Big win at the Eroica Gaiole
10-31-19, 01:18 PM
#1
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Big win at the Eroica Gaiole
Bob, Darren, Andy and I went to Gaiole this year, Bob on his not quite identified Alain Redolfi, Andy on a Holdsworth, and Darren on his Mercier 300. I didn't know that Faggin were having a trade stand there or OI may have built the Faggin to take, rather than the Guerciotti.
When we walked around and saw the stand with M. Faggin himself (opposite M. Gios), I went to say hello, to see if Davide was there, as he did all the sorting out of the rechroming and spraying of my bike. Davide was not there, but we had a chat about life the universe and bikes, inbroken English French and very little Italian on my part. Bob pipes up, 'I wonder if he can enlighten us on my Redolfi, after all it has a Faggin fork'. I duly call up the pics on my phone and M. F. asks if we can bring the bike to him.
Next day, we did exactly that. He looked closely at the seat cluster, dropouts and fork. He looked up and said "yes I built this frame, 43 years ago".
From an obviously beautifully built frame, to "I built that 43 years ago" was no more than a second, but Bob's face was a picture. He's now obsessed with Faggin, and bought a very nice wool top!
I don't think frame identification gets much better than that...
When we walked around and saw the stand with M. Faggin himself (opposite M. Gios), I went to say hello, to see if Davide was there, as he did all the sorting out of the rechroming and spraying of my bike. Davide was not there, but we had a chat about life the universe and bikes, inbroken English French and very little Italian on my part. Bob pipes up, 'I wonder if he can enlighten us on my Redolfi, after all it has a Faggin fork'. I duly call up the pics on my phone and M. F. asks if we can bring the bike to him.
Next day, we did exactly that. He looked closely at the seat cluster, dropouts and fork. He looked up and said "yes I built this frame, 43 years ago".
From an obviously beautifully built frame, to "I built that 43 years ago" was no more than a second, but Bob's face was a picture. He's now obsessed with Faggin, and bought a very nice wool top!
I don't think frame identification gets much better than that...
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10-31-19, 07:00 PM
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Awesome story! Great experience for all parties involved.
10-31-19, 07:39 PM
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H**Y Freakin grail encounter, that is so cool, love it when that happens. 
10-31-19, 08:24 PM
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Now THAT's impressive!
BTW: Amazon Prime has a terrific series titled ' The Art of Bicycle Making'. Episode 4 is on Faggin. Highly recommend.
BTW: Amazon Prime has a terrific series titled ' The Art of Bicycle Making'. Episode 4 is on Faggin. Highly recommend.
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11-01-19, 03:12 AM
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But wait ... there's more!
After Bob and Milo had told me about their encounter, I wrestled myself into the Faggin stand the next day. I managed to get Massimo to have a look at my phone for a couple of minutes and show him some of the pictures from this thread: Need your help identifying this 'Faggin'
Looking at the various details he confirmed that it it came from his shop, but couldn't tell me exactly when it was made. And that the fork was obviously a replacement. Oh, and that it was quite common to not put serial numbers on their frames in those days.
It was busy at the stand, my phone was having trouble producing the pictures quickly, and as I was keeping all the staff members busy with translation work, I kept it short and left it at that. I thanked them and walked away a happier man.
When I got back home I sent a thank-you e-mail to Massimo, together with the rest of the pics.
To my delight I received a reply a couple of days ago, from Cristina! She said they were happy to see the frame in this condition after all these years, and also told me it was built in '82 or '83.
So, thank you for encouraging me, guys.
After Bob and Milo had told me about their encounter, I wrestled myself into the Faggin stand the next day. I managed to get Massimo to have a look at my phone for a couple of minutes and show him some of the pictures from this thread: Need your help identifying this 'Faggin'
Looking at the various details he confirmed that it it came from his shop, but couldn't tell me exactly when it was made. And that the fork was obviously a replacement. Oh, and that it was quite common to not put serial numbers on their frames in those days.
It was busy at the stand, my phone was having trouble producing the pictures quickly, and as I was keeping all the staff members busy with translation work, I kept it short and left it at that. I thanked them and walked away a happier man.
When I got back home I sent a thank-you e-mail to Massimo, together with the rest of the pics.
To my delight I received a reply a couple of days ago, from Cristina! She said they were happy to see the frame in this condition after all these years, and also told me it was built in '82 or '83.
So, thank you for encouraging me, guys.
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11-01-19, 09:37 AM
#9
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But wait ... there's more!
After Bob and Milo had told me about their encounter, I wrestled myself into the Faggin stand the next day. I managed to get Massimo to have a look at my phone for a couple of minutes and show him some of the pictures from this thread: Need your help identifying this 'Faggin'
Looking at the various details he confirmed that it it came from his shop, but couldn't tell me exactly when it was made. And that the fork was obviously a replacement. Oh, and that it was quite common to not put serial numbers on their frames in those days.
It was busy at the stand, my phone was having trouble producing the pictures quickly, and as I was keeping all the staff members busy with translation work, I kept it short and left it at that. I thanked them and walked away a happier man.
When I got back home I sent a thank-you e-mail to Massimo, together with the rest of the pics.
To my delight I received a reply a couple of days ago, from Cristina! She said they were happy to see the frame in this condition after all these years, and also told me it was built in '82 or '83.
So, thank you for encouraging me, guys.
After Bob and Milo had told me about their encounter, I wrestled myself into the Faggin stand the next day. I managed to get Massimo to have a look at my phone for a couple of minutes and show him some of the pictures from this thread: Need your help identifying this 'Faggin'
Looking at the various details he confirmed that it it came from his shop, but couldn't tell me exactly when it was made. And that the fork was obviously a replacement. Oh, and that it was quite common to not put serial numbers on their frames in those days.
It was busy at the stand, my phone was having trouble producing the pictures quickly, and as I was keeping all the staff members busy with translation work, I kept it short and left it at that. I thanked them and walked away a happier man.
When I got back home I sent a thank-you e-mail to Massimo, together with the rest of the pics.
To my delight I received a reply a couple of days ago, from Cristina! She said they were happy to see the frame in this condition after all these years, and also told me it was built in '82 or '83.
So, thank you for encouraging me, guys.
