Re: [CR]Regarding Medici (for Tom and Jack)

Richie,

In all honesty, no. That is what I didn't like about the bikes. I admit I like Marios' design as a lug profile, but they were hard and hard to work with. They didn't file up like a nice pressed lug. I didn't like the clunky seat binder design either. I do like IC BB shells and fork crowns. Although a masterfully filed and shaped Fischer sand cast BB shell is impossible to beat for style looks and quality. I'd still use them if I had them with English threads. Most of the ones I have have a spade cut in them anyway (who would want that? ;-) ) or I'd use them more often even now. What I refer to mostly about modern materials was that Medici had access to all types of Columbus tubes and could get double taper seat stays, neat fork crowns, stamping tools and dies, and things the typical small time builder like myself didn't have access to or money for. It was nice to have a bunch of cool stuff on hand that went beyond the standard Reynolds boxed sets that we often built frames with in the early days. By superior I also mean by design as I mentioned. I did not follow the Masi geometry. The bikes were part of the CA racing culture of the time. Out here that means mainly track racing and criteriums. The bikes' design reflected that. Bill Recht being into bicycles was a much more responsive owner to their needs (Medici) as framebuilders than Roland Sahm. He had a broader scope of framebuilding, offering a standard road, track, and touring model. They were considering steel tandem production. All of these things made the Medici atmosphere more diverse and creative. It was more "fun" and there was slightly more freedom. Simo always keep fairly tight to the "rules", but a special project here or there was OK upon occassion. That was never allowed at Masi.

Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA