Before All Others There Was the One-Of-A-Kind Italian Bellabici Elettrica E-bike

Before e-bikes were such a big thing, industrial designer Stefano Marchetto drew up and even manufactured this e-bike, the Bellabici Elettrica. Honestly, I have no friggin idea how this design has gone unnoticed for so long. It’s actually been around since 2011, back when very few knew what an e-bike is. But even then, it was so nicely put together that it received an award at the Expo Bicitech Innovation Award 2011. Not to worry however, now that we’ve found it, here it is.

Now, we’ve tried to contact the designer to get some details on this puppy. Nothing. Not one word, e-mail, of phone call. C’est la vie. At least we have this gallery and the video at the bottom to drool over. Maybe someone reads this message in a bottle and gets ahold of this designer in one way or another.

Like any bike piece we’ve put together, here to we can start with the frame for this relic. Yes, it is a steel frame, making it a bit heavier than other e-bike from today's time, but the minimal use of that steel still brings in a decently light weight. The entire surface of the frame is also nickel plated to help offer a higher resistance to the elements but also gives off a nice shine. The use of smooth welding on joints helps keep the lines of the frame smooth and blended.

The bike is set-up in classic city road-bike style, with no suspension except maybe the seat and a pair of bull bars, indicative of Italian design. Now here’s where it starts getting fun. We can see a sort of leather luggage attached to the tip tube and again to the seat tube. This is no luggage folks. This handmade leather piece houses the electronics for the bike. Electronics such as the battery and pedal assist controller.

We don’t know how much power that battery stores or pushes out, but we can see that a heavy-duty electrical wire leads down to the front tire, not the rear. This leads us to believe that the motor is housed in the front wheel hub, and by the looks of it, it is. But once again we know nothing about its power or the level of assist it offers. Taking into consideration the year it was built in, probably not much. Funny enough, there's an app for this bike and motor, and all operations are done from your smart phone.

However, the rear tire does have a trick of its own. Here we find a SRAM Automatix two-speed hub. But this system also includes a coaster brake, and the best part is that it switches gears automatically based on the speed you’re going and not manually. More braking power is offered by two dual-pivot caliper brakes, road-bike approved.

Throw on a brooks leather saddle and leather-bound bull bars, and the whole thing just works so well. This design even included internal cable routing, so look closely. However, if you don't like the standard color variation, the bike comes with a few more. Personally, I like the green and brown variation.

So if anyone happens to get ahold of the creative genius responsible for this bike, please, do us all a favor and post that contact info in the comments section.