imho, masi-the eponymous italian firm, that is-had mojo because it was the first shop that was truly a high end frame shop. at the very least, it was the first frame shop of reknown. i make the distnction between frame shop and bicycle company, tho some bicycle companies also made pro-level frames. also-masi only made one frame, not price point frames and/or different models. that came years, no-decades-later. masi could be considered the first master tailor frame maker. was it timing? location? smoke and mirrors? all i know is that as an impressionable neophyte, this type of maker was a role model for me. as an aside, it's ironic that there is also a buzz relative to the u.s. made versions. timing? location? etcetera... if i recall my geneology, when roland salm wanted to 'get into' the bicycle business and proceeded to find an italian maker to co-opt with, masi was not the first choice, but he was the first maker to agree to work with salm under a licensing agreement. mojo. blojo. they're still most xlnt in my book. e-RICHIE Richard Sachs Cycles No.9, North Main Street Chester, CT 06412 USA http://www.richardsachs.com Tel. 860.526.2059
On Sun, 2 Feb 2003 19:28:31 EST LouDeeter@aol.com writes:
> Greg asked, why Masi? While this has been covered to death, I recall
> first
> hearing about Masi a couple of decades ago with the comment that you
> couldn't
> buy one because the European racers took up all of the yearly
> production.
> Then, I heard that Faliero Masi had a "secret" way to bend forks
> that made
> them oh so sweet. Finally, I saw the decals. So, without even
> knowing a
> thing about how they ride or whether they were built well, or even,
> where
> they were built--after all, the name is Italian isn't it--I found
> myself
> coveting a Masi. But, the archives pretty well covers this by
> identifying
> Masi with Mojo. I can't improve on that. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL