Listers,
I've been reading all the postings postulating why Confentes are so highly prized and command the prices the do and it all makes a lot of sense, but I have a couple more theories that nobody has yet put forth, at least this time around. Maybe it's in the archives, but I'll just go ahead and expound on my take because I'm thinking all the information from years past is probably overwhelming.
1. Americans are obsessed with history and tradition such as originated in Europe hundreds of years ago because there really isn't any that old on this side of the pond. Sure, America has a solid history of bicycles, but the stuff from Europe just seems so much more "historic". Just think of London Bridge being moved to Arizona. Who else would do such a thing except maybe the Arabs? Anyway, Mario Confente became America's own Italian craftsman and how many of those are there?
2. Mario Confente died young with thousands of frames still ahead of him in his budding career. There are no more. The mould was broken.
No doubt there have been other European framebuilders just as skilled and artistic, but Confente had achieved enough fame in his short life that he wasn't forgotten and so his work became unique and sought after.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada