Italiano

Cicli Ferrari 1936, Turin

Nicola Ferrari

Artist. He designs and builds birch wood bicycles by hand, one at a time.

Commission a bicycle
Portrait of Nicola Ferrari
wheelbase [— mm] circular rear frame birch plate
Oma Zero, 2014. Nicola Ferrari’s first frame.Drawn from the original bicycle
Nicola Ferrari at work in his workshop

The artist

Wood, the road, people.

Nicola Ferrari was born into a family of wood and bicycles. One grandfather traded timber, the other built bicycle frames, a craft later handed down to his father. Nicola took up that craft and gave it a name: Cicli Ferrari 1936.

In 2014 he built his first birch frame, the Oma Zero, inspired by Dutch bicycles. It did not stay in the garage: in 2016 he rode it all the way to Istanbul. He has covered the entire Italian stretch of the Via Francigena on foot and by bike.

For him a bicycle is also a way of being with others. He brings his work into art therapy projects and struggling neighbourhoods, and imagines frames that young people can finish with their own hands while learning a trade.

“Wood is a malleable material: it can be worked, painted, engraved, screen-printed. In other words, made personal.”

Nicola Ferrari

The bicycles

One recognisable shape, different every time.

Birch is pale and even, strong and elastic. It can be cut, bent, engraved and turned. Nicola uses it for frames that are each one of a kind.

Oma Zero

The women’s model inspired by classic Dutch bicycles, with the circular rear frame that is Nicola’s signature.

from [€ —]
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Electric

The same shape with a discreet motor. Nicola Ferrari was among the first in Italy to build an electric bicycle with a wooden frame.

from [€ —]
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Made to measure

The frame can be painted, engraved or screen-printed. Nicola designs it with you, around your measurements and your idea.

on request
[delivery time]

The journey

To Istanbul on the Oma Zero.

January 2016, in the depths of winter. Nicola sets off from Rome along the southern Via Francigena on his first frame, reaches Brindisi, takes a ferry to Greece and keeps pedalling all the way to the Bosphorus.

  1. Southern Via FrancigenaRome
  2. Anagni
  3. Cassino
  4. Alife
  5. Benevento
  6. Celle San Vito
  7. Cerignola
  8. Bari
  9. Monopoli
  10. by ferryBrindisi
  11. Greece and ThracePatras
  12. Derveni
  13. Corinth
  14. Athens
  15. Thebes
  16. Lamia
  17. Larissa
  18. Katerini
  19. Thessaloniki
  20. Kavala
  21. Alexandroupolis
  22. Keşan
  23. Istanbul

Snow in Benevento

It was snowing hard, his hands were frozen and people stared at him as if he had landed from another planet. Lesson learned: never ride after an eel and onion sandwich.

Pushing on to Thermopylae

From Athens onwards the road climbs and drops without a break. He walked many stretches, pushing the bike.

The Istanbul cash machine

On arrival, with little money in his pocket, a deposit-only machine swallowed his card. Speaking neither Turkish nor English, it took a long argument to get it back.

“A bicycle is not just a means of transport, but a silent witness to the life that rushes past us far too quickly.”

Nicola Ferrari

Beyond the workshop

Bicycles that carry something.

Eco bicycles on the Francigena

A bike-sharing service along the Via: pilgrims pick up a bicycle at one stage and leave it at another.

Frames for learning a trade

A frame shipped as a semi-finished piece and completed in dedicated workshops, where young people in difficult circumstances learn carpentry or bike mechanics.

From Turin to Scampia

By bike to Naples to present the project at the International Symposium of Contemporary Art, an artist residency run by the Associazione Occhi Aperti and curated by Antonio Conte.

Ferruccio Ferrari

With his son

Ferruccio Ferrari

Nicola’s son and the manager of Cicli Ferrari. He looks after commissions, collaborations and exhibitions, so that Nicola can devote himself to the wood.

Write to Ferruccio

Since 1936

Family history.

One grandfather’s timber, the other’s frames, a craft handed down from father to son. Three generations before the first birch bicycle.

Read the story

A historic photograph of the Ferrari family

Contact

Commission a bicycle.

Tell us what bicycle you are looking for and how you will use it. Ferruccio will reply and arrange a visit to Nicola’s workshop.

cicliferrari@gmail.com
Workshop[Address], Turin, Italy
Phone[+39 —]
VisitsBy appointment