Daniel Merényi learnt his craft under the tutelage of master framebuilder Dario Pegoretti and the Burletta is the Hungarian’s flagship steed.
Merényi spent four years under the watchful eye of Pegoretti at the legendary Italia’s workshop in the mountain town of Caldonazzo before returning to Hungary to build frames under his own name.
Visitors to the Bespoked handmade bicycle show will be familiar with Merényi’s work, with his frames displayed on the stand of the exclusive UK stockist, Mosquito Bikes. We wheeled away the Burletta from Mosquito’s north London shop for a closer look.
The chassis
The Burletta is Merényi’s take on the modern classic and sits alongside the Adagio and Belcanto in the range. Burletta derives from ‘burla’, the Italian word for joke or trick and is a reference to the comic operas of the 17th and 18th Centuries. The ‘trick’ as far as the Burletta is concerned, according to Merényi, is that while the frame has the appearance of a traditional, lugged steel frame, it is designed to perform like a thoroughly modern machine.
The key is Merényi’s decision to build the Burletta with an oversized Columbus Zona Niobium steel tubeset, with a 35mm downtube and 31.7mm toptube. The wider tube diameters are designed to increase the stiffness of the frame, while the super-thin – just 0.2mm thick – helps keep the weight relatively low for a metal machine. The frame is available with a steel fork, a Columbus Minimal carbon fork or Pegoretti Falz carbon fork.
The tubes are joined by Llewelyn Cadenzia lugs, designed by Darren McCulloch and Dario Pegoretti, and Merényi says that, combined with the Burletta’s oversized tubeset, they result in a frame which is stiff like a modern, welded steel frame, while retaining the beautiful aesthetic of a classic, lugged frame.
All Merényi bikes are made-to-measure, with customers fitted at Mosquito, and all frames are custom painted, too. Our machine is finished with a stunning pearlescent white, grey and pink paintjob.
The components
Mosquito Bikes also build each machine to order so the spec of our test bike is somewhat arbitrary but we’ll divulge the details all the same as it’s a suitably impressive setup: the frame is dressed in a full Campagnolo Super Record mechanical groupset, with the Italian firm’s Euros wheels.
The Italian theme continues with the choice of finishing kit, with the handlebar and stem from Deda, and a silver Fizik Arione saddle, colour-matched to the handlebar tape. Thomson supply the aluminium Elite InLine seatpost while the wheels are shod with Continental GP4000S tyres.
Which all makes for a beautiful machine and one we’re very much looking forward to riding.
Price: £1,900 (frameset only)
Sizes: custom
Website: Merényi
UK distributor: Mosquito Bikes
