>From the mid-80s, Masi was very involved with the tiny French tube supplier Excell. I say "supplier" because I have very good reason to think that Excell was just a good marketing name for tubes bought in by the company's owner Monsieur Rezze.
The tubes were excellent quality and came in a variety of series, including sets of curved tubes. In fact I still have one set of the top-end series in which the three main tubes are internally lined with carbon-fibre along the length, leaving only short lengths of raw steel at each end for brazing. The tubes, along the thinner sections measure only .25mmm in thickness.. The total set of tubes, bought in 1986, weighs only 1225 gms. - pretty spectacular stuff for that time.
I also have reason to think that Masi and Rezze met through the agencies of the owner of the proprietor of the the Club Franco-Italien, which imported Masi and Benotto frames into France. Jacques Paillet, the proprietor, had been a very gifted amateur racer, on the verge of the Pro ranks, who had, during his career been sponsored by Masi, to whom he was quite close.
Both Paillet and Rezze lived very close together in a leafy suburb of Lyon, and knew each other well.
I was the UK importer of Excell tubing and some other products for a number of years. I have noticed that this brand of tubing crops up from time to time, always surrounded with some mystery, on the List. A couple of years ago, before I became a List member I wrote a piece about Excell tubing for a web-site that I had hoped to put together. However the project was still-born... but I still have the article if it would be of any use to the List.
Norris Lockley.. Settle UK
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