One of the first custom bikes I fell for was Italian rider Fabio Sacchi’s custom-painted Saeco Cannondale CAAD7 back in 2003. It was painted to look like a cheetah and had a custom-painted Cinelli Ram handlebar. I couldn’t get enough of it.
It’s also always fun to see what paint scheme world road race champions go for on their bikes each year, or when a national champion appears on a custom bike painted in their nation’s colours.
Fast forward a few years to 2018, and Michał Kwiatkowski’s custom red and white Polish national champions Pinarello Dogma looked great, as did various commemorative Grand Tour-winning machines during the Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers era of dominance, where they won five Tours de France in a row. This year, Geraint Thomas was honoured with a custom-painted Pinarello Dogma for his final pro race at the Tour of Britain.
Pinarello has provided custom machines to the stars of our sport for years, and I was lucky enough to be shown Fausto’s personal Pinarello collection at the brand’s factory in Italy back in 2023. There are some very special bikes in that gallery.
Before taking over the running of the company, Fausto Pinarello learnt the ropes and began in the paint shop. It’s clear even now there’s a pure passion for the bikes that bear his family’s name, and he still has the final say on who gets a custom bike and the design.
“I started as a painter 44 years ago. It gave me the possibility to do something different, because living in the paint shop facility, we could try…
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