C.B.T. Italia (Construction Bicycles Tardivo) was founded in the mid-1950’s by Giovanni Tardivo, a regional wholesaler and distributor for bicycle and motorcycle parts.

Towards the beginning of the 1970’s, Giovanni’s first son, Guido, joined C.B.T. Italia and expanded the company’s marketplace to include the production of road/racing bicycles and frames.

By the beginning of the 1980’s, Giovanni’s second son, Bruno, joined the company.  By this time, C.B.T. Italia had shifted the core of its business primarily on the production and distribution of road bicycle frames.
During those years steel was the only material used for bicycle frames, but C.B.T. Italia was already able to distinguish its products by introducing black chrome fork ends and crushed seat tubes to obtain a shorter chain stay.

At the end of the Eighties, with the passing of founder Giovanni Tardivo, the company’s core business shifted once again from bicycle production to industrial manufacturing. Investments in innovative machinery allowed C.B.T. Italia to specialize in processing the stainless steel and aluminium. The company applied this new technology, originally developed for the aerospace industry, to road/racing bicycle. The result was nothing short of a success. 
Aluminium slowly began to replace steel in the production and manufacturing of bicycles. Frames now had the ability to be lighter, and customized to client’s specifications.

In the wake of a new millennium, C.B.T. Italia remains committed to the continuing evolution of bicycle frame production.

With the introduction of carbon fibers, the company now has the ability to manufacture frames that combine the lightness of aluminium with style and comfort unlike any other.

In 2002, C.B.T. Italia tested its carbon prototype frame, with the woman’s Tour de France: the final result was the Maillot Jaune. The frame was the Karbon Fiber, the ancestor of the actual monocoque carbon frames, constructed entirely at the  facility in Cuneo, Italy.