I am not now, nor have I ever been (to paraphrase the Joe McCarthy hearings) a Masi-phile. My reaction to the bike in the movie was rather different. All I knew at the time about the Masi in the film was that it was built in California, not Italy. Not sure how I knew that, perhaps Bicycling!, which was still a decent publication at the time, reviewed the film. So my reaction was, "Why are they using a cheap US knockoff of an Italian marque, rather than a "real" Italian bike like a Cinelli or Colnago or Bianchi?" Of course, at the time I had never heard of Mario Confente, or Brian Baylis, or any of the other people connected with the CA Masi operation. Nor did I know that Faliero came to CA personally to start up the operation. I assumed it was just another cynical licensing deal where a once distingusihed brand was sold to a company interested only in making a quick buck degrading the name. I didn't learn the "real" story until 20 years later.
So perhaps, to an extent, the film influenced me NOT to be a Masi fan. By the time I learned the real story, which casts Masi in a much better light, my preferences were already pretty strongly formed in favor of French bikes and French or Zeus components.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
"kohl57@starpower.net" <kohl57@starpower.net> wrote: I remember seeing "Breaking Away" for the first time... I cycled to the theatre on my Peugeot UE-8 and recall the thrill of cycling home afterwards! That and the puzzlement of what a Masi was. Sorry, I was rai sed on Raleighs and Peugeots.. never heard of it! How many here, honest pl ease, owe their Masi enthusiasm to Dave Stollar? Imagine if he had ridden a Bianchi, Cinelli or, dare I suggest, a Raleigh Pro... At least there was a rider in the Cinzano race scene wearing a TI Raleigh jersey.
The best thing about the film for me was that Dennis Christopher looked just like the skinny blond cyclists I knew back then. Including me! It's
interesting to read that he was actually a natural cyclist, that came across on the screen. I also remember my revulsion at him or anyone else
having to ride an AMF anything in the Little 500... yuck!! AMF "Road master" indeed... what did Dave call it, "A piece of junk".. yep. No o ne here collects those (I sincerely hope) so my theory about all of you being Masi-philes because "Dave rode one" is sheer nonsense...
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
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