[CR]Basic Masi Spotter's Guide

(Example: History:Ted Ernst)

From: <BobHoveyGa@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2004 15:51:10 EDT
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Basic Masi Spotter's Guide

In a message dated 7/31/2004 1:19:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Ted writes: What other feature(s) (other than the "M" cut-out in the bottom bracket of Carlsbad, CA made Masi's) clearly distinguish the Italian made Masi's from the CA made Masi's?

I suppose the Italian made Masi G.C.'s had the original first generation Campagnolo script-less brake calipers (like the Masi's I saw on display here in San Francisco at the Velo-Swap a while back.)

My guess is that in addition to the first generation Campagnolo brake calipers, the Italian made Masi G.C.'s were equipped with the 151bcd cranks.

Lastly, I saw some discussion a while back about seat stay caps. Were different caps installed in the Italian made Masi's and the Carlsbad made Masi's?

I would read the archives, but I suffer from A.D.D.

Wow, that'll take a heck of a lot more than one message...

Here are a few brief points, which I trust will be repeated, corrected, or elaborated upon by others:

When comparing the "M" cutouts on Italian and American frames, I've noticed that the Italian cuts are often rounder and not as crisply defined.

If the downtube decal says "Prestige" it is certainly Italian. If it is a Gran Crit with a serial number it is almost certainly American (I've never seen an Italian Gran Crit with a serial number and only a few Prestiges with serial numbers). If there's a date stamp on the steering tube, it's probably Italian. Frame size stamps are often preceeded by a letter or letters. MC would be American, anything else is probably Italian.

Seatstay caps with concave flutes could be Italian or American, but there are subtle differences in filing that one can use to distinguish them by country, year, even builder. The ones with nice crisp edges often seem to appear on Carlsbad frames. The caps with the "H" shaped engraving most often appear on Italian bikes (mostly Prestiges, but I've seen one or two "transitional" Italian Gran Crits that had them). You will also see the "H" caps on San Marcos Masis from around 85-86. Caps with "Masi" written vertically (individual letters are horizontal) are probably late '80's-early 90 Masis but I've also seen them on Italian-built Nuova Stradas and Gran Corsas made for the US market, so they may have shown up on some of Alberto's bikes too.

I've heard that Carlsbad bought a huge motherload of Campy gear in '73 so the date of the components probably won't help you date the frame... those '73 components appeared for years afterwards and in fact I think they went on quite a few Confentes as well.

In the mid to late 70's, Italy began using a fork with a thin horizontal slot cut in the side and a Masi crest on top of the crown that was sort of flower-pot shaped, while Carlsbad stayed with the plain (unengraved) crown. Around '84, the Masi crest appeared on American crowns, but it was inside an oval.

Well, there's plenty more but my daughter calls (taxi service, what else is new?). But fear not, Ted, I can guarandangtee ya that there'll be plenty of other folks weighing in on this...

Bob Hovey
Columbus, GA