David,
When Masi first opened in CA and the earliest frames were completed (around Nov. 1973) there were three variations of down tube decals available. The decal with a completely rich blue background with "Masi" in white /w black outline and "Gran Criterium" in yellow w/ black outline were made to go on the pearl yellow frames. Occassinally a blue background decal made it's way onto silver frames.
The standard down tube decal of the day when I was there were the ones with a clear background (frame color shows through) and "Masi" in yellow /w black outline and "Gran Criterium" in white /w black outline. We didn't use the reverse ("Masi" in white, "GC" in yellow) for whatever reason (as in we were told to use the yellow ones) so most early ones should have "Masi" in yellow. I still have a few original down tube decals in White for that reason. There were lots of white ones that didn't get used intil some time after I was there the first time.
There are several versions of reproductions of the Masi DT decal of this period; some of which have the "Masi" and the "Gran Criterium" lettering in the same color.
So to answer your question; there is no date when there was a "change" in al likelyhood. When I came back to Masi/ Carlsbad in mid 1976, I continued to decal the frames the same way as when I was there the first time, since the standards were dictated and set by Faliero, that was good enough for me. Things could have been different in between that time.
Brian (have been putting decals on Masis for almost 30 years) Baylis
La Mesa, CA
>
> A friend at work gave me his bike and I wanted to get some info on it. he
> said it was a Schwinn LeTour, it has a lugged frame (all chrome when the
> paint was removed) It has mostly Shimano parts. Where does the LeTour fit in
> the Schwinn pecking order?
> I also have a Masi question. This may have been answered already,
> but I don't have it in my Masi file. I've noticed that some early Gran
> Criteriums have a white "Masi" decal on the down tube. was this a function
> of the frame color or were the early decals always white with black outline?
> This pertains only to the US Masis. I see most if not all the most recent
> decals are yellow and black. Can anyone fill me in on this and dates also if
> the decals changed.
>
> Thanks
>
> David Goerndt