Interestingly, my first exposure to "real" classic bikes was on a morning in the early 1980s in Washington DC. I had responded to an ad in the Washington Post for two bicycles for sale. One was a Colnago and the other a Masi. The Colnago was green, fully pantographed and had been ridden to the Maryland or Virginia state championship by the son of the guy who was selling them. The Masi was red/orange and also fully pantographed. Both had clamp cable guides on the toptube as I recall. I rode both of them around the block. It was obvious that at 57-58cm they were too big for me, but I sure wanted them. Whether it was the graphics, the pantographing, the mystique, I don't know. I had only seen pictures of Colnago and Masi in the High Tech Bicycle book. I couldn't tell you today how they differed in ride. I recall that I made an offer on the Masi. It took my breath away more so than did the Colnago. I went home, pondered the price all afternoon, then called the owner, ready to make an offer for both of them. He laughed. While I had been the first to look at them, he sold both of them at his asking price just moments after I had left his house. That experience seared into my brain the desireability of both of these bikes. To me, the pantographed parts were as much a part of the beauty as the frame itself. There are some Tommasini pantographed parts on ebay right now that come close to that beauty. Personally, I would be thrilled to have either a nice 70s Masi or Colnago equipped just like the ones I saw over 20 years ago. Also of note, on the day before I had looked at these bikes, I had ridden from my home in Springfield VA over the Shenandoah mountains to Winchester--at 75 miles my longest ride to date. When I told the owner of the bikes about it, he asked what I had ridden. The discussion led to a discussion of tubular vs clincher tires. I recall that he told me he was impressed that I had done the ride on clinchers as he felt that the clinchers must have imparted enough pain to me (over tubulars) that my accomplishment was that much more impressive. I promptly placed an order with Italia Velo Sport for a set of Campagnolo Record hubbed GP4 wheels!!! Doesn't get much better than that as I trip down memory lane. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL
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