Would a wine cork inserted into the base of the steerer tube on a Masi qualify as a reflection of the bike maker's culture? One was there, I like to think from the time the frame was produced.
"Beer is made by men and wine by God." ~ Martin Luther
Dennis Young
Hotaka, Japan
>
> I've spent the whole day trying to figure out how to answer this
> without
> getting myself into a lot of trouble. I know, I'm getting perilously
> close to national stereotyping, which is decidedly un-PC.
> Unfortunately,
> I do believe that there is such a thing as national personality, which
> is why I do so well with Scandinavians, whose national personality is
> much like mine, and not so well with...well, others. In any case,
> trouble is nothing new for me, for sure, but as I descend into old
> farthood, I do try to mellow out and behave myself. Doesn't always
> work, but I try.
>
> Let's just say this: I don't see anything in my Colnagos, for example,
> that tells me a thing about the charming, easygoing dysfunctionality
> that was Italian society in the 60s and 70s, extending into today.
> (The
> same dysfunctionality, I might add, that has given Alitalia and
> Malpensa
> airport a 100% success rate at losing my luggage on flights into
> Milan.)
> They're nice bikes, of course. But they don't tell me anything
> about the
> times and people that produced them. British bikes do. French do too,
> although maybe not quite so profoundly.
>
> Do they for you? I'd like to hear how. In fact, I'd like to hear any
> comments on the history and culture of a people, and how it is
> reflected
> in the bicycles they built. That would be a welcome relief from the
> tiresome stuff about racing, TDF, Paris-Brest-etc., and technobabble
> about frame stiffness.
>
> Uh-oh. I think I got myself into trouble again. Dang! Gotta stop doing
> that.
>
> Or, maybe not....
>
> Steve Maas
> Long Beach, California, US of A