> >> It's not surfacing just now. Roberto Visentini was > _really_ > famous in Italy during the mid-1980s. > > > I wasn't speaking of Roberto, I was talking about > the subject of the article, Faliberto Esposito. This > is the first I've heard of him, I've never seen any of > his bikes, no one else I know has ever heard of him... > so to me, for all practical purposes, he is "just > surfacing."
Bob, I understood you were referring to Signor Esposito, but I was just trying to help date the article. I still ahve to figure some time between 1985 and '86... As for us just hearing about this gentleman, I think from the language of the article it's clear that, in Italy, his relationship to the Masi family was an open secret. But remember, while Signor Masi is a sort of sainted figure to the members of this list, this list isn't _that_ large and, in Italy the Masis were merely "noted frame builders and mechanics from the Milanese scene..." :-) Plus, in Italy there were lots of skilled frame builders, some of whom actually built the frames that bore the names of famous masters. So I think that, in its time, this was merely a mild human interest story. I suppose the really intersting thing is that the Masi family in Milan allowed Signor Esposito to use such a similar name for his bikes, the same fonts, etc. But in Ialy (and elsewhere), it might not really have mattered. The prevailing attitude might have been that a Maasi is not a Masi.
> One odd thing about the bike... did you notice that
> it is a road bike with round fork blades?
I guess he had to differentiate himself from the pack in some
manner. After all - and I'm not joking here - at that time in
Northern Italy, there really was a decent frame builder in
every neighborhood.
Best regards,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)