scott,
This account of Falieros' activities as a framebuilder in the 70's and the 80's is interesting. Needless to say, none of us here know what Faliero was doing in Italy during the early 70's when he was not in Carlsbad. The word around the shop in Carlsbad at the time was that Faliero hadn't made the frames himself for about 15 years. 1973 minus 15 years is 1958. That may around the time Faliero started farming out frame production, but I'm reasonably certain that Faliero would have kept his hand in it for special clients or occassions at bare minimum.
When I first arrived in Carlsbad there was "a frame" that was built that "alledgedly" was built by Faliero himself that was numbered and sent out along with the rest of the bikes at the time. This would have been early 1974. I don't know exactly how much of the job Faliero was supposed to have done but I remember some scuttlebutt around the shop that it was a tad "rough", meaning that Faliero was behind the times a little bit in style and also a bit rusty at framebuilding. I also remember a story about Faliero demonstrating to the bystanders (I wasn't there for this)that he could miter a tube using only a hacksaw! Hummmm.
Anyway, I remember the frame because for some reason I took mental note of the bike. It was a 60cm frame. Don't know the serial number but the frame was painted Dark Blue Metallic and was sold to Hill Cycle in PA. It also had a distinctive long point added to the seat lug. It was like one sees on the old Masis with the Cinelli lugs, it was extra long and did not have the holes drilled in it like the "normal" Dubois lugs we did at Masi, IIRC.
It's not impossible that Faliero continued to make a frame now and again for friends or whatever. He was 65 years old in 1973. As framebuilding became easier during the mid 70's investment cast era Faliero could easily participate in framebuilding.
I don't buy the part about the Alberto or Faliero decals and the "M" cutout in the BB shell. I suppose Faliero and Alberto could have maintained some seperation like that while they were both active in Italy after the Carlsbad deal; and I guess we can't refute what Paletti says since he was there. It would be interesting to know more details of this relationship and see some documented examples of the differences. There is a viod in our knowledge of Falieros' actual activities once he was back in Italy. I'd be interested to know more. I'd also like to establish a connection of exchange and information between the persons in Italy that share our interest and our group here.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
Anxiously awaiting a look at the "Free Masi" found recently in N. Cal.
>
> Rumors from these noisy Adriatic Italian Shores say
> that Faliero built frames at least into the 70s and
> 80s. Sig. Paletti said that Faliero personally built
> frames for some of his preferred dealers--which of
> course included him. According to Paletti, a
> Faliero-built GC frame had "Faliero" decals, instead
> of "Alberto," and an M cut-out on the BB, rather than
> slotted horizontal cut-outs.
>
> Can anyone confirm or refute this claim??? Ciao from
> Piazza Centrale in Italia. Scott Davis
>
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