[CR]Moser framebuilding history...a little more

(Example: Framebuilders:Rene Herse)

From: "Norris Lockley" <norris.lockley@talktalk.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:48:16 +0000
Subject: [CR]Moser framebuilding history...a little more

It was interesting reading the account of how Francesco came into the frame building business, and it helped me to put a bit of time sequence into the 80s decade.

During much of that decade I imported ranges of Geliano, Rozelli and& nbsp; Canelli frames from the French builder Jean-Marie Duret. Al;though ba sed in a tiny town about 120kms south of Paris, Duret had, and still has a huge business, based around being the sole importer into France of severall leading japanese brands such as Suntour, and Barum from Czechoslovakia. Hi s export business was large too, based on promoting the Geliano brand princ ipally at all the major European Trade Shows. I worked for Jean-Marie at th ese Shows on sales and interpreting/translating.

At the 1987 Milan Show "Geliano" had a huge stand at the far end of a laarge hall alongside neighbours Guerciotti, Mondinico, Faggin and Fanini. Directly across the aisle from our stand was Francesco Moser's own s tand...so we met up with FM and his colleagues for espressos quite frequent ly.

One feature of the Geliano stand was the number of bikes and frames built u sing bronze-welding techniques..and these drew large crowds of admirers, si nce they were virtually the only frames on show that didn't use the standar d chrome-head-lugged approach. On the last Monday of the Show, traditionall y a "trade day" when the public is not allowed in, and exhibitors can roam around and eye up the oppostion, a group of four very immaculately dressed Italian gentlemen arrived on the Geliano stand to announce that they repres ented the craftsman-artisan frame-builders of Italy, or at least those exhi biting at this Show, and it was their duty to award Jean-Marie that "prize" for having the most elegant frames in the exhibition..according to the vot es of their fellow members. The gang of four were idio Tommasini, Luigi Dac cordi..and the Rossin brothers.

Puzzled by the commotion on the stand, Moser strode across to enquire what was happening. The gang of four took pleasure in explaining

the "award" and pointed Moser towards the array of lugless frames. Later th at day Moser came over for a longer chat, explaining that lugless building was not an a skill practised in the Italian frame industry...but that he th ought that the "look" of the frames was very appealing. asking who he might contact in France to discuss possibilities of some link-up, samples etc

Clearly Jean-Marie was not disposed to offer up his own two builders, but s uggested a very well known and supremely skilled builder with whom J-M had a few years earlier had an interesting but not particularly rewarding, fina ncially speaking, liaison - the builder in question having no real understa nding of what was meant by a "delivery dead-line". The builder was Andre Sa bliere, of Lyon...and it was Andre who built the first crop of protot ype lugless frames that appeared under the Francesco Moser banner.

In typing this contri, I have just been wondering who came first.? Had Jean -Marie approached Andre to have his first lugless frames produced..or did A ndre take the initiative.?Not a man for dead-lines our Andre. I had dinner with him at a Swiss restaurant in Paris, in September 1983, and ordered an aluminium lugged (Sabliere welded up his own lugs/sleeves) carbon-tubed, (T VT made the tubes) racing frame to equip the one of the UK women's cycling team selected for the 1984 Olympic Games. Even though i have met up with An dre on several occasions since he has never told me when I might expect del ivery. As he has since left the industry to concentrate on computers, it lo oks as though I might never get it.

Norris Lockley...Settle UK

Norris Lockley
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