Very intersting bike, thanks for posting those photos.
Actually the pantographing looks fine, it's just the fill painting that looks, well amateurish to be kind.
Kurt Sperry Bellingham WA
On 3/7/06, The Maaslands <TheMaaslands@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> I have been researching a bike found by a friend of mine for the last
> while and thought that it might interest a number of CR listmembers. The
> bike turned up in Italy with Confente decals, in the hands of a former
> team-mate of Mario Confente's. In fact they used to race together. The
> owner wasn't able (or perhaps willing) to tell my friend much about the
> history, apart from the fact that the bike had been shown at the New
> York trade show in the 1970's. The first photos that I received were
> rather poor and certainly didn't show much detail. I contacted a number
> of Confentologists to hear their ideas. All said that the bike appeared
> to be something special, while at the same time most said that they
> wanted to see more detail before pronouncing themselves any more.
>
> The first thing of note is that the fully built bike weighs in at 7.34
> kg (less than 16 1/2 lbs!!!), so this is obviously not your everyday
> bike. It would seem that the bike has been made with first generation
> Columbus Record straight gauge tubing (0.3 mm wall thickness!).
> Mentioning this, a lightbulb went off in Richard Sachs head, helping him
> recall that Mario had indeed displayed a naked, unpainted frame on the
> New York show Masi stand in about 1975. To confirm this memory, he asked
> for me to have my friend check the venting of the seatlug joint (he
> colorfully described it as being reminiscent of the business end of a
> urinal), to photograph the lever bosses, as well as brake bosses... All
> details corresponded exactly. Brian Baylis then commented that he was
> not aware of any other Record tubed frames being made at Masi, and that
> for Mario to have displayed the frame naked, would indicate that it was
> without doubt one of the nicest pieces of work that Mario would have
> done. After the show however, the tracks seemed to end for this
> particular frame. Now it would seem that Mario ended up with it (I
> wonder whether officially or not). My guess is that Mario had either
> built it specifically with his friend in mind, or decided that it would
> make for a nice severance from Masi. In either way, the frame ended up
> in Italy.
>
> How it ended up being labelled as a Confente is still not known. As many
> people who have seen the photos of the built up bike have already
> stated, the workmanship of the bike components are not quite up to the
> level of the frame. It would almost seem as though the paint, decals and
> build were done subsequent to the rest of the bike. A number of people
> who knew Mario and his work habits have suggested that it is unlikely
> that mario was directly reponsible for the selection of the build
> components. The components are simply not perfect enough. More than
> likely it could have been built up after his death or perhaps using
> 'seconds' from a machine shop that was contracted to handle the
> pantographing and milling of the components. The person doing the build
> must however have been sufficiently close to Mario to get the decals,
> frame and pantographed parts.
>
> I tried to label the photos so that special features could be
> recognized, but I am certain that you will be able to find extra
> details that I have not mentioned.
>
> http://www.wooljersey.com/
>
> All the components have undergone weight trimming. The bike is fitted
> with a first generation Campagnolo Super Record seatpost, rear
> derailleur, chainset and pedals (all with drillium treatment). The front
> derailleur and brakes are Campagnolo Record with drillium treatment. The
> BB and headset are both OMAS extralight components. The toe clips and
> straps are the lightweight Christophe Z (when did they come out?) The
> stem is a first generation Cinelli 1R that is an obvious msimatch for
> the 3TTT super leggera bars. The milling of the brakes and cranks are
> scary, as are the radially spoked 24 spoke wheels, which likely explains
> why the bike has never been ridden.
>
> If nothing else, the bike is unique!
>
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ
>
> _______________________________________________
>
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