Richard´s interduction

Richard Dolák and his story

My name is Richard Dolak.

I am 47 years old, married and I have 3 beautiful children with my wife.

I spent my youth in my grandfather’s locksmith workshop, where we produced something new almost every day – a bicycle, a tractor, a welder. There I learned the basics of what I use today to make frames. I also built build ship and aircraft models – I wound the first composite (glass + epoxy) tube at the age of 11. Later, I started using also carbon fibers. However, at that time such material was imported from a “capitalist” foreign countries, and therefore it was very difficult to buy it.

Although I have always aimed towards technic (I was interested in mathematics, physics, chemistry, attended various inter-school olympiads, etc.), I graduated from the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University in Brno for pragmatic reasons. But technic and handwork was still my big hobby. Because I did cycling, I always assembled and repaired my bicycles by myself. I also read with interest about how frames are being built (steel at the time, of course), and dreamed that I could be one of those famous framebuilders. Although I didn’t do it on purpose, I actually prepared for this role by being interested in everything related to the design, materials and geometry of bicycles. I wanted to understand them and figure out what is essential and what is just the marketing “packaging”.

I always did a lot of sports – after “normal” cycling on the road and mountain bike, I started riding a bike trial, which completely engulfed me for about 10 years, by devoting all my free time to it. There is no better “school” for studying the geometry of a frame, its strength and rigidity! And the trial also brought me to the PIETRO brand, which I took over. And I set a goal for nothing less than making the best bicycles in the world! 🙂

I believe that the bicycle frame in its “classic shape” (ie two triangles connected to each other) is  ingeniously created and time-tested design – in its simplicity and excellent stress distribution, no other can match it. This is proven by both practical tests and computer simulations (if you move the rear seat stays on the seat tube lower, for example, the stress immediately increases unnecessarily at the joint between the stays and the seat tube). Just for this simplicity, I love the bicycle so much!