In a message dated 3/19/04 3:34:57 PM, richardsachs@juno.com writes:
>wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>that wasn't part of my sentiment...
>my point isn't/wasn't about the "...inherent charm to pressed lugs...",
>it was about them using "their" stuff, or at least stuff that was rarely,
>RARELY!! seen anywhere else: nervex ref 32 lugs, fisher sand cast bb's
>and crowns, and the cast iterations thereof. the often copied box/oval
>
>chainstays.
>i won't regurgitate my posts, but that era that i say "ended it" for me
>
>was when the cal masis started to use common suppliers for their
>framebuilding details.
Ooops, sorry... OK, lemmee see if I can get your meaning right this time. You appear to be saying that their uniqueness (in your eyes) lay partly their tendency to use parts that few others used (lugs, shells, crowns) and in signature design details that were unique to them (chainstays). OK, that makes sense, and I can see how you can look at later Masis and feel that they had lost their originality because they either began to use the same parts that everyone else did, and/or lost their design advantage because others started copying things like their chainstays (and perhaps Masi was at fault for failing to raise the bar by experimenting with more improvements or design details).
So I think I see your point... and perhaps I am too wrapped up in pride of ownership to see that my 80's Masi GC is way too much like other 80's bikes. But if your original question was "why would you want one of those...?", well, I can't answer that about our original subject (the '96 Mondonico/Masi) since I don't own it, but I think I can give a few reasons for my dear red GC #8057, also a "post-golden-age Masi"... I like knowing that Joe Starck brazed it and Jim Allen painted it, and probably not a week goes by that I don't think of them. I like the lug cutouts and the way they've been filled, even the tiny one under the seatpost binder bolt. I like the curve of the fork blades which are some of the smoothest and most graceful I have seen. I like the way the centerline of the seatstay perfectly intersects the crease where the upper edge of the top tube and the front edge of the seat lug meet. I like the way the stays and forkblades are filed at the dropouts. I like the way the whole bike glows in the evening light as if it had been lit from within.
Perhaps I could think of more points if I were to expand beyond the frame's appearance (the ride, the components...). But let me leave it at this... there is sufficient reason for me to remain a happy owner of one of these later Masis. Perhaps my admiration would be diminished if I should become the owner of an early twin-plate Carlsbad in my size, but I sincerely hope not too much.
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA