Officina Battaglin, the brand founded and managed by the 1981 Giro-Vuelta winner Giovanni Battaglin, has launched a disc version of their popular Power+.

The Power+ is a modern fillet-brazed steel frame, which has gotten enthusiastic reviews both in Europe and the USA.

For a steel frame designed to be assembled with the latest equipment, the disc version isn’t something completely unexpected.

Officina Battaglin Power+ Disc
The Power+ Disc is designed to blend the traditional Italian craftsmanship with the latest technology, providing a smooth ride and great stopping power in any road condition. It’s the disc version of the Officina Battaglin Power+, with a new blue paint job that sets it apart from its predecessor.

Some specifications:

  • Fillet-brazed steel frame
  • Columbus Spirit HSS tubeset
  • Carbon tapered fork
  • Tapered head tube 1”1/8 1”1/2
  • English BB
  • Front and rear thru-axle 142×12 mm
  • Head parts and seat collar included

“Many customers were already asking for a disc version of the Power+,” says Giovanni Battaglin, “but we wanted it to be a little different and have its own identity.

That’s why we’ve chosen a different color that sets it apart from the rim brake version of the Power+, even if we’ve kept the same paint scheme”.

The Power+ paint scheme is a contemporary reinterpretation of one of the best-selling Battaglin steel frames in the 90s ridden by the Refin pro team.

“The old Power+ was one of the most appreciated steel bikes of its era. We still get questions about it by customers and collectors, and this means people still like it. The ‘+’ symbol is something that draws attention because it’s unusual.”

Like its predecessor, the Power+ Disc is made from Columbus HSS Spirit triple-butted. The oversize tubing makes for a modern look while keeping the frame light and responsive.

Officina Battaglin Power+ Disc (frame)
The Power+ Disc is built from the latest Columbus Spirit HSS triple-butted tubeset. Steel may have abdicated as the material of choice for the majority of cyclists, but Columbus has never stopped being the first contributor to innovation in its field. Featuring oversized tube profiles, the Spirit HSS is the first step towards a lightweight steel frame with racy aesthetics. The frame is built using fillet-brazed construction. Fillet-brazing is art. It’s the most sophisticated way to build a steel bicycle frame. After carefully mitering the ends of the tubes on a precision machine to make sure the fit is perfect, the frame builder melts a filler metal in the gap between the two pieces at a temperature below steel’s melting point. Getting sculpted joints as those you can see in photos requires a lot of hard work and years of practice.

“We’ve been working with Columbus since the early 80s. It’s a strong collaboration between two Italian brands that still innovate with steel.

Today Columbus can produce stiff, lightweight tubing like the new Spirit HSS.

You can build a steel frame that weighs less than 2 kilos, and if you assemble it with lightweight carbon wheels and components the complete bike can be less than 7.5 kilos”.

Most of the frame characteristics have stayed the same (fillet-brazed joints, tapered head tube, carbon fork), but the Disc rolls out some juicy new features: thru-axles front and rear and added tire clearance.

This disc-equipped frame is made to order in Italy, inside Battaglin’s factory. Customers can take advantage of a Grand-Tour winner’s advice in the sizing process.

Made in Italy with kindness

Officina Battaglin Power+ Disc. Made in Italy with kindness.
Officina Battaglin Power+ Disc. “Made in Italy with kindness”.

“All the Officina Battaglin frames are handmade in Italy. I take part in the sizing process of every frame we build, to ensure the customer gets the best geometry for their body proportions and riding needs. I feel it’s important that the bike rides how I want it to ride, but it must reflect the cyclist’s uniqueness”.

The Power+ Disc has everything you can ask for a modern steel racing frame.

“Lightweight, smooth-riding, now with added braking power and greater modulation. I wish I had a Power+ Disc when I raced the Giro!”

Giovanni Battaglin

Giovanni Battaglin
Giovanni Battaglin

Giovanni Battaglin (born 22 July 1951) is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist. He won both Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España in 1981. This achievement is notable because the Vuelta was running before Giro in those years, not in late August like today.

The 1973 Giro d’Italia began in Verviers in Belgium and was Battaglin’s debut in a grand tour. Battaglin immediately showed promise when he finished third on stage four ahead of Eddy Merckx and José Manuel Fuente.

By halfway through the race, Battaglin was sitting in second place overall behind Merckx but lost that placing to Felice Gimondi. Just at the age of 21, the neo-pro astonished the cycling world by finishing third in the race. Battaglin would wear the maglia rosa for five days in the 1975 Giro d’Italia as well as several stage wins and wins in smaller stage races.

He also won the King of the Mountains jersey in the 1979 Tour de France, even after he received a penalty for testing positive for doping. Battaglin finished third in the 1980 Giro d’Italia.

The following year on the tenth stage mountain time trial of 1981 Vuelta a España which was on the long climb to Sierra Nevada, Battaglin won the stage and took over the leader’s jersey. The only threat to Battaglin’s lead was Pedro Muñoz. Battaglin and his Inoxpran team withstood the challenge from the Spanish and brought Battaglin to his first grand tour victory.

Three days later after Battaglin’s triumph in Spain on 13 May 1981, he began the 1981 Giro d’Italia. On the 19th stage toward the end of the race, Battaglin won the stage to Mareo and took the maglia rosa from Silvano Contini. He withstood the final test – the final stage’s individual time trial to win the race in Verona ahead of Tommy Prim.

Battaglin remains only the second rider after Eddy Merckx to win the Vuelta-Giro double. In the space of one and a half months, Battaglin won two of the grand tours.

Read more: https://officinabattaglin.com/power-plus-disc

M. Özgür Nevres

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