joe-issimo
okay - good to read your posts and see you here
again. i have one burning question that once
and for all i gots ta ax and get a smidgeon of
an answer, if not an essay:
why are these masis? i mean this with all the love
and respect i can muster. but - and i ask this as both
a masi-o-phile as well as a framebuilder - were
these masis because they were built while you/others
worked for a firm that owned the rights to the name?
because you had masi parts and designs and were
told to follow the blueprints? were you allowed any
slack in deviating from geometrys? could you, as a
craftsman, choose one file type rather than another
to create the metalwork to suit your personal vision?
just so you know - i'm cool with the variations that
existed and the different forks in road that the name
and frames took through the years. i have a personal
connection to frames made earlier, and italian ones at
that, due to emotional reasons. i have no doubt that
your frames had quality that could rival anyone's
from that period...i just wrestle with the masi-ness
of it all when it was so many years and generations
removed from the vigorelli as well as from the original
calmasi work force and mission statement.
my interest is academic. i hope you'll reply and also
tweak your answers any way you see fit so as to expalin
the mindset of folks (you. others, as well...) that
"made" masis in the middle-late 80s.
e-RICHIE
chester, ct
Here's some unsolicited clarification for five Masi owners listed on CR's Masi Timeline:
John Jorgensen's M55-7020, estimated to be made in 1986 was made by me in 1987.
Kevin Kruger's M58-4025 estimated to be made in 1983 by Dave Tesch was made in 1984 by Rob Roberson.
Jolie Ramage's M57-4191 estimated to be made by Dave Tesch was made by me in 1984.
Pat Moffat's SMC62-C835 estimated to be made in 1988 surely was made in 1983, eh?! I was in my prime at Masi by 1988, and never stamped any letter other than an "M" in a bottom bracket in 1988 or in any bottom bracket in the thousand or so frames I made between January of 1984 and June of 1990.
Jack Gabus's M56-S4216 GC estimated to be made in Carlsbad in 1994 is a mystery to me. Carlsbad in 1994? Maybe the "S" denotes "serial number. Less the "S" it would have been made by me in 1984. By 1994 I was making frames for Bill Holland, and I don't even think any GCs were made in the U.S. during that year. Maybe it's a '94 Mondonico or Billato made frame. I wonder if Jack has pics of it. Maybe I slipped an "S" on it to get a rise out of the guy signing my paychecks. Joe Starck, Madison, Wisconsin