The history of the
brand and the emblem
Romagna is a region where the passion, the devotion, and the love of the cycling are at their apex.At the height of their creativity,a local bicycle fanatic from the Romagnola town of Lugo, Oliviero Gallegati, began in 1973 to manufacture exquisite custom road bicycles.
SOMEC is the name that Mr. Gallegati decided to give to his new enterprise. SOMEC comes from the Italian “Mechanic’s Society” acronym, “Societa’ Mecchanica”.
In the beginning the bikes were sold to local cyclists but with increased exposure at international bike shows, SOMEC received orders from many foreign customers fascinated with the work of SOMEC’s superbly skilled artisans.
Now SOMEC distributes its products all over the world.
Emblem
Two images met Mr. Gallegati’s vision of his dream for SOMEC:
- The tulip, because it is elegant and durable and comes in a vast array of colors
- The cavallino rampante -stallion-which Francesco Baracca, a famous war aviator from Lugo of the late 1800’s, had emblazoned on his airplane.
This same horse was given from Baracca’s family to Ferrari, and of course is now associated with their prestigious cars.
SOMEC Technology
In the past years Somec have created many new inovations in their frame developments which have also been seen ( copied ) on other non Somec frames.
The 70's
In the 1970’s we introduced a new seat coller which integrated the rear seat stays for a more elegant look without sacrificing regidity.
The 70's
By changing the traditional straight brake bridge, Oliviero Gallegati designed a new arch shape bridge to follow the shape of the brake caliper.
Ciclomaster 70's
Oliviero Gallegati also introduced the CICLOMASTER cycle simulater, which determind the customers ideal frame position and set up prior to building the custom frame.
The 80's
As aluminium was introduced in the 80’s Mr Gallegati was not happy with the look of the heavy welds seen on the Aluminium frames. Being a very experienced welder he realised that a smooth weld could be acheived without sacrificing any strength to the joint. This process involves a lot of time and therefore will not be copied by other companies, usually focused on production in low-cost series.
The end of the 80's
Towards the end of the 80’s further developments were made which saw more unique features such as internal gear and brake cable routing.