Masi-Confente-Medici Story--Drama

[LouDeeter]

If you like bike drama, this is about as good as it gets. Get a bag of popcorn and 30 minutes of your time and have fun reading about the Masi story, along with a few side stories that will make it worth your time.

http://www.raydobbins.com/ebay/medici/medici_story.htm

[fiamme red]

There was so much valuable information in the bikelist.org CR archives. I wonder if there's any way that someone can retrieve them? Or are they gone forever? If so, it's really a shame.

[smontanaro]

I recently got most of the old CR archives back up, with no concern for modern HTML sensibilities:

http://www.smontanaro.net/

It should be Google searchable, e.g.:

site:www.smontanaro.net Confente

[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by smontanaro

I recently got most of the old CR archives back up, with no concern for modern HTML sensibilities:

http://www.smontanaro.net/

It should be Google searchable, e.g.:

site:www.smontanaro.net Confente

Great job!
Thank you

[clyde the point]

I am fortunate to have met several members of that story, and once owned a Confente track with a road fork; purchased by me when living in Monterey, and built at Farrier's place. I could not bring myself to ride it, and sold it when we moved to Ohio and I needed a tractor. One of 135. I didn't know that at the time. It was a beautiful bike no doubt. I did handle one of Boyer's stars painted bikes he had, as Mario made him several. There's an awful lot of ugly drama in that story, however it's relevant to history and does make for an interesting read.

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by smontanaro

I recently got most of the old CR archives back up, with no concern for modern HTML sensibilities:

http://www.smontanaro.net/

It should be Google searchable, e.g.:

site:www.smontanaro.net Confente

This is a great resource. Thanks so much for doing this!

[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by clyde the point

I am fortunate to have met several members of that story, and once owned a Confente track with a road fork; purchased by me when living in Monterey, and built at Farrier's place. I could not bring myself to ride it, and sold it when we moved to Ohio and I needed a tractor. One of 135. I didn't know that at the time. It was a beautiful bike no doubt. I did handle one of Boyer's stars painted bikes he had, as Mario made him several. There's an awful lot of ugly drama in that story, however it's relevant to history and does make for an interesting read.

Don't understand the "I could not bring myself to ride it" mentality. It's just a bike. There are many bikes being made today far nicer than what Mario was building then. Mario fan boys are over the top... they are made to ride, Italian bikes were tools of the trade.

[chrismoustache]

Wow.

Kinda makes me feel better about having a Panasonic built Peleton...

[bigbill]

My sister has a beautiful Medici with eggshell base and splatter finish. She had it cold set to 130mm a few years ago and a 6700 group installed. She travels and is considering sending it off for coupling.

[LouDeeter]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

Don't understand the "I could not bring myself to ride it" mentality. It's just a bike. There are many bikes being made today far nicer than what Mario was building then. Mario fan boys are over the top... they are made to ride, Italian bikes were tools of the trade.

Any collectible, whether it is a bike or coins, violins, cars, stamps, or other, was meant to be used, but in the end, some specific examples end up being special. I wouldn't expect you to spend an 1804 U.S. Silver Dollar as if it were just money or put a rare stamp on an envelope to be mailed, nor would I expect someone to think a Confente was just another bike to be used as a tool to ride.

[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by LouDeeter

Any collectible, whether it is a bike or coins, violins, cars, stamps, or other, was meant to be used, but in the end, some specific examples end up being special. I wouldn't expect you to spend an 1804 U.S. Silver Dollar as if it were just money or put a rare stamp on an envelope to be mailed, nor would I expect someone to think a Confente was just another bike to be used as a tool to ride.

If you are judging them special because of the relatively small number made before his death that's fine. But so what, the best compliment you could do him would be to love the way it rides. I've seen a bunch of them and as I've said many builders are building as good and some are a full step above his work. Folks who own them can do whatever they want with them but maybe they are simply missing out on a nice bike to ride. They most certainly are not even close to the rare cars out on the track @ vintage festivals being used as intended.

[smontanaro]

I'm with @LouDeeter here. There are bazillions of bikes out there, but, what, 135 Confentes? Most anybody who owns one will almost certainly have other bikes which ride as well (or better - only a few were built as customs for their current owners, so fit might be a compromise). Why not hold it out as an example of Mario Confente's craftsmanship (and often Brian Baylis's, Joe Bell's or others who may well have refinished many of them by this point)?

Maybe you ride it once in a blue moon, and only on the most pleasant of days. Most of the time it hangs on your wall or in your man cave. Your daily rider is that beat up Schwinn Super Sport or that ho-hum Serotta Otrott.

[LouDeeter]

Originally Posted by LouDeeter

Any collectible, whether it is a bike or coins, violins, cars, stamps, or other, was meant to be used, but in the end, some specific examples end up being special. I wouldn't expect you to spend an 1804 U.S. Silver Dollar as if it were just money or put a rare stamp on an envelope to be mailed, nor would I expect someone to think a Confente was just another bike to be used as a tool to ride.

I think most collectors like the idea of using the item if it has a use. Take a Stradivarius violin. Many of the greatest violinists of our day still play them. Likewise, people who own Confente bikes do take them out for a spin, just not their regular ride. I have owned one. I probably rode it three times. I also have owned a number of other small volume bikes, some of which I would call collectible and some not so much. It isn't just the rarity that makes a bike special and collectible. It might be the workmanship, the cult following, the demand. But, in the bike world, collectible bikes aren't "just a bike".

[cnighbor1]

http://www.raydobbins.com/

[weisan]

Mario Confente