Dario Pegoretti Died--That Sucks

His dueling fanboys will miss being able to drop his name and pretend that he gave a shit about any of it.  62 or whatever is way too fucking young no matter how much you smoke.  His professional persona certainly was of the wild-eyed bike guy making it the old-fashioned all-American artisan way but in Italy!  And I'm sure much of that was bullshit, but his bikes were obviously bikes that you could ride because lots of people rode them.  The myth, though, was a tale of marketing genius by Gita that rivals only Richard Sachs and Sasha White as far of cult of personality framebuilding goes.  Hell, even the Jerk himself couldn't make his shtick catch on after the initial blow of his wad.  But you gotta make a bike that is good enough for people to ride before you can become a fictional character for the fanboys, and Mr. Pegoretti certainly did that.  And you have to maintain the energy to stay in character, so it helps if you actually are a character regardless.  Mr. Pegoretti did that well, too, so he will be missed genuinely by more than just his family, I'm sure.  No more Big Leg Emmas, either.  That sucks, too.  There was a frame that was legit good.