Ciclo Piave

“Ciclo Piave are located in Santa Lucia di Piave in the province of Treviso. The Michelin family founded both the Miche bicycle component brand as well as Ciclo Piave and are distantly related to the Italo-French family of tire fame.’

“Prior to the arrival of Pinarello, Ciclo Piave, together with the Tarvisium and Bottecchia, were the best selling bike brands in the provinces of Treviso and Belluno. In 2003, the frame shop employed two builders and two part-timers.”

“Ciclo Piave dates from the inter-war years when Italian nationalism was at its peak. It came to be after an apparent schism in the Michelin family. One branch of the family continued with the original company, Miche, moving from bicycles and frames into production of bicycle components. The other branch set up shop in the neighboring village and began producing Ciclo Piave branded bikes and frames.”

“The name ‘Piave’ was selected due to the close geographic location of the Piave river as well as the fact that it had become a symbol of national pride in Italy. The “Piave” had indeed been the front line for almost the whole of WWI and was the subject of the most famous of all WWI victory hymns in Italy: ‘La Leggenda del Piave’ written by E.A. Mario.”

“Like most regional builders, Ciclo Piave saw their decline in the late 50’s and early 60’s as motorbikes and cars became more commonplace, with large scale distribution and marketing heavily favoring the larger national brands. It is therefore a statement of their relative good reputation in the years leading up to the decline that they are still around today. They never sponsored any big-league pro team, nor did they ever market their bikes outside of their immediate area. It is likely that the Ciclo Piave bikes would only have been sold in the provinces of Treviso, Belluno, Venice, Pordenone and perhaps Padova.”