That's one reason I don't buy into the perceived excelllence of a handfull of big name Italian marques. Most of the cyclists I know that spent a lot of time in Italy give a similar account - a framebuilder in every decent sized town, and several in every large city. I have the idea that the greatest Italian framebuilder ever is probably a guy largely unknown 100 km from his home, let alone in America. So the fact that maybe half a dozen Italian builders out of hundreds, or maybe a couple of thousand over the years, command an international reputaion and high prices seems nothing but chance. Well maybe not exactly chance, maybe more like marketing. As Fred said, the path to fame is often an association with a famous racer. After all, three of the biggest name italian builders, Masi, DeRosa and Colnago all supposedly built frames for Eddy Merckx at one time or another. A hundred other Italian builders could probably have supplied Eddy with equally good frames, but those three had the contacts to actually meet Eddy and establish a relationship with him. I guess that adds to the appeal of the brands and motivates some to pay high prices, but personally, I'd rather have an excellent but unknown frame from a guy in some small Italian village at a fraction of the price, although actually making a trip to Italy is usually the only way to obtain such a frame.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Fred Rednor <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR]Re: confente the unknown
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2008, 8:19 AM
\r?\n> > What Angel said,makes me think that a name like
\r?\n> POGLIAGHI
\r?\n> > is unknown around here, MASI is known by a
\r?\n> circle of
\r?\n> > few/older dudes,Cinellis were/are known,but
\r?\n> not many around.
\r?\n> Teo,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> In some ways that isn't surprising. What I noticed
\r?\n> while cyclo-touring in Italy is that nearly every town had a
\r?\n> skilled frame builder, and the local riders were loyal to
\r?\n> that builder. In a big city - especially in the north - you
\r?\n> could find a builder in each distinct neighborhood. So
\r?\n> whenever we rode with a group from the same club, it would
\r?\n> seem as though most of theriders would be on bicycles built
\r?\n> by the same local frame-maker.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Things were a bit different in the south, although people
\r?\n> seemed to spend a bit less on their bicycles in those
\r?\n> regions. That is, you'd see serious racers on Bianchi,
\r?\n> Atala, etc. rather than custom frames. (And I don't
\r?\n> recall meeting anyone on a custom frame in Puglia, for
\r?\n> example.)
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Occasionally, some of these builders would do something
\r?\n> extraordinary to establish a reputation outside the country.
\r?\n> By "something extraordinary" I mean establishing
\r?\n> a relationship with a famous racer or establishing
\r?\n> relationships with shops in North America. Yet that still
\r?\n> didn't guarantee that the builder would be more well
\r?\n> known in Italy.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> This situation might well have been what motivated Confente
\r?\n> to leave Italy.
\r?\n> Ciao,
\r?\n> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)