Roscoe, Regarding the batch of frames you describe below, I recall the day they were loaded onto a flatbed trailer. The trailer size was about 20ft, more or less. My guesstimate of the number of frames on the trailer was 30, more or less. I mainly recall the red ones, a much different, much darker red than of the frame's fade below.
I distinctly remember the seat-stay plug/cap/squish? treatment though, of these frames picked up that day in 1984. To my recollection the flutes were deeper than the one below, and came to a square-ish round contour at the top end. The frame for sale below doesn't seem to be as deeply fluted, but moreso, what causes me to pause, is that it is shaped to a point, not square-ish round.
Perhaps somebody can track down one of the 1984-bob-hansing-bought/not-to-be-masi-frames, to compare seat stay fluting?
In the Q&A of the "Campagnolo 70s Masi Bicycle 64cm M Italy Rare Vintage" ebay listing, it is stated that the frame "Was brought over from Europe but repainted in Masi factory in the US by Gion Simonetti." Is the current fade then, the Simonetti paint job? Or is the current fade a later re-paint? Also, it was nobody's business but the former owner's of the U.S. Masi bicycle company -- to wit, Sahm, or "Rexart," or Kirkbride, or whoever -- to authorize the identity and purpose of the frame. Was it an in-house experiment to ascertain its potential merits as a G.C.? And decided against? Or was this bike actually sold to a Masi dealer? Methinks the buyer's gonna need a decal that states: "This is a G.C. that is not a G.C." So, whatever story the seller is sticking to, only the grapevine knows.
Joe Starck
Madison, Wisconsin USA
> I may be a definitive expert.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> This looks like a first generation Nuova Strada, imported
\r?\n> around 1984. These originally came in white and red, with
\r?\n> top mounted vinyl decals. The frames were made of Columbus
\r?\n> Chromor tubesets by Billato in Italy.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The management at Masi decided that these frames did not
\r?\n> meet their standards. The decals were peeled off, and the
\r?\n> frames were sold bare to Bob Hansing at Euro Asia Imports.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Later Nuova Strada and Gran Corsas were made with SL and
\r?\n> SLX tubesets, and with investment cast lugs, also by Billato
\r?\n> and with much more care.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I can't say whether or not Ralph Carnevale knows the source
\r?\n> of these framesets, but they are clearly not Gran
\r?\n> Criteriums. He was around at the time, and I think he was a
\r?\n> Masi dealer for a while, so should know the difference.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Also, Gion (Ralphs spelling, not mine) Simonetti could not
\r?\n> have painted these "at the factory" (as stated in EBay
\r?\n> Q & A) since he had long been off building his own
\r?\n> frames by the time they were imported!
\r?\n>
\r?\n> This is not the first time one of these rebadged frames has
\r?\n> been brought up on the list. I have sent a comment for the
\r?\n> EBay Q & A, want to bet whether or not Carnevales posts
\r?\n> it?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Jim Allen
\r?\n> the CycleSmiths
\r?\n> Ranchita, California
\r?\n> 760 782 2737
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> On 1/30/2011 11:51 PM, rdf1249@aol.com
\r?\n> wrote:
\r?\n> > I may not be the definitive expert, but I've never
\r?\n> seen a Masi with these lugs, fork crown, brake bridge, cable
\r?\n> guides, pump peg, and fade paint. Anybody else?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > http://ebay.com/
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > A repainted M_________?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Sorry Ralph.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Bob Freeman
\r?\n> > Elliott Bay Bicycles
\r?\n> > 2116 Western Ave
\r?\n> > Seattle, WA 98121
\r?\n> > 206-441-8144
\r?\n> > http://www.elliottbaybicycles.com
\r?\n> > http://www.davidsonbicycles.com