Massacan’s first mountain bike, the Pianella, features Columbus steel tubing, clearance for 29 x 2.4″ tires, and geometry suited for 100 to 120mm suspension forks or rigid setups. Each frame is handmade in Italy, and only 20 are being made. Dig into the details here…

Launched in 2022, Massacan is a France-based bike brand founded by three friends who share a passion for bicycles. Matthieu, Lucie, and Thomas all left more comfortable jobs to pursue their dream of creating bicycles for adventure. They kicked things off with Paula, an aluminum gravel bike, and the lineup now includes two gravel bikes, one fixed-gear, one all-road, all handmade from aluminum by the same welder. Today, their first steel mountain bike is entering the mix.

The new Massacan Pianella is their take on “the ultimate ultra adventure MTB, designed for long days in the saddle, endless exploration, and fun with no finish line.” Its first test was the Montenegro Mountain Madness, following a 700-kilometer route with 16,000 meters of elevation. Pianella held up perfectly and proved to be ideally suited to Montenegro’s wild and rocky terrain.

Here’s what Massacan had to say about the bike’s name: “Pianella means ‘the mule’ in Mentonese dialect. As with many of our bikes, we draw inspiration from our local playground and the Mentonasque dialect (spoken in Menton, the last city before the Italian border), the same source that gave us Massacan, which means ‘big rocks.'”

It is made from Columbus Zona and Life steel tubes, has a tapered head tube, a 27.2mm seatpost, a T47 bottom bracket, and boost hub spacing. It can clear up to 29 x 2.4″ tires, and plays nicely with 100 to 120mm suspension forks or the Columbus Futura Adventure rigid fork, which they offer at checkout. It features internal cable routing, a UDH rear dropout, several sets of bottle mounts, and three-pack mounts on the Columbus fork.

Because each frame is handmade, everything is customizable. Four standard sizes are offered, but custom geo is available at no extra charge. Custom paint jobs are also available upon request, although the stock Saffron Yellow and Tahitian Coral colors look pretty amazing to us. All four stock sizes feature a 67° head tube angle, 73.5° seat tube, 435mm chainstays, a 60mm bottom bracket drop, and a generously long top tube/reach that isn’t too dissimilar from the Hudski Dualist, aside from a lower cockpit/stack height. Watch the video Massacan put together for the Pianella’s launch below:

Massacan is only making 20 frames for 2025, so if you want one, don’t wait up. The frame-only option costs €1,990, the frameset (with the Columbus fork) is €2,590, and the frameset with a RockShox SID SL is €2,890. Complete builds are available upon request.

Visit Massacan.cc for everything you need to know.

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