Hey all, I have a post over on valuations looking for a value and some general info on Fondriest bikes. I only know the rider; not the company. Internet says he only started building in '98, but seller says this one's from 1990.

Not looking for a valuation here, unless someone really knows for sure. I'd just love to tap into the BF pool of knowledge for some background on the company and some opinions on their bikes. This frame's columbus cromor with a carbon fork and it's got a mixed bag of campy. I gotta say, it looks cool to me. Thoughts? Anyone ridden or owned one?

Maurizio Fondriest was 25 years old and had only been a pro for 3 years in 1990, seems awefully premature for launching a bike company when he was probably much more concerned about advancing his racing career.

Chromor frame paired with a carbon fork seems like an unusual OEM pairing of materials. I wouldnt be suprized if the fork was a later replacement which also indicate it was possibly needed due to crash damage??

The downtube shifters seem unusual selection for a '98 onward racing bike but may have been later (budget) replacements if original ergo shifters died or were moved to another bike.

23skidoo has a frame identical to that one. I have not seen a Fondriest up close and personal, but they seem to have been really nice bikes.
I would not automatically assume frame damage because of the non-original fork. I would think it was more along the lines of a planned upgrade.
I would guess late 90's and was rebuilt with Down Tube shifters at some point.
I would ride it...

Jake

Fellow I ride with here got a Fondriest from another local guy and made it into his fixed gear, but he's since passed it on as well. Both owners liked the bike, it was too small for #1, and #2 sold it just because he had to pare down the number of bikes he had (apartment living). I know that doesn't add much, and since it was just a frame I don't know the original equipment. I think it had a steel fork, though.

Thanks guys, keep the opinions coming! I've been seduced by this frame for some reason, but I'm trying to get some sensible decision making going.

I wondered about the fork too, but there are no visible signs of crashes anywhere else. Is it possible to damage a fork without marking the rest of the bike? Any tumble I've taken has marked everything, including me. Age thing is confusing me though, because as pointed out above I'd done the math and found it funny a pro in his 20s would start making frames.

Encouraging to hear reports of happy riders though. What about columbus cromor? Not bad, right? I know those vento wheels aren't to everyone's taste.

Larger pics can be seen here: https://s1090.photobucket.com/albums/...eob/Fondriest/

One other thing about the shifters. They're braze-ons, so I doubt they could be an addition, right?

Mine has the same color scheme. Picked it up in trade from a fellow member and got it built up last fall before the weather locked things down so I've only had a couple of outings with it.

https://s270.photobucket.com/albums/j...dreist%20Wind/

Sweet ride! Any idea of the age?

It seems he was outsourcing production while he still raced:

"[As found on another site]Cofidis rode Fondriest frames when he was on the team which must have been around 1997? I'm not sure when he first put his name to frames but it was whilst he was active as a rider. My understanding is that he never built the frames himself but outsourced them to one of the many Italian companies that build frames for other people. I've heard anecdotally that both Viner and Billato have built Fondriests but am not sure if it's true."