BIXXIS is an acronym, meaning in Italian, "Italian bicycle for the 21st (XXI) century". Forward thinking though it may be, BIXXIS brings traditional materials and frame building legacy to the brand in the form of Italian master builder Doriano De Rosa.

De Rosa is, of course, a member of the family with the eponymous bicycle brand. But the steel and titanium frame building specialist is not a fan of the carbon (or "plastic" as he calls them) framesets that proliferate in De Rosa's current line-up. So last year, Doriano and his daughter Martina launched the BIXXIS brand. Doriano hand crafts each of BIXXIS' framesets in his Seregeno workshop just outside of Milan. Martina handles the operations and marketing ends of the new business.

"Martina is my boss," deadpans the distinguished-looking, silver haired Italian maestro.

BIXXIS' flagship offering is the Prima, a Columbus Spirit steel-tubed frameset with one piece CNC-machined dropouts, and a proprietary chainstay design called the X-Stays system. This design places the chainstays toward the outside edges of the bottom bracket shell, resulting in tight clearances between the stays and the crankarms/pedals. The result of this design, BIXXIS claims, is less energy wasted, more energy going to forward motion, and better bike performance.

It's not just the chainstays that are turning heads and creating fans. A deep red, very classic looking BIXXIS Prima won the President's Award at the 2016 NAHBS in Sacramento, as well as First Place in the 2016 NAHBS Campagnolo awards. Doriano and Martina took the stage to shake hands with another Italian cycling icon, Valentino Campagnolo.

"I really can't believe it," said the ever-modest Doriano De Rosa about winning two awards with his new brand.

"We are here to let the American market know about BIXXIS," said Martina. Clearly, they have announced their presence with style and verve.

Titanium BIXXIS framesets are in the works, Doriano told us. Although all BIXXIS bikes are made-to-measure and crafted with the rider's individual characteristics and desires in mind, you can go ahead and place a deposit on a BIXXIS Prima at their website today and join the growing queue.

Find out more about BIXXIS at www.bixxis.com