[CR]Re: Confente Mystic

(Example: Production Builders:Frejus)

Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:49:03 -0800
From: "Brian Van Baush" <bvanbaush@ameritech.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
In-Reply-To: <MONKEYFOOD589Ko9XsN00002482@monkeyfood.nt.phred.org>
Subject: [CR]Re: Confente Mystic

I'm by no means an expert, but it seems to me Confente brings several u nique attributes to his frames:

Admiration from R Sachs, I seem to remember a comment from Richard about how unique the Confente frames where at the NYC Bike Show, and with a  unique price too.

Confente built for the Pro Racers in Europe - how many American frame build ers did this at the time.

He's old world Italian.

Brian Van Baush Cuneo, Italia

Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:03:59 -0800 From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, <wickedsky@sbcglobal.net> Subject: Re: [CR]Confente on Craigslist S.F. Message-ID: <188387.69507.qm@web82206.mail.mud.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <653735.21735.qm@web80603.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Precedence: list Reply-To: jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net Message: 11

Well, I think maybe $9,000 is very ambitious, even for a Confente. Frankly , I've never quite understood Confente pricing. I mean even if one concedes that Mario was a great framebuilder, even maybe as good as any there has ev er been, why should his frames command much more than equally great framebuild ers? I mean, I find it hard to believe that his work is actually better than tha t of Richard Sachs or Brian Baylis or Peter Weigle or Doug Fattic or Bruce Gordo n. And even if one likes the Italian style, there have been hundreds of great framebuilders in Italy, most of whom we never even heard of, and yet I don' t think any of them command Confente-like prices.

Now the fact he died young of course means he built relatively few frames a nd even fewer under his own name, but McLean Fonvielle and Dave Tesch likewise died young, but their frames do not command Confente pricing.

I have to believe it is his compelling story combined with the amazing numb er of now prominant framebuilders associated with CA Masi in some way that has put Confente in a class shared only perhaps by Singer and Herse. Is that it, or can someone point out something concrete he did that even ot her great framebuilders were unable to do?

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA


--- On Mon, 12/29/08, Ted Baer wrote:


> From: Ted Baer <wickedsky@sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: [CR]Confente on Craigslist S.F.
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Monday, December 29, 2008, 5:40 PM
> Not a Masi expert, but saw this on Craigslist just a minute
> ago:
>
> Confente $9,000.-
>
> http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/973025017.html
>
> No relation to seller.
>
> Ted E. Baer
> Palo Alto, CA
>
>
> _______________________________________________

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End of Classicrendezvous Digest, Vol 72, Issue 109 **************************************************