In a message dated 4/2/2006 1:28:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
Now before anyone sends me a bunch of off-list email telling me to go look in the archives, I did just that. I typed in "Confente Production" and got zero posts. I typed in "Confente" and 1,500 posts came up. I have A.D.D. and there is no way I can sort through all of that material for my simple questions to you seasoned Masi experts,so here they are:
Since the topic of Confente has come up lately I was wondering if anyone knows: 1.) What was the total production run on these frames? 25?, 75?, 500? more? Unknown? 2.) Was Mario Confente directly involved in the making of EVERY Confente frame? 3.) Were ALL Confente's made in Italy? Or did Mario set up shop in California and make some here as well?
As you can see by the content herein I am totally clueless about Confentes.
I'm into this time change though..... Theodore Edward Baer Palo Alto, CA
As Mark has said, searching the list is not the same as searching Google. You should have better luck following his suggestions (BTW, there are some examples of searches on the archive page, but because of the frames you have to scroll the top window down to see them).
1) 135 frames under his own name is the usual number stated.
2) As far as I know, all the California frames that bear Confente's name were completely the result of his own hand, aside from the paint.
3) I don't think anyone knows how many frames Mario built under his own name in Italy, but it probably isn't many. I believe most of his production there was as a subcontractor for Bianchi and Masi. Confente claimed that when he tried to go out on his own, he found himself blacklisted (as a young upstart) by established builders/suppliers and was unable to obtain materials. This may be one reason he was induced to make the move to the US.
Have you looked at the Confente page of the ClassicRendezvous.com site? Russ Howe's article gives a pretty good overview of his life.
http://classicrendezvous.com/
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA