david faulkner <faulkners@neteze.com> Wrote:
>Unfortunately the last letter, an "N"
>in English, is not a Russian character. Rather, the Russian character that
would
>represent the final syllable of Masi looks like a backward N. With the
bcakward N as the >final letter, the tranfer would be the "exact" Russian
representation of "Masi." Just >think of Gorbachev or Putin saying, "Masi."
That's how it would sound.
>Did Masi screw up the Russian? It wouldn't be the first time an American
company >screwed up a foreign name for marketing purposes, nor the last, but
Masi? In a >Southern California full of universities, college students and
Russian refugees, would >the mistake have got all the way to making transfers
for the finished bikes, and under >the clear coat?
I wondered about that... I checked out the Cyrillic character list and couldn't find an "N" anywhere. I wondered why they would have flipped that letter while getting the others right.
So how well did they do on the traslation of "Volumetrica" on the downtube?
BTW, as to the date and country of origin of these (off topic) bikes... the last couple of times one went up for auction, Jim Allen said:
(Quote from CR archives)
From: Jim Allen <jimallen@nctimes.net> Subject: Re: [CR]Re: Soviet Masi Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 20:40:16 -0800
Hey list,
My .dbf files lists most of the Russian "Limited Edition" Masi 3V's as having been finished between August, 1990 and January of 1991. They were individually numbered. I don't recall how many were supposed to be in the Limited Edition, but I have no numbers under 1 or over 100 ....
They were not made for the Russian Team, although a number of Masi were used by various Russian teams in that time frame..
Later,
Jim Allen painter of Red Russian California Volumetricas
From: Jim Allen <jimallen@nctimes.net> Subject: Re: [CR]Russian Masi on Ebay! Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 14:41:23 -0700
Yes, made in San Marcos. Out of the paint shop on 10/26/1990. Listed as a 60 cm center to top.
Later,
Jim Allen the CycleSmiths San Marcos, CA
Bob (did they make any of these in my size?) Hovey Columbus, GA