My own reluctance to buy an American Whitcomb stems from tales I have heard
of widely differing quality from bike to bike. I certainly would have no
reservations about a bike built by Richard Sachs or Peter Weigle while they
worked there, but I have also heard there were some real stinkers from
there, too.
While there is admittedly some quality variation from Masi California (I
have been told by several folks who have seen an un-named collector's early
twin plate that it was not too well done in their opinion) overall they are
pretty decent bikes. Maybe a little over rated, but pretty decent.
In light of this, there really is not much competition for my attention
between Whitcomb and Masi.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi