Originally Posted by
MauriceMoss
While it's possible that Ciocc built frames for Hopmans, I wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion based on the linked bike. I have not come across other sources claiming Ciocc was a source for Hopmans. I have seen claims that some Hopmans bikes were "made by Concorde".
Veltec (parent company of Concorde) contracted multiple companies for the bikes they sold. Top frames were built in Italy (Ciocc and Billato, possibly others) but there were other suppliers, including outfits in Belgium.
And since the linked bike is for sale, it's probably got a better chance of selling if it's claimed to be a Ciocc rather than an unknown.
It does have Ultech dropouts (which were used on a lot of Concordes) yet it doesn't look like a Ciocc product (or a Concorde) to me but, who knows.
There were some Granchio models that you could say closely resemble some Concordes.
As for your frame, it's hard to tell from the picture, but it could be an Italian bike. The lugs look different than on any Hopmans or Concorde I've seen so far. It's difficult to say what shop/factory your frame came from.
Yes, I too saw that classifieds posting in my search results, where the guy says it was made by Concorde. But I believe that is exactly the sort of mistake the populace makes: something comes from the same source, and people get confused with source and what is made by the same source.
So you say
Ciöcc and
Billato. Interesting, thank you for that additional piece of information.
I do find it interesting, that a model named Scorpione have a crab as an emblem (or perhaps the crab is just for Hopmans and not the model).
Regarding looks:
When there is a large order, or there is a a business relationship in place with a customer who places repeated orders over time - it is to be expected that the customer (Hopmans in this case) be given options - many options in fact (lugs, tubing, finish). Where something may not be worth it for a customer who order just one bike - this is a very different situation - and they will put into place a supply chain (sourcing and volume pricing) to get what is needed to satisfy that large client.
For these reasons, I think that we should not be surprised if from one source, two different resellers have different looking offerings. An identical look could support the theory of a common source, but a different look is not necessarily a contradiction.