Re: [CR]Ralph Carnevale Bike?

OK you guys,

At this time I can not actually divulge what it is; reason being there i s still a lot of research being done on this bike related to tracing it' s origin from it's beginning to the present day. This kind of research f or historical verification takes time and genuine proof in order to veri fy the authenticity of the piece. Only clue I can give you at this time is that the bike was built in France prior to 1875. Unless he is able to authenticate the bike, the controversy will continue. I don't want to a dd to the debate; but I mentioned this particular bike because it does r epresent the caliber of some of the things he deals in and collects.

Ralph told me the story of this bike and how he came to posses it; and i t's a VERY fascinating tale. Perhaps Ralph will clue us in at the next C irque; but don't count on it. He's also a somewhat private person and do es not like to go around blowing his own horn. We'll just have to wait t o see what happens. Sometimes this sort of thing goes on for years (as i t has already). Digging up proof of where the bike has been from 1875 or before isn't always easy and at times not even possible. But without co ncrete evidence there will always be people who question whether this is the real deal or not. I personally believe it is; having heard the stor y to this point. Unfortunately, proof is another matter. The fact that h e has had offers in excess of one million dollars leads me to believe th at others feel it is genuine also. Proof of what it really is would move the bike into the category of "priceless" in the true sense of the word . BTW, this bike is off topic, so we'll terminate the conversation here. I have told all I can tell at this time.

Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA