AdventureManCO 

If so, what was it like?

Drillium Dude 

Nope, but this is pretty much the same thing and the ride is freakin' amazing:





DD

cudak888 

It was like a faint screaming. Something along the lines of "come back here, thief."

-Kurt

Manny66 

Completely Different bicycles.

Confente's were made by Mario Confente,,Medici's were made by Mike Howard and friends using Mario's designs and lugs.

Drillium Dude 

Whooooooosh................

DD

cudak888 

Time for an early-in-the-thread sanity check:

No amount of lug filing, dropout slotting, or dead framebuilders on their front steps are going to elevate a frameset to god status. Don't let the legend cloud rational judgement.

Confentes are framesets built with loving attention to detail from a fellow whose life on this earth was cut far too short. Yes, they're art and they're special given his association with MASI. Nevertheless, he did not descend from the heavens with Columbus tubing forged by Zeus, and did not assemble this tubing using unicorn piss for brazing flux.

If one could ride blindfolded, I bet not a single one of us here could pick out a Confente from its peers, and I bet changing the wheels and tires mounted to each frameset would cause more change than anything else. Not to mention a lightweight rider will likely have a differing opinion per frame and wheelset than a heavy rider.

Remember, a lugged steel frame can be "springy," "dull," "not fit right," or "just perfect," but they can't be outright magic. Magical, perhaps, but not magic. Confentes stand out because they're understated art pieces, not because they're functionally superior to anything else of the time.

DD is right - that Medici will probably ride just like a Confente, as will many other bikes of that time, whether or not Mario had any connection or involvement.

Can you feel it coming in the air tonight? Oh lord, or lord. Well, I've been waiting for another Riv' thread all my life, oh lord...

-Kurt

nlerner

Somehow I doubt that the Confentes out there actually get ridden.

Ex Pres 

Mark Winkleman (is he on here?) has posted a few of his Confente rides on FB.
But all in all, you're probably right.

jethin

Get thee behind me, Satan!

Chombi1 

I guess some people look at Confente as some sort of Stradivarius that could instill his personal magic on bicycle frame so it performs much different/better than other bikes? But a bicycle frame is made of finite pieces that aren't that much different from each other from bike to bike, especially if builders can use each other's lugs and pick the typical tubing brands and specs. Unlike Stradivarius having to pick from different woods, shapes, finishes and glues for his violins, all having close to infinite variables.

repechage

A Super Masi.

you do still have to pedal.

A few in the bike room.

repechage

that is a wild conjecture.
considering the total number constructed, the odds of seeing one are not that high.

repechage

Mario had much disdain for Medici.
that written I own a Medici in the same size as my Confente.
they are different but both competent.

Drillium Dude 

Oh, yes - I am very familiar with the Medici/Confente brouhaha: https://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA...d_confente.htm

DD

repechage

sort of. The investment cast lugs ordered by Recht for use by Medici and Confente were taken to tooling from the drawings, Mario was not involved- an error in design faithfulness.
the results are what you see. They are close to what Mario drafted but not that faithful.
This should not be a surprise. Before Solidworks, there was much interpretation by the tool and die maker even with a lot of offsets plotted. Simple curves are much easier than parabolic edges to create.

Mario did not use them. The initial batch was blank to allow for the two Brand's cutouts. Soon enough, the Medici shield window was added to the tooling and that saved Medici much time.

Classtime 

Any significant races won on a Confente? Or did he build sport tourers. I assume most feel Confente would win NAHBS had there been such a thing but of course serious race bike builders were too busy for such silliness.

Vonruden

I ride mine quite frequently and sometimes even lay it in the leaves.







It’s the only bike I ride w Tubulars so definitely a different feel from the others, nothing magical. I do often wonder while riding, is anyone else in the world riding their Confente right now.

satbuilder 

Jock Boyer rode a Confente

Atlas Shrugged

Have you looked at the winning bikes at NAHBS? They are true works of art and stand out in comparison. Confente frames are nicely finished lugged frames which were the staple of the performance bicycle industry during its heyday in the mid-'70s and were virtually indistinguishable from the ten of thousands of Masi, Colnago, De Rosa, Raleigh, Bianchi, Cinelli, Schwinn Paramount, etc. These bikes were all semi-mass produced, using the same frame building technique, materials, components and general design. Other than a few marketing differentiators, they were indistinguishable from each other. Weekend criterium races were littered with these bikes, and premium bike shops had numerous in stock. They were the S-Works bikes of their day with a major difference: they were cheaper in comparison and produced in much greater numbers.

AdventureManCO 

I was going to write 'oh no you didn't!' but was late to the joke. It was still a good one

AdventureManCO 

This is excellent! Thank you for the pictures and sharing.

Drillium Dude 

At least one: Boyer was on a Confente when he won the 1980 Coors Classic.

DD

Fredo76

The Donald rides a Confefe, not a Confente.

Love that root-beer color, though!

smd4

Never heard of him. Bike looks pretty ordinary.

Classtime 

Early NAHBS entries/winners were not so alien as we see lately. My RS was a show bike. Not sure if it won anything.