Hi, recently got some good information on Ciocc. I've heard that Giovanni Pelizzoli went on to make some frames for a Dutch outfit called Concorde. Any truth to this?

Anyone know about/ride a Concorde, particularly the Astore model?

I don't know that it's ever been confirmed as Truth, but that's the well-accepted rumor. A related rumor I heard is you can identify the Ciocc made Concordes by the presence of an Italian flag braze-on on the top tube. I have an '88 PDM Team edition, and it certainly looks like a Ciocc of the time. It rides beautifully. (This reminds me I need to take some pictures of it!)

From my bag 'o scans:

I think this is more like it: Billato built many, if not all, the high-end Concorde frames, and they also built many other brands, including the Ciocc brand after Pelizzoli sold the name. That "little Italian flag braze-on" showed up mainly on those 2 marques, but there were others (which were maybe or not Billato-built brands). The details are held close, neither Billato nor Pelizzoli broadcast much about it.

I remember those Concorde PDM team bikes. They were so cool looking. And Sean Kelley rode them. Awesome!

You can get a modern aluminum version now:

I shipped a tiny one to UK last week. It was standing at a bike shop for quite a while already. It was a bit a sad sight.

P1050648 by ctjr, on Flickr

Mine. look up the thread for more info, including on the genealogy of the marque.

Over the years, some interesting Concorde's have passed through my hands.

Astore, 1987:



Lugged EL tubing, MAX front forks:



Squadra, PDM colour scheme:



These bikes I liked very much, but some other concorde's had really nast cheapo paint jobs, a combination it seemed of powder coating and stickers to create the desired colour scheme. I really didn't like those, and it seemed to go with mid-end bikes, like Cromor frames. Other than that, I loved them.

Btw, why only mention Sean Kelly re. the PDM team? Why not Breukink, Theunisse, Rooks?

Cos Sean Kelly was awesome.

And Kelly helped (I vividly remember that stage, Kelly helped by neutralizing counter-attacks) Theunisse on Alpe d'Huez in TdF '89. That was awesome of Theunisse, a very long solo escape, and also awesome by Kelly.



Gert-Jan Theunisse
The only man to win on Alpe d’Huez while wearing the polka-dot jersey of the King of the Mountains was Gert-Jan Theunisse, and he did it in 1989. Michele Pollentier did it too, but it was on the day he was thrown out. Theunisse’s was one of the most beautiful days anyone has ever had in the climber’s jersey. Setting those red and white colours against a background of the Galibier, the Croix de Fer and Alpe d’Huez sealed their mythical status forever. It was certainly Theunisse’s finest hour. He’d broken away early in the stage, on the Col du Galibier, before crossing the Col de la Croix de Fer alone. On the Alpe, the other favourites chased, but could not close the gap.