Luciano Berruti: The “Eroico” and his museum

Coming back from the Eurobike show, we decide to stop by the “Museo della Bicicletta” in Cosseria, a beautiful place near Savona, immersed into the mountains bordering the Ligurian sea.

Luciano made the promoter for us at the Eurobike show, carrying his bike into the halls of the fair of Friedrichshafen dressed with a old cycling kit and a old bike with two hostess giving invitations and gifts about our Retro Party we did the evening before.

Entering the museum of Cosseria seems the time has stopped if you look at what Luciano has collected: all the walls are completely covered by the most significant jerseys of cycling like Zoetemelk, Gimondi, Fondriest or Anquetil jerseys.

He says he has more than 300 jerseys, and many of them are certainly Castelli but the biggest part of the collection is represented by a lot of Vittore Gianni jerseys, the 1897 brand that become Castelli in the 70’s. He has Vittore Gianni jersey of Marino Basso, Romeo Venturelli and other big names of the italian cycling. It was a very big surprise for us seeing that Vittore Gianni, the brand we represent today, made cycling equipment to all these champions, because our story is so long, and we have to dig into our roots too to discover who we are.

What do you think about cycling now Luciano?
Luciano: we should come back a bit, first for health but to gain more c readability too, Brocci tried to make something with the Giro Bio, I hope we can do something in that road. Some sponsors are born by cycling, and we have to preserve this sport, because bicycle is freedom, passion, not only challenge but a way move without polluting the environment and blocking the cities. I believe that the situation will improve, with these new controls. We saw a Tour of France not made by phenomenons and won by Nibali, that didn’t records on the mountains.

Luciano is well known for his participation to Etoile d’Argent association, a no-profit organization founded by Patrick Joret that cures childs affected by dystonias, a disease that blocks the capability to move the limbs. Luciano has always a red band on his right arm, symbol of the Etoile d’Argent.

When did you start with your museum?
I started here, three/four years ago, the president of Regione Liguria came here in Cosseria, to my son, and saw all the bikes. He told me that it was beautiful having a museum and I want to help you. So the new major of the town granted the funds to open this museum, to show my bikes to all the people that had my passion. This building was a old school, they did the new roof, and the I started carrying here all my bikes into a sequence.

So Luciano is now showing us the bikes he has: like the one of the first velocipede with the big wheel in the front, he shows a ancient cyclette coming by the Princess Sissi castle of Baviera (maybe the Sissi’s cyclette?) and a special Atala model that allows you to change the back wheel without unscrew it. We see the Michaux, the Grand V, from the right of the room in a circle that between leather saddles, iron chassis and water bottles more similar to a milk can carries us to the last models he has: the chrono bike of Francesco Moser he used in 1984 for the hour record and the Colnago signed by Franco Ballerini.

What’s cycling for you?
For me cyclists have a shift tat other athletes hasn’t, because they can face efforts that in other sports don’t exist. I hope that cycling will help to teach the feeling of sacrifice to all the people, a thing that helps in life too.

We go out and many people of the town were expecting for Luciano, after two days away from home, with us in Friedrichshafen.
Guys playing football outside of the museum, old friends and relatives asking to him how it was and what he did in Germany.

We leave Cosseria after two hours in the Luciano’s Museum, with a nostalgic feeling for cycling, thinking that cycling could make the world a better place, because a real passion for a healty sport is always a great thing.

Please, visit the museum of Luciano in Cosseria (Museo della Bicicletta), near Savona, just one hour and a half from Milano.