Sometimes it is possible to move those stays even less than one might think. One of my Masis has been set from 126 to 128 mm. The previous owner used a modern grouppo on it without any trouble. I use a vintage grouppo on it with the same ease. Seems a good compromise.
On the rise and fall of vintage bike collecting... a year or two ago when I suggested that the there was a downward spiral in vintage prices everyone thought I was nuts (they may have been correct, but not for that reason alone). This last year it has continued and the $1000 bike of last year is often available in the $600 range now. I think unless you are talking the very most desirable bikes, like a Carlsbad twin plate Masi or something of that ilk, the general trend continues. Meantime, the price of components has kept rising. It is now commonplace to see a bike going for less than the set of components on it would bring without the frame. This does not bode well for such bikes.
Some of us were talking about the Tomassini that Charles Andrews recently offered to the list. I pointed out to several folks that in one of my recent restorations I had sunk more money than he was asking for this beautiful bike into a similar grouping, including the wheels, saddle etc. and there was no bike attached to it! Seems like good components are getting harder to come by and any but the finest bikes are becoming much easier to afford. I am sure that two years ago that Tomassini would have fetched $1000 easily. I believe Charles sold it for $695. Thank goodness he did not strip it and sell the grouppo and then offer the frame. It would have been good business, but what a shame to do it.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi