Originally Posted by
Wulf
I have seen many discussions here on Mario Confente and seen the crazy prices people pay for his bikes. That frenzy now seems to extend to just about anything that can be connected to his name. There were three bike auctions recently, one for a Confente replica, one for a Grandis that stated that this was Confente's mentor and one for a Medici that just seemed to worm the name in for no reason. None of these object has any direct conection to Mario and he neither touched nor knew of them. It reminds me holy relics people bought in the middle ages. Since I can't get new decals for my Batavus, maybe when I need a repaint, I will have them slap on some Confente decals. I'll bet I go faster.
Asking and reality are different.
The replica has been on ebay 2 or 3 times, no action. Obviously was overpriced.
The Grandis was interesting, I was told Mario did work for them for a time, must not have been long though as walking his timeline does not leave that much time to work there.
Do note the same bike is now on auction for a no reserve price and appears to be progressing reasonably as a Grandis. I found the earlier listing for $5,000 humorous.
Vince often uses a hot keyword to draw interest to his auctions, the top tube cable guides are of a Confente design. But Mario was not aware of this and probably not happy, when he learned of the Bill Recht / Medici connection is when he left venture. 50/50 it draws even the minimum bid.