Dario Pegoretti has always been best known for his craftsmanship with steel. What Richard Sachs and Yoshiaki Nagasawa are to lugged construction, Pegoretti is the equivalent for TIG welding. Sachs, Nagasawa, Pegoretti -- their names are interchangeable when you speak of intensity about frame design and brilliant execution. If you own a frame from any one of them, from a cyclist's point of view you've had one heck of a good life. Pegoretti diverges from Sachs and Nagasawa in one critical way: His devotion to steel isn't a singular one. While his top-end steel frames such as the Big Leg Emma and the Marcelo are utterly race-worthy in any situation -- pancake-flat terrain or a mountainous epic -- he long ago chose to be responsive to the insatiable appetite for lightness in the marketplace. How? By applying an equally thoughtful approach to the manufacture of aluminum frames. His first well-known foray into aluminum was with the CCKMP, made from Dedacciai U2 aluminum. U2 is ungodly thin-walled tubeset that -- even when beefed up to Dario's specs -- still had a weight limit of 180lbs. "Fragility" is never a word anyone would associate with Pegoretti frames, so the CCKMP always seemed like a rogue frame in the line. The concern about the longevity of any U2 bike was so strong, in fact, that Pegoretti soon afterward released the Fina Estampa. The Fina was built with Dedacciai's best-loved aluminum tubing, SC61.10a, the same stuff Pinarello used on the top-selling Prince frameset. In comparison to the CCKMP the price went up, as did its hope for durability. In typical style the Fina featured substantially oversized tubing, but it had neither the pleasing lightness you'd expect from expensive aluminum, nor did it provide the velvety ride quality of steel. Let us be clear that it was probably to date the finest aluminum bike that money could buy, but by that point in his career Dario had already designed 3 steel models that were largely considered to be perfect bikes -- the Luigino, the GGM, and (most especially) the Marcelo. In comparison to that mammoth standard, the Fina felt utilitarian, like a compromise option for someone who understood the benefit of owning a Pegoretti, but couldn't rid themselves with their fixation on weight. Dario then chose to discontinue production of the Fina, and in its place introduce the Love #3. As was the case with his steel frames, when Dario stopped production of the Fina he showed Dedacciai tubing the door and in its place brought in Columbus aluminum for the Love #3, specifically their XLR8R scandium tubeset. What's scandium? It's aluminum alloyed with zinc and magnesium, then "doped" (that's Columbus' superb phraseology) with scandium and zirconium. The addition of scandium and zirconium improve its weldability and its resistance to heat-induced fatigue. This results in a longer-lived frame since it minimizes the impact of the welding heat on the material -- a big plus since the very act of being welded is the biggest trauma most bikes ever experience. Being aluminum, Dario considers the Love #3 to be a mercenary frameset of sorts -- it's a "pure race bike", he says. One that "50% of the people want, and 70% of them don't need." It's the same front triangle he uses for his mountain bike, so the suspect long-term durability of the CCKMP isn't an issue. The tubing diameters are seriously big -- as though it took a cue from the Big Leg Emma, not from any of his previous aluminum frames. For example, the chainstays are a breathtaking 30mm in diameter -- a mere 5mm smaller than that of the BLE. When you jump on the Love #3 with serious power it won't flinch in the least, exactly like you'd expect for a race-specific frame. When it comes to lightness, XLR8R scandium allows Pegoretti to shave substantial weight in comparison to the Fina. A size 54cm frame will come in at 1225g, about 2.7lbs. Another improvement in comparison to the Fina is its shock absorption. Columbus went to great extremes to maximize vibration elimination with XLR8R. If you could only purchase one Pegoretti, would we recommend the Love #3? Possibly yes. It's not Dario's best all-purpose bike. That designation still goes to the Marcelo. But if the bulk of your riding is spent "training", not "riding", then it's a bike you need to seriously consider. We have years where racing (or at least serious fitness) is our top priority. If that's your mindset, then the Love #3 is ideal. Conversely, if most of your riding is less power-oriented and more focused on endurance or simply cruising around, there's no reason not to go for a Marcelo or a Duende. The weight savings and the stiffness benefits of the Love #3 are of minimal consequence in those applications. P.S. "Love #3" is track #2 from the album "Journey Within" by the Charles Lloyd Quartet, featuring Keith Jarrett. The only Keith Jarrett album we have in the CD changer here is "Facing You", but we'll hunt around for "Journey Within" someday soon. If anyone wants to burn us a copy of the CD and mail it in, that would be dandy. The Love #3 is available in 1cm increments between 48cm-60cm. It requires a 31.6mm seatpost, a 35.0mm front derailleur, an Italian bottom bracket, and a 1-1/8" threadless headset. It comes standard with a Reynolds Ouzo Pro full carbon fork. It comes in a paint scheme known as "Manovella" and is available in custom paint for an additional $250. For custom geometry (which includes at no extra cost the paint scheme of your choice), it is an additional $300.
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configure/buy Love #3
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