Hand-painted vintage Fondriest!

Ancient

I'm thinking of buying a chromed and hand-painted late 80's/early 90's Fondriest (Wind) frame. It's 54cm and I'm 6' - a little small, but I've got a long TTT gooseneck. It is in beautiful condition. It's priced at $375(CAD).

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone know if this is a good deal or not. It is JUST the frame - nothing else.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

The paint job is slightly different (I think better) on the one in question, as each one is hand done, but here's a close example:

LangerDan

I haven't any direct experience of the " Wind"frame but I don't think its that old (late 80s / early 90s). I don't believe Maurizio Forndriest went into bicycle manufacture until after he retired in the late '90s - I'm open to correction on this.

(If you're going for a small frame, watch for toe / front wheel overlap)

Rob Sallnow

LangerDan wrote:

I haven't any direct experience of the " Wind"frame but I don't think its that old (late 80s / early 90s). I

That was my first thought when I saw the tem 'vintage Fondriest'. He did have his own line of frames before he retired because when he was riding for Cofidis they were blessed with Fondriest bikes so I would expect this bike dates from no earlier than 95-96.

andyp

LangerDan wrote:

I haven't any direct experience of the " Wind"frame but I don't think its that old (late 80s / early 90s). I don't believe Maurizio Forndriest went into bicycle manufacture until after he retired in the late '90s - I'm open to correction on this.

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.

Anyway, that's a nice looking frame and for the price sounds like a good deal. It may be too small for you though - I'm your height and ride a 58 cm centre to centre frame normally.

Rob Sallnow

Another memory that is popping up......when Allan Piper used to review bike for Cycle Sport he reviewed one or was given one..(I think Fondriest was a friend) and he said that he didn't have the heart to tell him that he would've prefered to have had a bike that Fondriest was riding at the time....a Colnago Carbitubo (when he was at Lampre) so that means he may hve been putting his name to bikes around 93 or 94.

andyp

Rob Sallnow wrote:

Another memory that is popping up......when Allan Piper used to review bike for Cycle Sport he reviewed one or was given one..(I think Fondriest was a friend) and he said that he didn't have the heart to tell him that he would've prefered to have had a bike that Fondriest was riding at the time....a Colnago Carbitubo (when he was at Lampre) so that means he may hve been putting his name to bikes around 93 or 94.

You're right Rob. I did a training camp with Sporting Tours in 1995 and Allan Peiper was on that riding a Fondriest frame. As you say, he was a good friend of Maurizio Fondriest and the frame was a present. I did speak to him about the frame and he liked it a lot but he was still lusting after a Colnago

giant_man

I wouldn't personally buy it without checking over first, though of course if it's on eBay that is kinda hard. And it will be a little small for you definitely.

Monty Dog

AFAIK Fondriest used to subcontract a lot of frame construction to Viner. My main concern would be size/fit - particularly top tube length - fitting a longer stem doesn't necessarily sort out the handling as your weight will be too far forward.

Ancient

giant mancp wrote:

I wouldn't personally buy it without checking over first, though of course if it's on eBay that is kinda hard. And it will be a little small for you definitely.

The one I'm looking to buy is actually in a store - not on Ebay (I just found that picture online). I have checked it out and it's flawless.

Thanks for the input, everyone - much appreciated.

Yeah, the size is really my main concern.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it's the frame, forks and headset (i forget which one) for $375.