In a message dated 11/17/06 3:05:30 PM, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
>
> Seller says "The original owner of the bicycle told me that it was welded
> at the 1979 Bicycle Dealer Tradeshow Expo (now Interbike) in California by
> Mario Confente and painted by Jim Allen." Obviously we are not dealing
> with an expert. The bike has an odd paint job: it is sort of metallic
> purple on the seat stays, down, and seat tubes; then a medium metallic
> blue elsewhere. I initially assumed that this meant it had once been a
> purple bike, and was resprayed blue with an attempt made to save the
> decalled areas. However the head tube is blue with a Masi decal.
>
> The main reason I bring this to your attention is the signature on the
> right side of the top tube, where one would expect to see Faliero's
> signature. On this bike it seems to say Mario Confente. The signatur
e
> looks as if it was made with a metallic marker. Is it possible that thi
s
> bike is authentic?
>
Seller says serial number is 0380 which would make it early1976. I'm thinking he may have mis-read it since Masis were built in batches and other bikes close to this number are small, 52cm or so. More likely, the number is 06x x or possibly 08xx. Whatever the number, it's post-Mario Carlsbad. The dec als and paint are early 80's so the signature is meaningless.
Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA