Meet Passoni owners Ellen and Gianluca

Gianluca grew up in Bergamo near our Italian headquarters. An aspiring racer in his youth, unfortunately, an injury forced him off the bike, and it seemed his passion for cycling would be left behind when he relocated to New York. However, the encouragement of his partner Ellen saw him reconnect with his love of cycling. 

Gianluca, please explain a bit about your background in cycling. 

I was racing as a youth rider for a competitor of Passoni when I was living in Bergamo. But I had to stop in 2005 because of a knee injury. It became painful to ride above a certain level. This was around my freshman year in college when I was 18 or 19. I still didn’t know whether I wanted to fully commit to professional cycling. I took the result of my injury very personally. It was like my inability to succeed in cycling was a kind of failure. So I decided to take a break. 

In the meantime, you moved to New York and met Ellen.

Ellen: I’d done some bike rides myself. During the pandemic, I was looking for ways to be active and safe. I knew Gianluca had had such a passion for cycling at one point in life. I was encouraging him, but it was unbeknownst to me that I would end up doing it with him as well. 

Gianluca: I’m very grateful to my wife. Ellen has to take the credit for getting me back on the bike. I think she realised it would benefit me during the pandemic. I couldn’t remember the name of the manufacturer of titanium bikes I’d seen during my youth in Bergamo. But I got on Google and found Passoni. 

Why did you go down the route of a custom bicycle? 

Gianluca: I wanted a beautiful bicycle because of my past injuries. I wanted a good machine that wasn’t going to cause me trouble. At this point, I just want to enjoy the act of cycling. I just like to have a good time with my wife and my friends. I told Passoni I wanted a bike that would last a lifetime. I might upgrade the components, but the frameset, the important stuff that makes a perfect bike, that will last. Matteo Cassian showed me a bike from 1992 that was still being ridden. I thought that was marvellous. 

Have you been to visit the factory in Italy? 

Ellen: We got Luca’s Prima Disco bike from the factory and met everyone there. That personalised experience was super special. It was cool to see exactly how they’re made and everything that goes into each piece. It was a very different kind of experience from what I imagined buying a bike was like.

How did Ellen also end up with a Passoni? 

Gianluca: I think Ellen is the only person in the USA with a Valentina. I knew Ellen wanted a bike for her birthday. I saw this bike on one of Passoni’s Instagram stories one day. I asked Passoni about it, and they said it was a prototype. I convinced them that they should build me one for Ellen.

Ellen: The bike is custom with my initials. It’s also got beautiful Brooks leather handlebar tape and wooden fenders, plus all this other good stuff. 

Where do you like to ride in New York? 

Ellen: We’ve twice done this bike ride called the Tour de Five Boroughs. It’s not a race or anything. You start in downtown New York and end in Staten Island. You go through all the five boroughs. They close the highways. You ride through Central Park, throughout Brooklyn, and several bridges. It’s a perfect way to see the city. We also live a block from Prospect Park, which has a bike loop. If you go in the morning, you don’t get as much traffic. 

Gianluca: If we have more time, we like to go to Montauk or Shelter Island. There’s not much traffic on the back roads. 

Is it relatively rare to see Passoni bikes in America? 

Gianluca: The majority of riders you see in New York have fancy Pinarellos, Specialized or Cannondale bikes. They’re great. But for the money, I’d much prefer to invest in a ready-to-ride Passoni than something made in Taiwan, which comes with minimal customer service. What drove me to choose Passoni was the idea of being part of a small family. I messaged another Passoni American owner called Michael (https://passoni.com/en/journal/michaelmancuso) on LinkedIn, so there are a few of us out there.

Ellen: We get stopped all the time on account of how beautiful the bikes are. There’s so much curiosity, but maybe not as much knowledge of the Passoni brand. On our last bike ride over Labour Day, we spent about 30 minutes talking to a guy about our bikes over coffee. They generate at least two or three compliments on every ride.