David,
That's exactly what the owner of the bike said. It was purchased in Santa Barbara by him in 1961. WhenI first I looked it over it looked almost exactly like a Masi Special looks from that period. The bike was originally black and the owner wanted it white; so that's what resulted in the bike we see. This bike and story were one of the most interesting ones I heard during the event. As some of the photos show, several of us looked it over throughly. There were a few Masis from that period nearby and they were very close to the same frame. Very interesting setup. The two outer chainrings were 50T and 60T, the inner was 26T! The FW was 13-26. Now that's some gearing! I really liked the matching red leather hairnet he had with the bike.
Got to pack a frame then I'll tell the Peter Rich/Masi story.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA
David Feldman wrote:
> I have seen a couple of bikes outfitted similarly to
> the Violette. They were called "Desiree," and sold by
> a bike dealer (don't remember the name) in Santa
> Barbara in the late 50's or early 60's. What rings
> the memory bell is the wide range chainrings,
> remanufactured front derailleur, and helper spring for
> the rear derailleur. Not around bikes long enough to
> have seen these as new machines; these were bikes I
> worked on in the 1980's and 1990's, they just had
> drifted into the Portland area with separate owners.
> The frames looked much more French than Italian, with
> Nervex Legere lugs. I do remember the bike dealer
> being described as very eccentric, and trying to talk
> one bike owner and his spouse into attending his
> swingers' party!
>
> David Feldman
> Random crap floating through memory in Vancouver, WA
>
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