“Mr. Passoni” visits Hogg HQ

In March, Matteo Cassina, the principal of Passoni visited Sydney. He invited me for a ride with him and two of his friends. The friends turned out to be Kim Fournais, CEO of Saxo Bank, and Anthony Griffin, CEO of Saxo Banks’ Australian operations. We met on a rainy Monday morning outside the Intercontinental Hotel in Macquarie St, just up from the harbour and Opera House.

Anthony, being a local,  had planned a route through the Eastern Suburbs with the turnaround being La Perouse. It rained intermittently throughout the ride and we came back via Rosebery and Redfern. I mentioned to Matteo that it was the first time my Top Force had been ridden in the rain. His reply was “It’s titanium, rain won’t hurt.” Of course, he is right, but a bike like this is a treasure and I endeavour to keep it in show piece condition.

Matteo was riding his brand new, Super Record equipped bright orange and black Passoni Nero while I was on my Passoni Top Force. Kim and Anthony had my sympathy for having to make do with their Saxo Bank Team Replica Specialized Tarmacs. That is the price one pays for sponsoring a pro team.

All three were good company, with Anthony being particularly strong. Matteo and Kim took riding on the ‘wrong’ side of the road (for them) in their stride and we managed to survive the peak hour traffic on the return.

The photos below were taken at the Opera House at the end of the ride and outside our biz that evening while I was helping Kim with his position. Passoni limit their production to 500 frames per year and it is rare to see four in one place at one time outside of the factory. Passoni frames are more than bikes, they are exceptionally functional cycling jewellery.

Find out more about Passoni here.

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