Marcus wrote:
Here is an ethics question: This guy thinks he has a Masi Gran Criterium....
However the bike does not look like a Masi to me....
So the question is, should I send him a note saying that it looks like a nice enough bike, but it is almost certainly not a Masi, or do I let it alone? He is presumably enjoying the ride (and lets face it, the pride of ownership) of his Masi. I have to assume that learning of its imposter status will be a disappointment. Is it better to let him continue in his mistaken belief that he has made a huge score?
Marcus,
Let's revisit what the owner himelf said:
"I read the most of the dicussions made about my bike, gee I didn't know finding a trashed bike in the thrift store was such a sin.....
"As for the crank I don't mind the extended cranks, The pedals pictured are no longer there that was just so we could test it out, it has track pedals now with a much shorter width. I got the crank length off websites for track bikes since it is my first time making a fixie. The old pedals scraped but the new ones corner great. I am very aggressive rider and I haven't had any problems with ground strikes....
"I tell you all this because my computer won't let me respond to the discussion and I was hoping you could tell everyone there to get over it. I did the best I could with the resources I had. At least I saved it from total destruction. If you could relay that info that would be great!"
So, assuming he actually read, "most of the dicussions made about (his) bike," he should be aware that a bunch of vintage bike hobbyists agree that his bike is not a GC. He probably doesn't know who Baylis is, but Brian's response was among the first, and he did clearly state, "You are correct. That IS NOT a Gran Criterium. Obviously someone put Masi decals on something. The amature who put the decals on the frame over the top coat of paint left a lot of varnish behind." I would hope that the guy has gathered that there is at least considerable doubt that this is a GC. But, we're talking here about a guy who is just fine using 175 mm cranks and a fixed gear on a low road bike. He is clearly warned by a number of people who have, if nothing more, the collective authority of a group of hobbyists. He counters this by saying that he, "got the crank length off websites for track bikes." This is pretty funny. I guess he went to the column marked "individual pursuit" and the row marked "6'4" to 6'6", low cadence." That he believes there is some huge diff between stiking wide pedals and not (yet) striking narrow pedals indicates that he has not really thought about the geometry at play. If the wide pedal is striking, the narrow pedal is just barely missing. He's apparently a stubborn adolescent who has no interest even considering the advice of those who might carry some authority, or is simply a poor judge of who to listen to. Ahh youth, the Internet Generation, and the our collective failure to teach the next generation how to distinguish good data from bad. Not that he shouldn't question what CR has to say, but to just brush it off with the assertion that he's an "aggressive rider" and it hasn't been a problem is almost funny. It hasn't been a problem... yet. While I don't wish grief upon this yutz, I suddenly see a bit of humor in Mr. Hanson's, "I like it."
In any case, he does seem almost fiercely proud to have "saved it from total destruction." So the real question might be whether we tell him that he's done a small act of environmentalism and nothing more. As a vintage bike, it had little value to begin with, and has aleady suffered total destruction.
But like he said, I think we should "get over it" and stop bothering to give advice. He won't hear a thing; he doesn't know how to listen.
Tom Dalton Bethlehem PA USA
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