Ed Litton recently restored two frames I had. One is a '74 (I believe) CA Masi MC62 that needed new paint and chrome, and the other a 1975 60cm c-c Pogliaghi that needed a new downtube and chrome and paint. He did a wonderful job. I picked them up Friday and brought them directly to Left Coast Cyclery* in Berkeley, CA. Tim Parker will build them both for me, the Masi first. Tim was racing and wrenching when these frames were new, and really knows his stuff. He's been a mechanic at the TdF and raced against Lemond. I'm looking forward to riding both bikes!
Here are some before and after pics:
http://www.wooljersey.com/
http://www.wooljersey.com/
I didn't have a camera with me when I did the transfer, so I don't have any close-up "after" pictures of the Pogliaghi at the moment.
I talked to the brother of the original owner of the Pogliaghi, Brian at Wolf Cycle in Philadelphia. He confirmed the braze-ons were there originally in 1975. It was originally red, but the paint in the before pics was done by Cyclart, for the second owner. (It was originally built with '75 Dura-Ace too, and a Brooks Pro.) I bought it from the second owner. It had a cracked downtube. (Posted a local ad asking for a NR headset. Guy responded, said he had it and a few other parts. Showed up, saw parts, guy said his bike had cracked and he had salvaged the parts. "What kind of bike?" "A Pogliaghi." My eyes lit up but I tried in vain to not show my hand. Asked if he still had it. $200! My size! I was happy even tho it was cracked.)
The Masi had original paint and decals. Ed said the original American flag seat tube decals were unusual, that he wouldn't be able to replicate them:
http://www.wooljersey.com/
You can kinda see the new ones in the 2nd photo. I didn't mind the difference.
This morning I dropped off parts to build the Masi. I will build it first, maybe come down to VR and do the Masi ride. (Is it happening this year?) I'll build the Pogliaghi second when I've recovered financially. :) For now it will be wall art at Left Coast. The box of Campy parts is a total mish-mash of ebay hunting sorties. There's probably enough to build two or three 1970s bikes in there. Tim agreed to act as "editor".
STYLE questions: First off I'm 37, and my knowledge of "What is hip" bike-wise circa 1974 is received wisdom, mostly from this list and talking with friends and/or older racers. I want to build up the Masi to be mostly period-correct, to the best of my budget and ability and experience. I will ride it. It won't be a show bike, but I would be happy to show it to you all some day. :) I'd like to hear your style advice for my build-up of the Masi. I decided to build the bike with Campy bar-ends, Record high-flange hubs, (straight QRs) some used Martano (32-hole I think) bow-tie rims, if they're good. If the Martanos aren't good, I have a few other wheelsets and pairs of NOS rims. Veloflex Criterium tires, white cloth tape, Cinelli Giro D'Italia bars (42cm c-c) and "Cinelli Milano" 13cm stem, yellow-logo Unicanitor saddle, 1974-ish Record parts to the extent that my box of parts contains them, (I have an "ebay" mix of Campy parts.) including 175mm cranks, 42-52, a Regina Oro 13-24 freewheel and a Regina extra chain, grey housing and white Tressostar cloth tape. I have Record quill pedals but I'll ride it w/ modern Campy clipless pedals. I have some yellow Campy shifter covers, yellow Benotto tape and yellow Casiraghi housing, but Tim and I agreed that's just too pimp for 1974. Stuff I might need to buy is a pair of the 1010A (name?) drop-out adjusters and some gum hoods. I have a pair of NOS world-logo gum hoods, but I think I need to give them to the Smithsonian or something. I'm paranoid about riding a bike with them. I'll call Bradley Woehl. Anyway, as far as STYLE advice goes, how does my build sound?
Thanks for reading this far. I have you all to thank / blame for this project. :)
I'd like to offer special thanks to Ed Litton for doing fantastic work, offering me plenty of good advice and for being patient when I ran out of money, and to Felix Chu for making the Masi possible.
Morgan
* Some of you may recognize one of the co-owners of the shop. Cindy and
Renée are also my neighbors. http://www.leftcoastcyclery.com/