Jim, Regarding the Billatto-built Nuova Stradas you painted during the time I was a Masi fabricator, I can't recall if you applied the Alberto-style decals or the U.S. block style. Or both?
This style only?:
http://media.photobucket.com/
That bike above appears to be as you describe the Nuova Stradas, with the external crown.
Below though, is another Nuova Strada, with an external crown, that appears to be identical to the ebay seller's:
http://media.photobucket.com/
Note the pointed seat stay cap/plug. Methinks it is pointier than the Nuova Stradas that you and I are familiar with. Yes? And, iirc, I say iirc, methinks it is pointier than the flatbed-trailer batch of frames that were sold as non-Masis in 1984.
Pointy or non-pointy aside though, the ebay frame with the internal crown, the red one above with the internal crown, and the '84 ones with the internal crowns, all appear to be the same style of frameset.
But eh, Jim, if say, the buyer of the frame in question asked you to add a few letters, say, "Gran Criterium-um" or "Gran Criteriummy," with clearcoat, would you?
Joe Starck
Madison, Wisconsin USA
> From: JimAllen <jimallen.ranchita@gmail.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] masi???
\r?\n> To: "Joe Starck" <josephbstarck@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Monday, January 31, 2011, 5:58 PM
\r?\n> Joe,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Those frames had double tapered seat stays. Full
\r?\n> chrome fork with
\r?\n> internal crown. Engraved with an "M" on the crown and
\r?\n> brake bridge. As
\r?\n> I recall, all the subsequent Nuova Strada frames from
\r?\n> Billatto had
\r?\n> standard tapered seat stays, external crowns, chromed right
\r?\n> chainstays,
\r?\n> and more engraving.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> There were damn few sold to dealers, they expected better
\r?\n> finish, paint
\r?\n> and decals than those frames displayed.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Jim Allen
\r?\n> the CycleSmiths
\r?\n> Ranchita, CA
\r?\n> 760 782 2737
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> On 1/31/2011 12:52 PM, Joe Starck wrote:
\r?\n> > Roscoe,
\r?\n> > Regarding the batch of frames you describe below, I
\r?\n> recall the day they were loaded onto a flatbed trailer. The
\r?\n> trailer size was about 20ft, more or less. My guesstimate of
\r?\n> the number of frames on the trailer was 30, more or less. I
\r?\n> mainly recall the red ones, a much different, much darker
\r?\n> red than of the frame's fade below.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > I distinctly remember the seat-stay plug/cap/squish?
\r?\n> treatment though, of these frames picked up that day in
\r?\n> 1984. To my recollection the flutes were deeper than the one
\r?\n> below, and came to a square-ish round contour at the top
\r?\n> end. The frame for sale below doesn't seem to be as deeply
\r?\n> fluted, but moreso, what causes me to pause, is that it is
\r?\n> shaped to a point, not square-ish round.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Perhaps somebody can track down one of the
\r?\n> 1984-bob-hansing-bought/not-to-be-masi-frames, to compare
\r?\n> seat stay fluting?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > In the Q&A of the "Campagnolo 70s Masi Bicycle
\r?\n> 64cm M Italy Rare Vintage" ebay listing, it is stated that
\r?\n> the frame "Was brought over from Europe but repainted in
\r?\n> Masi factory in the US by Gion Simonetti." Is the current
\r?\n> fade then, the Simonetti paint job? Or is the current fade a
\r?\n> later re-paint? Also, it was nobody's business but the
\r?\n> former owner's of the U.S. Masi bicycle company -- to wit,
\r?\n> Sahm, or "Rexart," or Kirkbride, or whoever -- to authorize
\r?\n> the identity and purpose of the frame. Was it an in-house
\r?\n> experiment to ascertain its potential merits as a G.C.? And
\r?\n> decided against? Or was this bike actually sold to a Masi
\r?\n> dealer? Methinks the buyer's gonna need a decal that states:
\r?\n> "This is a G.C. that is not a G.C." So, whatever story the
\r?\n> seller is sticking to, only the grapevine knows.
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Joe Starck
\r?\n> > Madison, Wisconsin USA
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > --- On Mon, 1/31/11, JimAllen<jimallen.ranchita@gmail.com>
\r?\n> wrote: