Greetings all:
You know, all this Masi, Peugeot, Peugeots that were Masis, and Peugeots vs Masis talk, liberally sprinkled with references to Mario Confente reminded me of an incident that happened many years ago. I was at my favorite LBS, Cycle Works Ltd., in Costa Mesa, CA., visiting my good friend Dean Wilson who worked there. Cycle Works was a Raleigh and Peugeot dealer, and Dean had recently turned his old Paramount out to pasture in favor of the newly introduced Peugeot PY10. We were shooting the breeze about bikes when who should walk in but Mario Confente. Mario saw Dean's new PY and realizing that it was nothing like anything that had worn the checkerboard banner before, asked if he could ride it around the block. Well, this was MARIO, so Dean said yes. About 45 minutes later, Mario rolled up with a big grin on his face and proclaimed, "At-a-bike's not-a French, at-a-bike's Italian!" Even the Italian master himself liked the ride and the handling of the Peugeot so well he graced it as being an honorary Italian.
Bill Curtis
Costa Mesa, CA