Interviews with Andrea Agazzini

My path was both from passion and from necessity: in 2018 two of the most important bicycle companies for which I was collaborating went out of business, so I thought about what the concept of electric bike would be for me, and I started at work to make it happen.

In my experience, the fundamental steps for a good project are: THE INITIAL IDEA, from which everything arises, THE EXPERIMENTATION and the actual work, in which the idea must become reality and all things must work, finally the PUNTO, where the idea is gutted in the smallest details to take the final shape.

It is very exciting the moment you see the idea taking shape and you understand that from that moment the path is the right one.

My observing and reflecting on how the objects that surround us are made

Definitely the ability to use and get to know the objects I was designing in depth.

Surely the most difficult job is the inner search to understand what are the true passions that a person has within him, the rest then comes naturally.

To be successful, you have to work on a project that when you wake up in the morning you can't wait to carry on, and you stay there until 2 am. You are there on the right track.

In the morning I try to deal with the less pleasant questions, then when I'm calm, I start thinking about future designs, with a free mind.

Keeping up with what others are doing is very important, but it's better to try something new than to do better something that has already been done.

A good design must have the pleasure to the eyes, the harmony of the shapes, but also the best functionality you could wish for.

Inside my mind I have the vision of my 90% versus 100%. I look for that first 90% in the first year of work, and then I attack one piece at a time to try to get close to 100%, which at the moment I have never succeeded :-)

I think my greatest work is the one awarded this year, the MotoBike Enduro2, because it embodies my vision of an electric bicycle and contains all my experience of technique, sale and use.

My sources of inspiration are the great Bike Designers who over the years have brought ingenious developments on the technique of two-wheeled vehicles.

The design that a person expresses represents 100% his personality and his lifestyle, if this is not bound by an external development imposed by other factors.

My profession involves designing, making, testing, advertising and selling the products I have invented.
So it's a strong swing of super positive days, followed by boring and tiring days, when everything seems to go wrong.
I practice my profession for 50% alone and for 50% helped by collaborators, I believe that working with me is easy if you have the same ideas, otherwise very complicated.

I believe that everyone who lives in this society is responsible for their share, so I think we should all try to reconcile their work with ecological and social sustainability, so that external factors do not have to intervene to mitigate the damage we cause.

I think that participating in this competition enriches your awareness a lot and makes you focus a lot on the most important parts of your work.

I became so unexpectedly, from the need to turn the ideas I had in my head into reality.

It was a discovery, not a choice!

He loves to think about the shapes of innovative vehicles such as sports bicycles but also their components and accessories.

Finding the way they are most passionate about, without immediately thinking about the result.
However, I still consider myself a young man! :-)

I think it is exclusively the passion that transpires from his works, as well as the experience.

For me, functionality is essential, without it, a design would be meaningless.

It makes the eye pleasing that makes the object defined over time.

Designing the definitive electric bike, obviously for Agazzini Bikes!

The ultimate electric bike

Try, try and try again.

More than a designer, my aspiration derives from the architectural field

More than a designer, my aspiration derives from the architectural field

More than a designer, my aspiration derives from the architectural field

More than a designer, my aspiration derives from the architectural field

I think I would be dedicated to the sports field

For me it is simply the tool to convey my ideas to other people

My biggest motivator was who cut my legs off and got me back on my feet stronger than before.

Definitely the historic moment and the motivation of my family.

The disheartening situation of seeing others use their ideas without any recognition

There is no specific way, each project has its context

I'm working on some patents for bicycle components

To be able to make my ideas my job!

I have no idea

The best society is created with education, design could be an intermediary

I'm working on some patents for bicycle components

The project I brought here, Enduro2

Bringing the design and production of goods in general closer to the world of sustainability

I think we need to get closer to everyday objects

At least a year and a half

It starts with the analysis of the underlying need

Less is more!

I think I'm a bit of a forerunner in my field

Technology is the starting point

Hand drawing, 2D and 3D cad, 3D printing, photography and video

My color is black or white, and the materials that make the difference

I would like them to ask me what prompted me to make it happen

For me it is a source of inspiration, I like to understand why it was made like this

Not at the moment

My brother

Books on circular economy and sustainability

with lots of training

With people with an open mind and with a dream

It is a good feeling to know that your work has been recognized

Too long question :-)

The funniest thing was in the first tests of our bike, when the bold people who thought they were MTB masters fell after a few meters due to the power of the engine!

When at the end of the day I finished my to do list!

No! I was more inclined to manual work

I see a negative future in mankind

I would like people to know that the evenings in front of the computer and the hardships I have gone through have been worth the recognition I am having.

We at Agazzini are a small company born in 2015, made up of two brothers,
Andrea and Paolo who in 2019 went to try the creation of a line of bikes branded AGAZZINI.
Now, more than three years old, also with the help of Matteo, our mechanic and rider,
we have grown and reached awareness in the three main segments for off-road, Muscle, Ebike and Motobike.

For me it is simply the tool to convey my ideas to other people

He loves to think about the shapes of innovative vehicles such as sports bicycles but also their components and accessories.

My sources of inspiration are the great Bike Designers who over the years have brought ingenious developments on the technique of two-wheeled vehicles.

I have designed and developed some components for ebike

It is aluminum and carbon, fused together in a single shape

When I manage to translate my ideas into forms, in that moment I am satisfied with my work

In my experience, the fundamental steps for a good project are: THE INITIAL IDEA, from which everything arises, THE EXPERIMENTATION and the actual work, in which the idea must become reality and all things must work, finally the PUNTO, where the idea is gutted in the smallest details to take the final shape.

I feel free to express what I want to be

A strong and lasting emotion, like having planted a large stone that will no longer be able to move

Its complicated simplicity, its containing complicated concepts and structures in a simple form

First I consider its constructive impact and its sustainability, then I evaluate the shape

They are the same as anyone who applies transformations to the planet we live on: full responsibility for thinking about the consequences of his work

I see design as a scale that can bring our world to safety, or make it fall even further into the abyss of waste of resources: only good designers will be able to choose the path

Many years ago at the Politecnico di Milano, while you were exhibiting my architecture, I now hope to be able to exhibit my new creations in the world of bicycles

I think about what could be useful to my clients and try to make it happen as best I can

I would define myself as a design-practical, which puts utility before form.
The shape is a consequence of what I think is useful, so it realizes itself

Absolutely, everyone is linked to the land they live in, both culturally and geographically.
My land is full of mountains and trails and my passion for the outdoors drove me here

It is very tiring to find companies with seriousness, but when I find them, I also form strong bonds of friendship

I think they need to know about your extra interests, that's the starting point

THE INITIAL IDEA, from which everything arises, THE EXPERIMENTATION and the actual work, in which the idea must become reality and all things must work, finally the PUNTO, where the idea is gutted in the smallest details to take the final shape.

Lighting, shoe rack, pen holder, sound system, stove

In the morning I try to deal with the less pleasant questions, then when I'm calm, I start thinking about future designs, with a free mind.

Finding the way they are most passionate about, without immediately thinking about the result.
However, I still consider myself a young man! :-)

The positive aspects are freedom of thought, the negative ones that too much freedom leads to asking too many questions

Only work when you have inspiration

Each skill fully forms a person, so the more skills the more you keep the variables under control

I use wrenches and hammers, measuring tools, paper and pencil, 2D and 3D software and 3D printer

Time is always the enemy, sometimes I think I work for a few hours and I end up dragging myself until midnight

small in about a month, medium in at least 6 months, large in more than a year

How can I better meet this need?

Definitely the design of my MotoBike Enduro2, together with the construction of a large electricity generation plant

I think the most varied types of people

I like the design phase very much, but also the experimentation phase in the field, because we realize if what we ultimately thought was reality.

Finalize some MTB components and start a targeted sale

I develop it myself

I have two new MTB component patents in the pipeline

Phone, mail, in person in my shop

I think the questions were well structured and I enjoyed answering

In addition to the above answer, linked to the frame, the biggest challenge was certainly to create a load-bearing motor block that acted as a frame, in this way we drastically lowered the overall weight.

The double transmission has a twofold advantage: on the one hand it eliminates the problems of heavy wear of traditional transmission components (sprocket set and derailleur) and on the other it creates a system that works in synergy with your legs, allowing you to change gear under stress and have a double system as a backup.

The challenge was to integrate the electronic part as much as possible into a frame that resembles a traditional ebike as much as possible, in this way, the electrical components that are usually located near the motor, in contact with dirt and water, in the Enduro2 are located high up near the handlebars, protected and dry. To do this, the frame was designed with a millimetric housing of battery and control unit, trying to maintain a streamlined and slim shape at every point.

I think my architectural background made it possible to create an unusual shape because my approach came from a sector outside of the bicycle sector, and for this reason it probably made me think of solutions that were partly unrelated to the world of two wheels (such as carbon-ergal bonding or a structural motor).

The plug-in assembly of the Enduro2 mainly allows to keep the geometries unchanged during manufacturing (different is the heat treatment of a welded frame, which causes warping).In addition, it is a system that allows the end user to disassemble and replace only the damaged component in case of breakages.

The centrally integrated motor offers three main advantages over rear motors:- reduces weight on the wheel, for a better riding feel, by centralizing the weights- reduces motor fatigue, working with a reduction ratio lower than 1:1 via a gear reducer- reduces heat produced on steep climbs by dissipating it throughout the frame

During development, the biggest challenges faced were weight reduction (the first prototype, all welded in aluminum, weighed 2.5 kg more) and the integration of such a large engine into the chassis. Dry assembly also represented a major manufacturing challenge, where tolerances must be perfect, and for this I thank the Italian mechanical workshop that helped me with this.Finally, after choosing the carbon front solution, it was very stimulating to think of an innovative shape to give to the front part, both for the electrical part and for the passage of the cables coming out of the seat tube.

The Enduro2 has been designed with geometry and weights that are inspired by the world of mountain bike racing, so it is suitable for both an amateur outing and for use by more expert users.The power delivery is very manageable even for users who are not experts in the world of motorbikes.

The Enduro2 could bridge the gap between motorcycles and e-bikes even more today, after the development of a new control unit that I made, which allows to obtain, together with the management via the throttle grip, also a torque sensor of the pedaling, like traditional e-bikes. It would be very nice to find an investor who makes a series production of this model possible, a lot of people (especially in an older age group) could find in Enduro2 the answer to their needs.