Peter Kohler wrote:
let's be honest, how many Masis or De Rosas were "racing bikes" in real use? I think a lot of them and Cinellis etc. were indeed sold as complete bikes and to wannabe racers. And sorry, I don't look at any of these specs and recoil in horror at the crappiness of it all. A lot of guys shopped complete bikes by virtue of their top end components. And surely then, as now, it was cheaper in the end to buy a complete bike.
In the 70's the shop for which I worked was a reasonably significant Masi dealer. The Vast majority of the Carlsbad Masi's went out as complete bikes. Modifications were often made, stem length, saddle, freewheel for ratio refinement and or Chainrings but the exception was a frameset by itself.
There were a lot sold to enthusiasts, but they knew enough to want the same level of mods, one quandry was that many wanted the "black" superlight pedals, but also liked the way Masi riveted the toe strap ends back on themselves to make for easier use, so kept them.
Regarding who raced on them, in my age category there were 55 licensed riders in my district on average. There were often four Masi's on the line, some Italian, some Carlsbad. Typical race was 30 riders. Not a bad percentage.
There was also of note a Hetchins, Pogliaghi, Lippy, Hood, a few Teledynes, a Schroder, a Cinelli and a few Schwinns, one being a Continental fitted with Phil Wood hubs.
Perhaps just a Southern California thing.
Regarding rims, one had as many sets of race wheels on could afford, one set with setas, one set with cotton, cheap wheels to train on. Favorites abounded, the Martano's were harder to build due to the washers but had machined sides for even braking.
John Jorgensen
Palos Verdes Ca