ELRAY a great bicycle brand born in italy in 1995

elraycycles

Dirt Disciple
I want to tell you my story!

i was buyng and selling some stuff one month ago and the retro guru CRUS give to me the advise to tell you how i started my bicycle brand!

first of all i will apologice because i really want to write in first person, and my english is of course terrible! but i did nt wanted to pay somebody to write down in a correct way otherwise would not be so confidential,friendly, and maybe is better if is not to understandable :) hihihihi

My name is Patrick Ray Pugliese, industrial designer, painter and cyclist :)

i' m a retro mountain bike rider, i started in the 89, 13 years old, close to venice in the italian alps.
In the year 91 i started racing with the team of the italian importer of MERLIN TITANIUM in junior category (15-1:cool: so i raced until 93 and in 94 i race for another team, scavezzon, with great italian champions like dario cioni,dario aquaroli and marco bui.

It was a great time, i use to follow the grundig cup just to get autographs of Tomac, Overend, Greg Herbold,JUarez in person.

This big love for mountain biking and the transfer in Marbella Spain first and then Montecarlo Monaco until now of my family, approached me to the desire and the business of designing mountain bike.

That's how i started my brand, ELRAY CYCLES, that use to race in northern intaly in 1995 and was let's say the real first mtb frame who use the curving of the rear top stays of the frame to give some flexibility and comfort to the bike and hel the rider!

I started welding this early 95's frames with the italian artist Dario Pegoretti, who realized some bike and i use to use the DEDACCIAI tubing.
Dedacciai was a new brand in cycling and use to give good weitgh and strongness to the steel.

then i start building this bikes and in the milan eicma expo 1997 something happen!

i was exposing my bike in stand with monticelli, a dealer of some different brands,
and the star of the expo was the new tom ritchey's frame,Plexus, made with dedacciai tubing!

Incredible! Monticelli was the italian importer of Tom Ritchey and basiccly we where eposing the same design bike,same tubing, with different brand!

The italian press,even do i was 18 years old was astonished and finally notest my frames that where already published since the 1996 in mtb magazines.
The ugly thing was that dedacciai, stop giving me the tubing to make my ELRAY frame, because it was exclusivity of the Plexus frame since then and after.

This problem cut me out for a little while, one year,where i concentrate myself on finishing high school and discover womens :)

The italian top tubing brand COLUMBUS, at knowledge of this story contact me,giv it to me a great welder ( marco bertoletti the one of LEGENDBIKE today roads classy frames) and then i started again building bikes, with a top gear, i use to have cook bros ringle manitou grafton sdg and other great parts to build what was very quickly practicly one of the best racing xc bikes in italy, so i reach the cover of italians mtb magazines!
i worked one year i was only 22 and after that i start working in television, but this is another long story!
The thing is that after columbus, i realize the first titanium flexing ELRAY frames, and in 2004 until 2006 the italian company CARRARO produced some dirt bike for dual slalom at cheap price with my design.
I was working at the tv at the time until today let's say, even if less then a year ago, i started a new project of racing mountain bikes and fatty's!
Today after some month of hard work we are again one of the bests italian brand who want to produce racing xc mountain bikes and we have basicly two bike, a CARBON and a TITANIUM high level one.
We produce all in italy, hand made, and even the components are made by our prtners in a great old style, all CNC aluminum titanium carbon parts.
Practicly the best and top italian hand made bike build today :)

so thank you very much ! i appreaciate to be invited to tell this story!

i started translate our web site in english check it out

http://www.elraycycles.com

and facebook is : elraybcycles

you can also see instagram and some video on youtube elray cycle channel.
 

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second part ELRAY STORY

i finish here the pictures of the ELRAY story
 

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  • RUO VERA.jpg
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