Freek Faro wrote:
1. It's built of Reynolds 531 (I sanded the steerer tube, and there it was, vaguely) 2. The '30' stamped in bb shell and steerer tube menas it had a repaint at the Vigorelli workshop (thanks John) 3. The frame is very very similar to the 76 and 77 Gran Criteriums at speedbicycles.ch; bit is it a 76 or 77/ 4. Components are 74 date code cranks and 75 date hubs; they could have come off another bike of course 5. Rear dropouts say 78 or later? 6. Stem is Alberto Masi pantographed; assuming stem, seatpost and chainring were bought with the bike, does that bring dating the frame closer? 7. Concerning who built it: someone suggested 'Mario Confente'. I read about him, and supposedly he was not back at Masi until 78. So that means a 78 frame? 8. Framenumber 'VE58': Verona. OK, I've seen 'V' for Verona (and Confente) build, in the registry, but not 'VE'. Can anyone shed light on this? 9. What about the 'z' on the bb shell lug?
Freek-
Its probably Reynolds, but not a big difference. Columbus just looks beefier at the fork blades.
Aside from the seat post that probably came with the bike, (Similar to other Masi pantographing of the period) I would discount all assumptions of date coded parts, it is easier to point out exchanged parts on this bike rather than originals.
The Portacatena was intro'd in 1978, assuming the rear drops are original, and I would contend from the other frame details they are original, the two small holes in the LH rear end are to accept that chainrest. So, accounting for the slop in production and introduction 1977 (late) to even the early 80's depending on inventory usage, but the balance of the details suggest 1977-78 as well, do note that this bike still is made for external nutted brake fastening, pushing it earlier in the time window than later.
Mario was building in the United States during this period, pretty safe to say from middle 1973 onward, for Masi Carlsbad initially, and then at two locations while "on his own" in California.
Even of all the "V" bikes came from his workshop, it does not work out in the timeframe. My conjecture is the "VE" is significant unto itself and other bikes with it. While I suspect that the various prefixes do mean "where" to an extent, this has been denied, and new prefixes seem to show up from time to time.
Regarding the Z stamp, no idea.
This frame has had an interesting life, been repainted probably at least twice and had a torch taken to it. What was the story that was told about it when you got it?
John Jorgensen
Torrance Ca USA