Steven and all, WOW! That's what I've got to say. After seeing this bike in person during sensory overload weekend at Cirque and now getting a chance to give her a second once over, I've got to say that this bike is MAGNIFICENT! If Sig.Esposito was to be able to be convinced to once again build a bike like this, one of such incredible detail, I'm sure he would find a ready market her in the U.S. Perhaps demand would even surpass that of some "recreation" bikes; those made to satisfy the whims and fantasies of the buying public. Price wise, I could see a savvy connoisseur paying ten grand or more for this kind of old world workmanship. Man, if it could only be built today! What an incredible effort.
http://www.wooljersey.com/
John T.Pergolizzi La Jolla, Ca.
"don't get fooled again" Roger Daltrey
For those of you that did not make it to the cirque this year, another of the prize winning bikes was the Prestige built by Faliberto Esposito (pronounced es-poz-ee-to not like the former hockey playing brothers were wont to pronounce their name). After the recent posts about the few
frames that Esposito made, I enrolled all of my friends in Italy to see if anybody could turn one up. One of my friends turned one up in Celle Ligure (the home of the Olmo bike company). In no time I was able to convince the owner, Stefano Paese Mosa, to arrange to have the bike shipped to the US on time for display at le cirque. If I may say so myself, the bike was a bit over the top, weighing in at 18 lbs for a large frame size without any special lightweight tubing.
You can see detailed photos of the bike here: I have tried to describe the many special elements of the bike in the descriptions.
BTW, it won the prize in the artistic 'Trompe l'Oeil' category.
After being informed of the comments of those that were present, Stefano
would love to hear the comments from the group that did not make it down.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA