In a message dated 3/19/04 12:30:51 PM, E-Richie writes:
>snipped:
>"I think I would give Masi USA a little more credit than that..."
>
>i can't. proof that this is purely subjective!
>re the philosophical connection that remained: tell
>me more about this. imr, the post rexart era frames
>were the first to use materials available to the common
>man, rather than the "proprietary" parts that gave the
>prior ones so much elan. to me, (!), a masi with henry
>james lugs, a cinelli mr crown, and other decorative
>detail and geometry changes, means the fork in the
>road had been taken.
>btw, i never considered the "how they ride" issue as
>part of this equation, so i can't comment here.
While I'm definitely considering the ride part of the equation, I must say that since my training is in art, my first and strongest reaction to a bike is visual, as an art object rather than a functional one. In this respect I find the later US-built Masis quite appealing, even up thru the San Marcos period. I'll have to admit to a great deal of ignorance regarding the source of the lugs, crowns, shells, etc. that were used at various times... I'm not a framebuilder so my accumulation of this information tends to happen pretty slowly and mostly from folks like you and others on this list.
I may be misunderstanding you, but aren't many of the parts on these later bikes also 'proprietary', the "MASI" engraved seatstay caps/ brake bridge, the fork crown with the Masi crests, etc.?
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA