[CR]'68 Masi Special progress... digging for gold.

(Example: Framebuilders:Mario Confente)

From: <BobHoveyGa@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 23:04:22 EDT
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]'68 Masi Special progress... digging for gold.

Last week I was fortunate enough to find a first-gen set of hoodless NR brake levers from a guy in Germany which should be on the way as we speak. I still can't believe nobody bid on these things, I actually got them at a price I can afford (my lunch allowance, actually... I lose weight, my wife never misses the money... everybody wins).

I am still up in the air as to whether I should keep the Universal '68's and just look for the right levers ('77's are on the bike now)... or if I should put later Campy brakes on it (since my chances of finding '68 set of logo-less NR calipers is pretty darned slim, especially on my budget). But just in case a miracle happens, man, I got them first-gen NR levers, hoo-haa.

Today on my lunch break I went over to the bike shop to look for a fork for Marcus Helman's Casati (no luck) and as I was poking around in the back room I came upon the huge box of dead brake levers that had been missing for the last few months since they rearranged the store. Figured while I was there, I might as well look for a set of hoods (Tom kindly offered me a set of Modolos but I figured it'd be nice to have a set of Campys, right?). So I start digging... "Diacomp.. Weinmann... Shimano... hmmm... a Campy with a world logo, didn't know they ever made those in black, jeez, too bad it's torn and there's only one... hmmmm, some Campy aero whites, maybe I should grab a couple as backups for my old Chorus group... Shimano, Shimano, Shimano... Oooo, a set of 1st gen Ergo levers in pretty good shape, wonder what I could get for these on Ebay.... Universal hoods, damn too bad they're beat, Fred needs a set..." As I got towards the bottom of the box there was a set of Campy NR levers held together with a green twist-tie. And hey, the hoods look good... bring them up into the light... gulp. World logo hoods. Not a mark on 'em. No cracks. Supple. I'm comin' home Elizabeth, heart's poundin', vision's gettin' a little white at the edges...

In the end, I take three sets of levers out to to Mike... the NR set, the Record Ergo 8-speeds, and another set of Campy NR's, in good shape but mismatched hoods (one world, one shield). How much? Mike looks 'em over... "Take 'em, I can't use this old crap." "But Mike, these hoods... (I tell him the story of the world logo hoods, the back-alley black market transactions, the Albanian counterfeiting ring that was taken out by Campagnolo hit-men... genuine world logo hoods are worth some serious coin). "Hey, you gonna sell 'em or use 'em?" "Well, I'm gonna use 'em, 'cept the Ergos" "So OK, they're yours. Give me a few bucks if the Ergos sell."

On my way back to work the six levers sit on the seat beside me. Every stoplight I pick one up and fondle it. Cars behind me blow their horns when the light turns green. Impatient neandertals... there are more important things in life than traffic lights. Like brake hoods.

Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA