Marchesini Wheels Founder Roberto Marchesini Passes Away

Roberto Marchesini, the founder of one of the most well-known names in motorcycle components, Marchesini wheels, has passed away in Italy, at the age of 79. Marchesini set up Marchesini wheels, and went on to produce some of the most desired and lightweight forged and cast aluminum and magnesium racing wheels available for motorcycles. Several production models from Ducati use Marchesini wheels, and today, the main teams competing in MotoGP, SuperBike and SuperMotard racing all use Marchesini wheels. Marchesini wheels are also available for more widely used road models.

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High-performance bikes like the Ducati Panigale V4R use forged magnesium wheels

Roberto Marchesini was born in Bologna in 1941, and is widely regarded as a pioneer of cast magnesium motorcycle wheels. After his early education, he went on to work at the local Campagnolo light metal foundry, where he soon became one of the chief technicians, and was placed at the head of the department that would develop the casting technologies needed to manufacture car and motorcycle wheels. While improving magnesium motorcycle wheels at Campagnolo, which made the wheels a huge success, Roberto Marchesini went on to join Mavic, where he helped the small company to become a major player in high-performance magnesium motorcycle wheels.

In 1988, he founded his own firm Marchesini Wheels, progressively evolving the cast magnesium wheels to a higher state of technology to make forged magnesium wheels, which are even lighter and stronger. In 2000, Marchesini Wheels was acquired by the Brembo Group, and Roberto Marchesini went on to semi-retirement after selling off the company to the Brembo Group.