There may be two "Concorde" manufacturers from the 70's... I recall that there was a mid-level bike Japanese bike manufacturer called "Concorde" that we sold at the bike shops where I worked. It had Suntour components at the time and was reliable.
Regards, Steve Neago
Cincinnati, OH
> Norris-
> Your understanding rings true with what I know about Paganini with the
> excpetion that you know one helluva lot more than I do. I am 100% certain
that
> they were indeed made by CIOCC or whomever was the CIOCC builder.
>
> You are also correct that the CONCORDE (Native Belgium) were made by
this
> same CIOCC Builder. And the chrome/painting details were/are truly to
drool
> for. Down-right gorgeous and easily comparable to the best detail work
that
> Colnago or Tommasini has ever put out. As far as being sprayed by Van
Yperzeele,
> I can not confirm.
>
> I always thought they were sprayed in Italy, but I could be wrong.
Then
> again, the CIOCC paint and details were down right pedstrian (pardon the
pun)
> when compared to the Paganini or Concorde marques. However, I am not
saying
> that CIOCC are average or below average in any regard. Its just that the
detail
> and paint that you found on the Paganini and Concordes were totally
top-tier
> all the way, and second to None.
>
> To find that kind of detail and paint in a bike today, we are easily
> taking $800+, not including the cost of the bare frame. To make matters
even more
> amazing these frames sold for less than half of a comparable Colnago or
> Tommasini. Paganini/Concordes show up on the web from time to time.
Dennis, I would
> say that you can't go wrong with these high-end quality bikes and they are
an
> excellent value given their relatively low prices. Cheers-
> Dave Anderson
> Cut Bank MT
>
> In a message dated 2/2/2004 5:48:13 AM PST, Norris.Lockley@btopenworld.com
> writes:
>
> Sounds very Italian but is in fact Belgian,,.Like several other top
Belgian
> lightweight shops and some French ones too ,eg Van Yperzeele at
Geraardsbergen
> near Ghent calls his bikes Giacomelli, so the proprietor of that small
chain
> of excellent shops at Ghent and Ostend, La Plume Vainquer - "the Winning
> Feather", christened his frames after the musician Paganini.
>
> in the 80s and 90s Plumes' best shop along the Nederkooter, in Ghent was a
> Mecca for English hard riders and Belgians alike. Many are the hours I
have
> spent along the very long glass corridor leading from the street to the
shop door.
> Hell, the stuff that they had in there. The shop itself was quite large at
> the back where the staff worked but the counter area was relatively small
with a
> little "boutique" area.
>
> Anyhow to the bikes.. and more drooling. The frames were built in Italy
by,
> according to all accounts CIOCC/Cicli JOHN/CONTI, but whether they were
sprayed
> there I'm not certain, because later frames made for La Plume Vainquer
during
> his liaison with a Dutch wholesaler under the joint name of Concorde, were
> sprayed by Van Yperzeele or so the latter guy told me.
>
> However.. the most noticeable feature of the Paganinis was their superb
> flambouyantreds and blues over chrome with the stays lugs and forks all
left
> chromed. The other striking item was the amount of engraving on the lugs
and
> fork-crown. The "window" part of the lug in the corner had a very
styllised "P" in
> what I can only call Neon-style typeface. The down tube lug had a
variation on
> the Pinarello "P". The decals were also written in the same style of
lettering.
> The overall effect was stunning.
>
> Whether or not the track frame available is of the same high quality is
> debatable but I would think it very likely. However there was a trend in
Belgium
> and in France at the time to build track frames and cyclo-cross frames in
> stiffer and often cheaper tubing such as FALK.. probably so that it is
cheaper to
> write them off in a crash.
>
> The lus were invariably, on the road frames at least, short point "Serie
> Corsa Special" made by Rizzato Alessandro in Padua. Oh.. and the top eyes
were
> havily engraved also, with the "Paganini" running from the top of the eye
to the
> bottom, and not sideways on.
> Hope that's been of some use.
>
> Norris Lockley.. wishing he was in Ghent..