Walter Dosi – Italian master craftsman and frame maker
Many smaller frame manufacturers experienced a “golden age” in the 1970s and 1980s. Extremely skilled craftsmen produced steel frames that could be described as jewelry, equipped racing teams and made custom frames. They often had no ambition to import to other countries and were fully employed by local clientele. It was a joy to visit a cycling fair at that time, where it was literally a parade of masters over masters. A typical representative of this group of manufacturers is Walter Dosi from Imola, Italy.
Photo: Robert Štěrba a www.frameteller.it
Source of information: https://www.frameteller.it/2016/03/31/cicli-dosi/
Nice and rare track special from Biczycle collection
Walter Dosi, Imola, design Mario Martini, 26"/28", Italy 1980s
Walter Dosi, born in 1954, an amateur racer until 1975, after retiring worked as a mechanic and welder for various cycling companies including Giacobazzi, Fiorelli, Fancucine and Magniflex.
In 1979 he opened his own workshop in Imola, where for twenty years he built very refined frames, such as the Futura, created by Dosi in the mid-1980s with special tubes designed by Luciano Paletti of Modena and manufactured by ORIA with a special flattened shape. In fact, these were the years of the first experiments with tube construction, which were intended to increase frame stiffness and make bikes more reactive and faster.
The same tubes were also used by Luciano Paletti on his road and track model Meteor, which differed from the Futura by the Silva brand of end caps and couplings produced specifically for Paletti, Cinelli and for Dosi. In '90 and '91 Walter was a mechanic and framer for Giacobazzi, his team also included the young Pantani, who in 1991 ride the amateur Giro d'Italia on a Dosi bike.
The result of the collaboration with the master painter and varnisher Mario Martini from Lugo is a paintwork with a touch of livery. And these Dosi bikes are still among the most beautiful, most original and most sought after by collectors from the seventies and eighties.
In the early 90s, Dosi entrusted the construction of his bikes to his friend Reclus Gozzi (Rauler) from Reggio Emilia. He still works together with his son, also a former amateur cyclist, in his own workshop where, in addition to selling bikes and accessories, he offers a very high level of consultancy and assistance.
Cooperation with painter and varnisher master Mario Martini
The result of the collaboration with the painter and varnisher master Mario Martini from Lugo are paints with a touch of livery. And these Dosi bikes are still among the most beautiful, most original and most sought after by collectors from the seventies and eighties.
The graphics of the liveries are based on the Italian tradition of the time and are a combination of abstract signs and shaded colors mixing stylistic elements derived from the urban aesthetics and fashion of the eighties. A visit to the Dosi workshop in those years was more like entering a gallery of contemporary modern art.
