this is my opinion... dale has created CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS as a cyber-salon in which lovers/appreciators/coveters/aficianados of bicycles and bicycling from a 'pre-determined era', an era which ended a long time ago, can discuss our interests with civility. as such, this salon encourages veneration of certain things and the people involved with these things. this said, mario confente may likely have forgotten more about frames at age 33 than most of us will ever learn. he should be put on a pedastal and revered, if for no other reason than that it will never be known what his full potential could have been, and what impact that potential may have had in the subsequent years. i thought he was an icon in 1974, and i believe similarly today. furthermore, to suggest that all that framebuilders do is " stick bits of tubing together....", is like saying, " george nakashima made nice coffee tables". while some of the recent posts relating to the 3M's, masi, medici, and mario may be long, tedious, and/or seemingly self serving, i find it to be useful information that has served to shed light, (and heat), on an important part of the CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS timeline. at times, it has taken over my email inbox and has been a real time sink. when this has happened, i hit the delete button. e-RICHIE
On 7 Mar 2001 14:08:28 -0800 brucerobbins@worldmailer.com writes:
Let's keep a sense of proportion and stop venerating framebuilders and treating them as if they were prophets or as if they even occupied a place of major importance in the world above the rest of us. However well they accomplish it, all they actually do is stick bits of tubing together to make a pretty basic form of transport. Bruce Robbins