Umberto Scapin started building racing bicycles in 1957 in Piove di Sacco (Padua, norther Italy) and dedicated his whole life towards the production of high-end and refined steel frames. However not a mainstream brand, Scapin bicycles are nowadays really renowned amongst collectors worldwide.
As most of the Italian frame builders, Scapin committed to manufacture not only durable and performing frames, but also elegant and beautiful ones, adjectives which must accompany every Italian bicycle.
Some of the finest and most elegant bikes of the 1980s were made by Scapin.
They started to open a new chapter, when in the 1990s they started to sponsor offroad- and road pro teams. New materials entered the bicycle sector and Scapin had two choices: Either go with the trend and try to work out how to produce frames from aluminium, carbon fiber, titanium, or to build the most advanced steel bikes they could.
And they went with steel, as they already knew really well how to work this material. Within a short time they came up with some of the finest TIG-welded bicycle frames on the market. Such as our Scapin EOS Pro Team which was developed for the UCI Team Ballan - Allesio in 1999. It was a steel bike, designed for the pro-peloton and to go head to head with the best aluminium and even carbon frames. To be able to do so, Scapin redesigned their KS-Pro top model from the last year quite significantly. The main tubes still have the "Geoid" profile, the material has changed though for Columbus Foco, the hottest choice of steel tubing back then. The rear stays were not just bent to the side to make the rear triangle stiffer, but also to the back, improving comfort. The rear dropouts were also revisited and replaced for lighter ones. Significant improvement was the incredibly stable Wound Up carbon front fork. What remained though are the precise welds, elegantly clamped seatpost and the stunning manufacturing precision.
To be able to keep up with such exquisite frame, the best parts had to be chosen. The complete Campagnolo Record groupset was the obvious choice, but to elevate the whole setup even higher it is fitted with beautiful black Campagnolo Shamal wheelset.
By the break of the new millennium this was perhaps the most advanced steel bike out there. Now more than 20 years after it is a great ride by todays standards and still damn fast.
