Hi CR,
This post is a bit late but I just wanted to add my two cents (or is it no sense?).
Doug Fattic wrote (snip):
"Is there something about a Masi that makes it more special? I certainly thought so when I got my Gran Criterium in the fall of 1972."
YES!!
I think American cyclists look at the wrong aspect of a bicycle when they rate it. Sure a nice paint job is great, as are thinned lugs, the right components (read Campagnolo) and most importantly, the marque name on the down tube. But that is not a bicycle; it's only eye candy.
So the top tube is off-level or decals are not straight or whatever. Those features are certainly annoying, but again they are not a bicycle. The great European builders made their frames to be used in races, very often long races over many days. A truly great bicycle is the frame and its unseen qualities of handling and responsiveness. Very often a responsive frame is one that will knock your eyes out of their sockets (or other fragile body parts), and conversely, a frame that handles well is not responsive.
When those qualities come together in just the right proportions, you have a Masi Special. Those are the qualities that American builders like Bayliss, Sachs and Weigle seek to incorporate in their frames. Sure a nice paint job and fancy lugs are great but how does the bike ride??
I consider myself very fortunate to own a Masi Special that I got from Faliero in 1962. I also own a Calfee Dragonfly Pro. The Special is my criterion on how a bike should handle and ride. The Calfee is made of carbon/boron tubing and weights only 14.5 lbs, while the Masi has 531 tubing and is close to 24 lbs.
I use both bikes often, and after 53 years of riding racing bikes, I feel the Masi is a far superior ride. It is as Chuck Schmidt one referred, "a magic carpet." And that's why the worlds great riders (Coppi, Merkxx, Indurain, Lemond et al.) have beat a path to the master's door for his special frame.
Michael Allison
New York, NY