good rider. To be the best there is so much training involved and that doesn’t really appeal to me. I’ve been riding for thirteen years and I just want to have fun when I ride.
'Tomaso DHP Models own'
J: Where is your favourite place to ride ?
T: For me the Alps, I rode in Les Gets last summer and that was good.
J: Who do you admire and why ?
T: Two people stand out for me:
Nico Volliouz- he was a teacher of the sport
and
Fabien Barel- for his bike riding skills.
J: Was there any bike which helped influence the design of the Ancillotti bikes ?
T: Not really. Other frames aren’t necessarily designed to give the absolute top performance, instead they are designed for mass market appeal, not to be raced. They meet the needs of the company giving them a bike to sell, but this is not necessarily what is best for the riders to race. Not us, we make performance race bikes, designed through direct feedback from riders participating in races. Some of our designs were influenced by motocross bikes.
J: Where do you see Ancillotti going in the future, Have you got any new projects planned ?
T: To maintain our focus on quality we look to keep developing and continuously improving our bikes each year. Small changes to the design are made to increase the performance and the quality of the bikes. We still have bikes from each years’ design at the factory and people can come along and try them all and decide which years’ model they like best and find what works for them. We want to stay small so we can maintain our focus on quality, handmade performance products.
J: What’s your favourite bike product ?
T: Suspension
' A Winning Design'
J: What’s your favourite Ancillotti product ?
T: The Pull Shock. We work a lot on the shock, developing it and making it better. Suspension is very important and I believe it’s what makes the bike and if it’s not done well then the bike isn’t a real full suspension bike. There’s always something new to learn, or change to make it better. That’s the challenge I like.
J: How would you describe your role in Ancillotti ?
T: Well it’s me and my Father. I do the designs and my father makes the tubes and the shocks and builds the frame. We see each bike through from the initial design to the final finished product.
J: What bikes do you own ?
T: One of each Ancillotti, I’m very lucky.
J: (laughs) Yes you are, Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.
'Trick Bits'
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