Caloi

Caloi was founded in 1898 by Italian immigrant Luigi Caloi and his brother-in-law, Agenor Poletti. The company was directed by the Caloi family from 1898 to 1999. When Luigi Caloi died in 1924, the company changed its name from Casa Luiz Caloi (Portuguese for House of Luiz Caloi) to Casa Irmãos Caloi (Portuguese for House of Caloi Brothers), directed by Luigi's sons Guido, Henrique and José Pedro. In 1928, Henrique and José Pedro left the company, and Caloi was directed by Guido Caloi alone. In 1948, the company changed its name to Indústria e Comércio de Bicicletas Caloi S.A.. Guido died in 1955, and the company was directed by his son Bruno Caloi until 1999. In 1999, the Caloi family sold the majority of Caloi's voting shares to Edson Vaz Musa.^[1] Bruno Caloi, who was the president of the CBC (the Brazilian Cycling Confederation) for many years, died in October 2006.^[2] In 2013, 70% of Caloi's shares were acquired by Dorel,^[3][4] which also controls other bicycle manufacturers such as Cannondale and Schwinn, among others. Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings acquired Caloi with the purchase of Dorel Sports in 2021.

In 1898 a shop was established in downtown São Paulo, and until 1945 Caloi sold bicycles and parts imported from Europe. In 1945 Caloi established its first factory in the Brooklin pt neighbourhood of São Paulo, as importing parts from Europe became increasingly difficult due to World War II. In 1975, Caloi established a factory in Manaus, taking advantage of the economic incentives of the Free Economic Zone of Manaus. In 1990 Caloi started the operations of its US subsidiary in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2006, Caloi established a new factory in Atibaia, which replaced the São Paulo plant.^[5]