Festka appoints former Pinarello US boss Roberto Sadowsky as new CEO

Czech manufacturer of high-end carbon bike frames Festka has appointed former boss of Pinarello US Roberto Sadowsky as its new CEO.

Sadowsky brings a wealth of top-level business experience to the table. Born and raised in Italy, he has spent the last 11 years running the US operations of brands including Dainese and Pinarello. Coming originally from sales management both in B2B and DTC, Sadowsky has acquired, especially throughout his tenure in the USA, a great experience in all the areas of business.

“Festka’s ambition is to become worldwide the most relevant and authentic key player in the luxury and high-end bicycle space,” said Sadowsky. “Festka, despite the current small company size, has an incredibly strong brand and a dedicated customer base; the company builds in-house unique frames and bikes that are bought and appreciated all around the world.

“Our intention is to build on these extraordinary foundations, by scaling up our production capabilities dramatically, while staying here in Czechia.”

What makes him think Festka can do it? “I’ve been watching the company for quite some time just out of interest, and I’ve now been in touch with the co-owners for a long time,” he said. “I always felt the brand had a special spirit I didn’t see anywhere else.

“Czechia is a place rich in technical know-how in manufacturing and design and is full of skilled people willing to innovate and create value. In some way, it reminds me of Italy before globalisation. This great environment will allow us to innovate and bring to the bicycle industry a unique manufacturing and business approach.”

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Co-founders of Festka Michael Moureček and Ondřej Novotný have so far been involved in both running the company as well as each being responsible for their own part of the operation – manufacturing process and product development respectively. The arrival of Sadowsky will ‘free up their hands and enable them to devote themselves fully to the important tasks lying ahead of them’.