On Mon, 5 Dec 2005 BobHoveyGa@aol.com wrote:
> there are times I'm flying down the road on my Gran Corsa (which commits
> the double heresy of being built by Billato ...
Since you mention this name ... .
Billato is onether Master Framebuilder in this country, little known in the large but highly appreciated by connoisseurs. A very strong young rider I know in Roma (just turned Pro this year) swears that it is absolutely the best he has ever ridden.
On the same note, and from the same town (Padova), in 1974 I had a custom bike built for my fiancee, commissioned and branded by Berma (Bertocco Mario). Actually I have myself put tens of thousand kilometers on it, often up and down passes and Alpine slopes and this bike is still in good use (as an example, I rode it up Grosse Scheidegg along with Mike Perry, whom some of you must know).
I later discovered that Fratelli Bertocco, around those years, used to commission their frames to Vetta (Antonio Taverna), still active there. So, I discovered this cradle of framsets and started to visit there often. I learned that they used to ship a lot to Canada, but no more now since the Chinese have taken over. Last time I was there, Antonio Taverna showed an order he had just received and was about to fullfill, for no less than Bianchi of Treviglio.
As my Father used to say, to teach me into life, often the price is made not so much by the real item but by the much talking about it.
Peace!
Sergio
Pisa
Italia