Listmembers,
Since the beginning of our discussion about Matteos' super cool "Faliero Masi" from last week I have recieved from several sources many photos of several Masis built in Italy shortly after Faliero was here in CA (let's say between 1974 and 1976). All but the one Matteo has are Alberto Masis, most are Prestiges. All have original paint and decals. What I've noticed it that there are a lot more minor variations going on between the frames in this period than any time prior to that. The only variations from Carlsbad are the twin plate crown vs the Fischer crown and the world band decal as opposed to the Masi USA decal. In Italy they were going hog wild with minor changes. I haven't seen anything with a "slotted" bb cutout, all bikes were built using Fischer bb shell with the "M" cutout. Certainly whoever mentioned that that was the difference between what might have Albertos' name as opposed to Falieros' name was mistaken. I believe it was the person in Italy that Matteo got the bike from. Having looked at all of these frames I still have to conclude that the odds are still quite against Faliero having built that frame personally in my opinion. It is difficult enough (if not impossible) to find a frame even from the early or mid 60's that Faliero actually made himself. My 1962 Special is cool and all, but I gave up all hope that Faliero had anything to do with that frame other than commission the sub-contractor and assemble the bike once the frame was completed. None of this diminishes the coolness or importance of Matteos' bike in my opinion. It is what it is, unique.
On another note, the 1958? Masi Special that I mentioned last week will be inspected by JB and myself some time next week. I'll see if JB can take some digital photos for everyone to look at. I believe this is one of the most exciting finds to date. I'm anxious to see it and hopefully confirm the date of construction.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA Please don't hate me, Bruce. I'll have my Flying Scot on the road shortly!