Charles,
The deal with the holes in the seat tube are that someone installed and then removed some "pop rivit" style WB mounts in those holes. They probably fell out. The mounts on the DT are the same deal it appears; done even after the repaint was done. I'm sure the shift lever bosses are not original either.
Looks like it has been punched in the front end; but could be an optical illusion from the photo also. Again, proper photos would tell.
If it goes cheap enough then the project will easily come out in the wash. I personally just make small steel plugs to fill the WB holes and file them flat. Haven't had a problem with doing that after doing it for 35 years. Seems to do the job no problem. It's all part of typical restoration work on these bikes. You don't want to have to replace tubes in the front end unless the frame is almost given away. But again, standard restoration work that results in a frame nearly as good as new in the end when done properly and with care.
Planning on maybe making an appearance at the Pasadena Ride tomorrow. Mike and I are declareing "Wizard Day". We're bringing out some of our older stuff to ride. I'm planning on making it.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
USA
Lou is right about this, and I missed the pic of the huge holes in the seat-tube. God only knows what that was all about.
It could well be that the front-end is damaged.
Maybe not such a good deal after all. Sometimes I don't notice stuff I should notice, even after all this time.
I was more intrigued by a seller who had no idea what was important to shoot, when it comes to selling a high-end bike. Had he shot good pics of the head-tube and lugs, any damage might have been easier to see.
I have also experienced sellers who claim they "had no idea" the frame was damaged. It's very much caveat-emptor out there.
Charles Andrews
Los Angeles
Camera angle is always a tough way to evaluate, but that headtube angle looks like it has been bumped. The little bubbling on the right shifter boss area might be paint cracking from a front ender. Lou
-----Original Message----- From: Charles Andrews <chasds@mindspring.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 9:40 am Subject: [CR] ebay outing: Masi
I must say, this is one of the more amusing auctions to show up lately. Notice in particular how the seller has taken pictures of everything but what you really need to see. Luckily he shot the bottom of the bottom bracket, and one rear drop-out, which photos appear to indicate a nice, if repainted, italian Masi GC from the early 70s. This could well be a very nice deal for someone, for a rider, or a good restoration project:
You wonder why sellers of things like this don't at least take a look at successful auctions of similar things. He's going to likely get much less money than he would have gotten had he done it right. I would want some shots of the head-lugs, and the rear20of the seat-lug, to be sure of what it is, though.
Charles Andrews Los Angeles
"everyone has elites; the important thing is to change them from time to time."
--Joseph Schumpeter, via Simon Johnson _______________________________________________
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