Posted by J.Simonds 2/7/19 on Feb 7th 2019
Prior to leaving Giorgio suggested I supply him with the bicycle chainlube which I had been selling online to which I replied "you sell amazing bicycles, what are you going to do with a box of chainlube? We both laughed but agreed that my products had a place in the world of his fantastic bicycles.
At NAHBS I was standing behind my table catching everyone's eye "do you need lube"? As much fun as it was to foist lame come on's to strangers it seemed more fun to wander around the show and talk to the other vendors.
Passing Dario's huge display I heard a distinct Italian voice "Hey Josh" Dario motioned for me to sit on the couch with him. Cool, a living god knows my name. (Dario) "You do something for me ok?" (Me) "Sure, how about some chainlube"?. The deal was done, a handshake and off I went.
What Dario has ment to the bicycle world can not be described easily. The man has put more world beating bicycles under sensational athletes arses than there are stars in the sky. His no BS designs are considered holy sacrament within the framebuilding community. We could talk about his love of Aluminum or how enduring and beloved are his steel bikes ridden by the Pros during training. Why bother with all that? Dario was a genius, artist, humanitarian and he did it with style and beauty like only a true master can.
Dario's passing moved me deeply, a picture of him hangs above my workspace and I've decided to re-issue Italian Language NixFrixShun chain lube labels that have artwork derived from a mashup of a LOVE #3 and a random Mark Rothko painting. These labels are to remind us of the man and to never forget we ride well and better because of Dario.