Thankyou Chuck. I too heard that Faliero came to CA to see that things went right. If you look at Sheldon's material there is no mention of California Masis being illegitimate. On the contrary there is a lot of positive statements about CA Masis....(Vintage Lightweight Pricing Guide Geminiani to Motobecane):
" The Gran Criterium frames built under Alberto in Italy don't seem to have the crispness that the California bikes have. Such bikes are probably worth several hundred dollars less than their California counterparts": " During the early 80's the Volumetrica frame [oversized tubing, internal lugs] was developed and produced in Italy, and actually sold by Masi California. These bikes are very attractive and very stiff. A nice S.R. example is worth $1000 to $1100 or so in guideline condition." The reason Masi bikes are such a big deal is twofold. First, almost all are quite beautiful. A Masi Gran Criterium is a paradigm of Italian framebuilding (even if done in the U.S).
Why did Eddie say such a thing? Mark Cutrufelli-Newbie, 1983 Carlsbad Masi GC owner and proud of it. Laurel, MD
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Chuck Schmidt Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 7:38 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Re: Real Masi vs the American Forgeries
Dave Anderson wrote:
>
(cut)
> I have repeatedly heard through out the late 70s on up to the late 80s:
The
> Only True Masi were made in Italy at the Masi shop. The American made
ones,
> were Duping Forgeries. This forum list is the only place that I have ever
> heard the opposite.
I would say what you heard in the 1970s would be the opinion of uninformed people since Faliero Masi himself came to California to oversee the setting up of the "factory" and the building of Masi Gran Criteriums. "Duping Forgeries" indeed!
Now let's get to the real scandal: Real Flying Scots vs American Forgeries! Does anyone consider the California built Flying Scots overseen by David Rattray in the early 1950s to be forgeries or the real deal. I remember hearing at the time that David couldn't wait to return to his beloved Scotland and leave this sunny, palm tree studded hellhole called SoCal.
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California "where we had a very nice Rose Bowl vintage ride and in the course of discussion had almost come up with the solution to World Peace but the ride ended too soon!" _______________________________________________
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