Which comes first, the nostalgia or the mojo?
Dennis Young
Hotaka, Japan
>
> tom's text, snipped here, speaks volumes:
>
> "If Masis had been made in Ireland, instead of Carlsbad, and if they were
> EXACTLY the same as those we see from Carlsbad, they would be less sought
> after."
>
> this is a moot point; the bike boom occurred here,
> in the usa, in the 70s. that is why these brands
> are "hot" now.
> e-RICHIE
> chester, ct
>
>
>
>
> -- Dennis Young <mail@woodworkingboy.com> wrote:
> That is a thought provoking speculation that you pose, Tom. One thing
> though, quality hand made goods, in this case bike frames, that are made in
> a spirit of creativity and attention to detail, are generally going to pick
> up some influence from their country of origin. So, I don't think that
> your scenario in it's pure form is quite feasable. Perhaps if you imported
> Mr. Baylis (we might have him on our 'Lucky Charms' cereal box now!) and the
> rest of the crew from the US to Ireland, then you could get exact copies of
> what the US made Masis looked liked. With Irish workers, you have to figure
> that there is at some point at least going to be an Irish Shamrock on the
> downtube, that will probably add to the romance and desirability when looked
> at from abroad. Whether the degree of interest would match up to what is
> happening currently with the Carlsbad bikes, your "old world frame shop" at
> a place where they are doing the 'surfers's stomp' on the beach, the anomaly
> is well taken and the picture very endearing,
> it must be a factor in the desirability for US purchasers.
>
> Dennis Young
> Hotaka, Japan
>
>
>
> Dennis,
>
> You wrote:
>
> "If Carlsbad Masis had been made in Ireland and few exported to the US, how
> much more would US bidders be willing to pay?"
>
> I do get your point, which is that the sources of the desirable French and
> Italian bikes/parts are a long way from Japan, and unlike in the US, there
> is never was a lot of the stuff exported to Japan. I can't imagine what I'd
> do to get my NR/SR parts fix if I couldn't buy the "old, used junk" off of
> ex-racers at the local swap meet. Pay high prices on Ebay, I guess.
>
> However, there are some ideas I want to through out here, and since it is
> both Masi-related highly speculative I will turn off my computer and come
> back in a couple of days to see how much chatter it generates. If Masis had
> been made in Ireland, instead of Carlsbad, and if they were EXACTLY the same
> as those we see from Carlsbad, they would be less sought after. This would
> hold true even if only a small percentage of the total Irish production ever
> made it to the US. If they were made in Ireland, no matter how well, they
> would just be "fake" non-Italian examples of yet another Italian brand. The
> primary reason Masi has such brand recognition among US collectors, is that
> it blends the exotic Italian heritage with a story we can relate to, which
> is the establishment of an old-world frame shop in the new world. Add to
> this that Masi really took a traditional Italian product, and added that
> obsessive level of finish that was born on our shores... and of course there
> is the innovation of investment casting, which I would think most CR types
> would actually hold against the brand. If Masi had never come to the US,
> the bikes would not be any higher on the US collector radar than Colnago or
> Gios. That is, they'd be highly regarded, but not the basis of a cult. In
> fact, even though the 1970's Italian examples seem to generate less CR
> excitement than the US ones, I'd bet that they'd be less popular still if
> the US ones had never been made.
>
> Just my opinion,
>
> Tom Dalton
> Bethlehem, PA