Columbus

From the small factory owned by Angelo Luigi Colombo in 1919 all the way up to modern carbon and Spirit steel, Columbus has been a leading name in bicycle tube manufacture. Other off-shoots of A.L.Colombo have included aircraft design, Ferrari chassis and furniture, but it was in the 1970's, when Columbus separated from the parent company that their dominance really began. Even though Edoardo Bianchi and Fausto Coppi used early Columbus tubes and forks, it was the invention of tubes like Nivracrom and Air that drove cyclists like Merckx, Gimondi, Hinault, Lemond, Argentin, Fondriest, and Pantani to world class victories. Even now Columbus remain a market leading in creating high end carbon, aluminium and steel tubesets that lend more credit to their already prestigious name.