Mike and all,
Regarding the IC lugs used by Medici and designed by Mario Confente; the owner of BOTH companies, Bill Recht, was the rightful owner of the lug pattern. He owned both bike companies and empolyed all parties at each. The lugs belonged to him. I'm sure Mario knew that the money spent having the lugs cast would only be cost effective if both bikes were built using the same set of lugs. The Confente spade lug cutouts were done by a pantagraph engraving machine (the sharp tips being finished by hand afterwards) whereas the Medici cutouts were done by hand. Mario never got to use the IC lugs, his bikes were Bocama lugs modified. They look like "exactly the same lugs" to the untrained eye, but they are different.
Since Mario designed the lugs Medici used, he is responsible for the "lines that just don't flow right" on the Medici lugs. Thinner filing and a better cutout would have helped the look of the lugs as Medici used them; but since they were IC for the purpose of eliminating the labor of shapeing the lugs you can't blame Medici for the poor shape. The Confente has a more refined look because Mario DID use the pressed lugs to start with and then filed them like the old days. Medici was stuck using the IC lugs that were quite thick as cast. They looked clunky on account of that. I actually made a frame for myself using the IC lugs when I worked with Medici. I cut my traditional heart, spade, club, diamond motif in the lugset and they wouldn't let me put Medici decals on the frame. I filed it real nice and used my special Cinelli fork crown treatment on the fork; so there is a real nice 51cm frame out there somewhere that looks sort of like a mix of a Confente/Baylis/Cinelli sort of thing. May have had hand painted Baylis lettering on the down tube when original. If anyone sees her anywhere, send her home right away!
The Medici wasn't supposed to have the elegance of a Confente. The Recht plan was to have Mario to build the high end and custom stuff while Medici built a higher volume of racing bikes about like a Masi GC of the period. They were not competing with one another, they were intended to compliment the whole business plan that Recht had laid out. A good number of bikes had to be built to justify the cost of the cast lugs; way more than Mario could build by himself. Any idiot could see that that. Somehow the Confente camp missed that critical point, which apparently lead to a "misunderstanding".
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
The Medici lugs were designed by Mario and I believe were intended to be used on his frames - a cast version to provide the same look of the stamped ones that were more labor intensive to use. They are supposed to look the same so of course they look the same. But that doesn't make them the same.
If memory serves me correctly, Jim Cunningham argued that Confente was unaware that his lug design was being "appropriated" by Medici. This was part of the breakdown in friendly relations.
Perhaps more importantly, the lugs on Medici frames don't have the elegant cutouts that Confente frames feature. Also, the curves of the lugs on the Medici lugs are not quite as refined - they don't flow right. A Confente frame has an elegance that Medici never quite captured.
Mike Kone in Boulder CO
> Now I am no expert in this field, however I did own a Medici a few years ago as
\r?\n> well as staying at a Holiday Inn Express one night, and someone told me that
\r?\n> Mario had designed the lugs that were on my Medici and had used them on the
\r?\n> Confente frames. In looking at the CR website on the Confente page as well, as
\r?\n> having seen one in person, I see the exact same set of lugs that were used on
\r?\n> the Medici. If they aren't the same lugs then I must be Mario's offspring. Have
\r?\n> a look for yourself and you be the judge. In the Medici folder at
\r?\n> http://photos.yahoo.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Mark Poore, no Italian blood in my veins, just an Italian tube between my legs
\r?\n> Slatyfork, WV
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> ---------------------------------
\r?\n> Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.