Yes, it is, indeed, true. There was a Confente track bike at the T-Town swap yesterday. The gods were smiling. Of course, if the gods had been a little more benevolent, the Confente would have been a 56cm! Alas, this one was 61. That wasn't much of a deterrent though, and I was the lucky one to score it before the gates opened to the masses. I like to think that I may have saved it from a life of messenger duty on the streets of NYC. The Confente was stashed in the back of the vendor stall I shared with Tom Dalton, which is where Roy spied it. He wasn't alone. After an hour of beating people back with the carbon fork I had brought to sell, I finally posted a big "NOT FOR SALE" sign on it. That didn't deter many, and I had numerous offers to purchase it, even though it was "NOT FOR SALE". Needless to say, I was in somewhat of a euphoric state for the rest of the morning! After some in-depth discussion with several CR listees, we still haven't been able to determine is the frame has it's original paint, or has been repainted. If it has been repainted, it must have been done some time ago, because it's been fairly well used since. There is some paint flaking and rust on the underside of the BB shell, and some minor nicks and scratches. It has high-flange Campy track hubs and a steel headset, but the rest of the parts are a mishmash of contemporary road components, but set up for track use. The numbers 61 and 24 are stamped in the spoon of the BB shell, and what appears to be 6/1 or 671 stamped between the spade cut-out and the drive-side of the shell. Painted solid red with yellow fill and traditional Confente decals. I'll take some pictures and post them soon.
The Confente was certainly the highlight of the day (at least for me), but that shouldn't detract from the rest of the event, which was pretty super in general this year. Great turn out, with a really nice mix of classic stuff scattered about. I also picked up a mostly-all-original '73 Raleigh RRA and was tempted by a nice Fred Kelly Alpine, offered at $600. Small parts high-lights include a pair each of NOS Campy S-Rec and Suntour Superbe levers with hoods, first generation Dura Ace F&R derailleurs, a NOS Campy Cd'A rear-D, all at good "swap" prices, and a nice little pile of Benotto and other bar tape for 25 cents a pack. Bobby Phillips had a huge array of goodies, including Edco Competition BBs (Italian only) at $20 each. I was also lucky to score some frame facing and threading tools from the now defunct Outback bicycle frame builder from Rockville MD. The few bicycle related tools I didn't already have.
All in all, a pretty stellar day, at least for me.
Casting thoughts toward Westminster in February!
Ciao -
Wayne Bingham
Falls Church VA